Internet Explorer (Win) - Returning to a Previous Version After Upgrading
NOTE: The Help Desk suggests first trying compatibility mode in IE when troubleshooting web compatibility issues. For information on enabling this for certain websites, please see Internet Explorer - Using Compatibility View.
Because many web-based applications require certain versions of Internet Explorer to work, you may find that a recent upgrade to IE is not compatible with an application you need to use. If this should occur, you can opt to downgrade IE to a previous version you had installed. By uninstalling the update, the previous version you were running will be automatically restored.
Uninstalling the Update
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Open the Start Menu (Windows Vista and 7) or the Start Screen (Windows 8). In the search field, type Programs and Features. Click Programs and Features when it appears in the search results.
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You will be brought to the "Uninstall or change a program" window. In the left-hand panel, select View installed updates.
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Wait a few moments for the list to populate, then scroll down until you see the Microsoft Windows heading. Scan the sublist for the Internet Explorer version you would like to remove. Once you have located it, click once to highlight the entry, then click the Uninstall button that appears above the list of updates.
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It may take several minutes for the update to be uninstalled, so avoid canceling the process. Once complete, you will need to reboot your computer before the newer version of IE is completely removed and the most previous version of IE is automatically reinstalled.
Preventing Future Updates
After manually uninstalling an Internet Explorer version update, you will need to take further action to ensure that IE is not automatically updated in the future. Rather than disabling all automatic updates for Windows, you can install a toolkit developed by Microsoft to block the installation of new versions of IE.
Important: Version updates do not need to be installed consecutively, so if you would like to maintain IE8 as your current version, you will need to install all three toolkits to block IE 9, 10, and 11. To keep IE9, you will need to install the toolkits for IE 10 and 11. Please also note that these toolkits will not prevent you from manually installing one of these versions IE in the future.
Below you can find links for available toolkits; please select the correct toolkit(s) for the version(s) you would like to block:
- Internet Explorer 11: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40722
If you are attempting this on a departmental computer and are unable to install the above toolkits due to insufficient administrative rights, please contact your local department IT support to determine your best option.