Microsoft had announced last year that Microsoft 365 apps and services will no longer support Internet Explorer 11 (IE 11) by August 17, 2021.
While Microsoft Teams web app had dropped support for IE 11 on November 30, 2020, the rest of the Microsoft 365 apps and services have also dropped for support IE 11 effective August 17, 2021.
“Users may have a degraded experience, or be unable to connect to, those apps and services. These apps and services will phase out over weeks and months to ensure a smooth end of support, with each app and service phasing out on independent schedules,” Microsoft says in one of its blog posts.
“If you encounter issues while accessing Microsoft 365 apps and services from IE11 after August 17, 2021, support will be unavailable. Additionally, you should expect no new features and that your daily usage experience could get progressively worse over time until the apps and services are disconnected.”
Starting August 17, 2021, given below is how application experiences in IE11 will appear for IE11 users, as explained by Microsoft:
- Outlook Web App: Users logging in with AAD accounts will still receive the full OWA experience but will not receive new features beginning August 17, 2021, while users logging in with Microsoft Accounts (MSA) will be redirected to the Outlook Web App Light experience.
- Open with Explorer/View in File Explorer (SharePoint): We understand that some customers may continue to use Open with Explorer and View in File Explorer (only accessible in IE11) to access document libraries. To avoid disruption, these customers will be able to use these features for now when they go to a document library in IE11. These features remain in maintenance mode and aren’t receiving further development. We encourage all customers to move to a modern browser and OneDrive sync for a better user experience and easier access to files. For more information on how to prepare your SharePoint environment for end of support on IE11, please read this Docs article.
- All other apps and services will phase out over weeks and months to ensure a smooth end of support with each app and service phasing out on independent schedules.
Although IE11 support for Microsoft 365 apps and services has ended on August 17, 2021, the final retirement date is June 15, 2022. After this date, the application will be out of support and disabled and automatically redirect users to the new Microsoft Edge.
For customers using IE 11 to access Microsoft 365 apps and services, or using Microsoft Edge Legacy as their preferred browser, it is recommended to switch to the new Microsoft Edge to continue enjoying Microsoft 365 services.
