It's 2020, so you'd hope that Internet Explorer would be pretty much dead in the water. Unfortunately, though, it still accounts for 5.5% of the desktop/laptop browser market share – more than Apple's Safari and Opera combined. Much of that is likely because it's still available as an app in Windows 10, so today we're going to show you how to uninstall Internet Explorer completely.
Can I uninstall Internet Explorer in Windows 10?
Though Internet Explorer 11 in Windows 10 is much better than the older versions, it's still outdated, struggles to properly display modern webpages, and clutters the Start Menu. Thankfully, you can still uninstall Internet Explorer quite easily in just a few minutes.
However, before you go ahead with the removal, it's worth making sure you don't use any legacy webpages or software that rely on IE. Even though many Microsoft apps soon dropping support for the browser, many businesses still have legacy software that rely on it. You also can´t just rely on Internet Explorer Mode in Microsoft Edge instead, as this feature stops working if you decide to uninstall Internet Explorer.
If you want to option to easily reverse your decision, you can use the Windows Feature interface to uninstall it instead, which we'll show below:
How to Uninstall Internet Explorer via Programs and Features
- Open Settings
Press “Windows”, then the cog above the power button to open Settings. - Enter app settings
- Open Programs and Features
In the sidebar, click “Apps & Features”, then “Programs and Features”. - Click “Turn Windows features on or off”
- Untick “Internet Explorer 11”
Scroll down the list of features until you find “Internet Explorer 11”, then press the checkbox to tick/untick it. Unticking it will uninstall the app until you enable it again. Press “OK”. - Confirm your choice
Windows 10 will warn you that uninstalling the app could have an affect on other software on your PC. If you don't have software that relies on IE, press “Yes”. - Uninstall Internet Explorer
Press “OK” to uninstall Internet Explorer 11 in Windows 10. You can reverse this process if you want to reinstall Internet Explorer. - Restart your PC so Windows 10 can fully remove Internet Explorer
How to Remove Internet Explorer with PowerShell
Alternatively, you can uninstall Internet Explorer and check if its installed via the PowerShell command-line, which is usually a bit faster.
- Open PowerShell as admin
Press “Windows +X”, then click “Windows PowerShell (Admin)”. - Check if Internet Explorer is installed and its package name
In PowerShell, enter:Get-windowsoptionalfeature -online -featurename *explorer*
Check the “State” row to see if it's enabled or not. - Perform an Internet Explorer uninstall
To uninstall Internet Explorer, you can then enter:Disable-windowsoptionalfeature -online -featureName Internet-Explorer-Optional-amd64
If you'd like to reinstall Internet Explorer in Windows 10, you can instead enter:Enable-windowsoptionalfeature -online -featureName Internet-Explorer-Optional-amd64
Press “Y” and then “Enter” to restart your PC.
How to Uninstall Internet Explorer with Command Prompt
If you prefer the trusty Command Prompt over PowerShell, you can also remove Internet Explorer from Windows via it with DISM.
- Open Command Prompt
Press “Start” and search for “cmd”, then click “Run as administrator”. - Check if Internet Explorer 11 is installed
In Command Prompt, type the following and press “Enter”:DISM /online /get-features /format:table
- Note the package name and status
- Disable Internet Explorer 11 in Windows 10
If the package status is enabled, you can disable it by entering:DISM /online /disable-feature /featurename:Internet-Explorer-optional-amd64
If it's disabled, you can enable it with:DISM /online /enable-feature /featurename:Internet-Explorer-optional-amd64
Restart your PC.
If you found this tutorial helpful, check out our guide on how to disable Settings and Control Panel or uninstall Microsoft Edge.