Fix to the issue of Quickbooks won't open without Internet Explorer

Thanks for sharing these steps and work around for enabling Internet Explorer, scotley.

We'll surely share this with other customers who have experienced the same issue. In the meantime, check out these articles about Internet Explorer settings in QuickBooks Desktop:

• Upgrade Internet Explorer to open QuickBooks Desktop
• Verify And Troubleshoot QuickBooks Desktop And Internet Explorer Settings

The Community is always here if you need anything else. 

Jeno,

You are welcome, but frankly, I don't want Internet Explorer as my default browser.  I'm fairly certain there are very few people who still use Internet Explorer.  And all of the steps I used that QuickBooks gave me did not work.  If Windows updates removes IE from your computer because it is antiquated, there is no way into QB at all unless you use the above step to reinstall it.  Yes, a bit frustrated with QB right now, like the others who have posted about this issue.  My hope is that I can help relieve some frustration from others who was like me and not getting any answers.

Thanks, @scotley for your post and words. I agree that this will be helpful for many other customers experiencing the same issue. I can't say the need for Internet Explorer will change, but I'm more than happy to give this feedback to our developers.

Thank you again for taking the time to educate others. That's such an important part of the Community page! 

We're always here if you have any questions. Have a great week. :)

I really do not want Microsoft browsers on my computer.  The last thing I would want to do is make IE my default browser.  Does anyone know a way to make QB use other browsers?

Thank you so much for the instructions on how to fix this issue. Didn't realize QB needed such an antiquated browser in order for us to be able to open it. We've made sure that the default browser is either Google Chrome or Mozilla, we're not interested in using Edge or IE. Guess removing those 2 browser is next to impossible when programs are using them in the background.....go figure. 

Thanks for your help!

I'd say it's an abomination that Quickbooks hasn't fixed this yet BTW, but in case it helps any other poor souls out there at the mercy of Intuit's ineptitude, the steps and solutions I've seen mentioned didn't work for me. The only one that finally got IE to actually activate again for me was Step 4 on this list from Microsoft: 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/browsers/disable-internet-explorer-windows

DOES NOT WORK!

Darling Micro$oft made sure you will fail in this attempt with some of their sneaky updates over the weekend or Tuesday.

The "add feature" function either ignores your settings or returns an "install failed".

You cannot reinstall Internet Explorer 11.

Microsoft is just making sure that you will have to take what they decide you must like.

I did accounting last on Friday, August 13 and then left for the weekend.

Coming back Tuesday evening I wanted to prepare some needed statements for Wednesday morning.

I got hit with this message that QuickBooks (2014) needs Internet Explorer 6.0 to work.

Apparently users all the way up to QuickBooks 2019 have experienced the same.

(Please don't tell me I need to go to update QuickBooks so that Intuit can make some money delivering the same crock over and over with a few added needless bells and whistles every year.)

For a moment first I thought this was a prank message or a fluke, a glitch.

But no, it turns out that the program folder "Internet Explorer" has disappeared and so have the registry entries.

The registry entry:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\IEXPLORE.EXE]
@="C:\\Program Files\\Internet Explorer\\IEXPLORE.EXE"
"Path"="C:\\Program Files\\Internet Explorer;"

It is the despotic arrogance of Microsoft to simply without a message, notification or your consent deleting Internet Explorer on your system as they no longer supported it and instead want to push their crappy "Edge".

Your best hope is to do a system restore back, in my case Friday the 13th, prior to these updates and all is okay again.

I feared the day coming in 2025 when Microsoft decides to end support for Windows 10.
Punishing all those who were not interested in this marketing push of Windows 11, being just a "reheated" souped-up bells and whistles minimum dual core minimum this and that bloatware of its predecessor.
Will Microsoft then in its despotic top down arrogance just going to render all Windows 10 machines as inoperable and useless by deleting the operating system? Or force update you to Windows 11?
Seriously!

Set Internet Explorer to default browser?  Are you serious?

Are you seriously suggesting that people should make Internet explorer at the default browser?

The let me tell you that this doesn't work because darling Microsoft made sure that you cannot reinstall Internet Explorer because they're pushing their crappy Edge!

---

@nonsense1 wrote:

I got hit with this message that QuickBooks (2014) needs Internet Explorer 6.0 to work.

@nonsense1 

Try reinstalling your QBD 2014 in compatibility mode Win 7 on your Win 10. Half of our team has been running QBD 2011, 2013, and 2015 on Win 10 v20H2 without any issue to date.

Thanks!

For now I rolled back to a restore before "Friday the 13th" and a ll seems to work again, so far...

Will keep your advice in mind!

Thanks!

For now I've rolled back to a system restore prior to "Friday the 13th" and QB is working again.

I'll keep your advice in mind for the next disaster attack from Micro$oft!

Your Win 10 was updating something and you faced the consequences. The rollback solution is a temporary one and at a certain time you have to update it eventually.

2021 and 2020 versions are affected as well, which is beyond outrageous. They have known for years that IE was going away and have still not fixed the problem.

Add the IE11 App did not work for me. It says Install Failed, with no explanation why. I cannot run my QB Desktop 2021. 

Hello, Lavrakas. 

I have a couple of solutions to help you resolve the failed installation message when adding Internet Explorer 11. 

There might be some settings that prevents you from adding Internet Explorer 11 to your system. 

Make sure you're logged in as an admin user in Windows, then add IE11 again. 

Another thing to do is to turn off your firewall or antivirus software temporarily. If you need help with this, I'd recommend contacting an IT guy. 

If you still can't install Internet Explorer 11, you'll want to contact Microsoft's support channel. They'll help you install the program, so you can open and run QuickBooks Desktop. 

After successfully adding Internet Explorer, do you need help managing your financials in QuickBooks? We have a bunch of articles to help you with reconciliation, banking or reports. Check out these topics and look for an article: 

• Reports
• Banking

If you have other concerns regarding QuickBooks Desktop or its processes, you can always reply here. I'll get back to you as soon as possible, and lay down the details and steps. 

@Lavrakas 

Which Windows OS do you run? Win 8.1 or 10?

Windows 10, fully updated

My team uses QB2019 for basic functions. We do not use any functions that would require the internet. We can no longer open our QB files since IE has been disabled from our laptops. We also have an IT policy to disable unsupported software such IE for security reasons. Does this mean we can no longer use our QB files?

One of my clients has been using Quickbooks desktop for years. Suddenly last Friday he began getting the error most others are getting in this thread (see attached screenshot).

In researching the issue, I learned that Microsoft plans to completely retire Internet Explorer on June 15, 2022. As is typical with Microsoft's idiotic updates, apparently my client's PC received a recent update that removed IE and won't allow me to re-enable in control panel, so my client can't access his books. As others have already mentioned, when attempting to reinstall IE by checking the IE box in the Control Panel -> Windows Features On/Off area, nothing happens. It's like Microsoft forgot to remove a dead feature after the update. SHOCKER!

In reading the end of life documentation for IE, I see that Microsoft brags how Microsoft Edge has a fully featured Internet Explorer "compatibility mode" but after reading their documentation online, I have yet to figure out how to make it work with applications such as Quickbooks. The Microsoft documentation for Application compatibility lack what is needed to make it work as far as I can tell.

I'm asking Quickbooks employees reading this thread to notify their technicians that Quickbooks Desktop users need them to publish the steps to use Microsoft Edge's I/E compatibility mode to get our Quickbooks users back online as soon as possible.

Thank you

Thanks for joining this thread, and I appreciate sharing your thoughts with the Community, @Mike Vail.

I would also get disappointed when the product I expected to work the same way will suddenly have compatibility issues. Rest assured, I'll notify our Product Developers of this feedback about publishing the QuickBooks Desktop and Microsoft Edge's Internet Explorer compatibility mode steps to get users back online quickly.

Also, I encourage you to send feedback by using your QuickBooks Desktop as well. You can follow these steps:

1. Go to the Help menu at the top of your QuickBooks.
2. Select Send Feedback Online.
3. Then click on Product Suggestions.
4. Choose Product Suggestion for the Type of Feedback.
5. Product Area is optional.
6. Enter your suggestion.
7. Click Send Feedback.

I've also added some articles about Internet Explorer settings in QuickBooks Desktop:

Upgrade Internet Explorer to open QuickBooks Desktop

Use our built-in browser in QuickBooks Desktop

Get back to me if you need help with QuickBooks features and functionalities.

The fact that Intuit still uses IE in their products is a joke and shows how poorly these products are maintained and developed.

Firstly, IE is a dangerous and insecure browser which is heavily exploited by malicious actors and has been for a decade, which is why Microsoft announced in 2015 that it would be retired, yet Intuit is literally waiting until the very last minute to remove it's use from their product.

BTW, the drop dead date for IE is June 15th 2022, after which time it will be impossible to run IE on any Windows machine and thus it will be impossible to run the majority of Intuit software.

Machines will continue to receive updates that remove IE, as they should, and more of Intuit's customers will spend time and money trying to fix a problem that Intuit should have fixed years ago, but instead Intuit has been putting all of their development dollars into the online version so that they can wring a monthly fee from their customers with a terrible solution that does not have the full functionality of the boxed version instead fixing this issue in the boxed version.

EDIT:  It actually says the bank website doesn't support IE, so I can't update bank feeds because, obviously, I cannot change it from IE to Chrome.

My issue today is QB states IE is out of date and I need to update it, preferable to Chrome.  This is IE WITHIN QB!!  You cannot change it from IE.  I don't want IE either!!