How to Uninstall Internet Explorer 11 on Windows 7

Use Control Panel

Open the Control Panel. You can open Control Panel from the Start menu.

Open program manager. Click the "Uninstall a program" link if you're viewing in Category mode, or "Programs and Features" if you're viewing in Icon mode (Icon). A list of programs installed on the computer will appear.

Open the list of installed Windows updates. Click the "View installed updates" link on the left side of the window. A list of all installed updates for Windows will appear. Since Internet Explorer is also a Windows service, any updates will also be listed here.

Look for Internet Explorer 11. You can scroll down to find it, or type "Internet Explorer" into the search field at the top of the window.

Uninstall Internet Explorer 11. You can select the Internet Explorer 11 item and click the "Uninstall" button, or right-click the item and select "Uninstall".

Maybe User Account Control will ask you again. Confirm that you want to uninstall the update by clicking Yes.

Wait for the uninstallation process to complete. Uninstalling Internet Explorer 11 may take a few minutes. After the uninstallation is complete, click Restart Now to restart the computer and complete the process.

Internet Explorer will return to the previously installed version. Could be Internet Explorer 10, 9, or 8.

Hide updates. If you don't want to keep being prompted to reinstall Internet Explorer 11, you can skip it by hiding it from Windows Update.

Open Control Panel. You can open Control Panel from the Start Menu.

Select "Windows Update". If you are viewing in Category mode, Select "System and Security", then select "Windows Update".

Click the " # optional update(s) available" link (number of available updates).

Right-click on Internet Explorer 11. Select "Hide update".

Install another version of Internet Explorer. After downgrading to an older version of Internet Explorer, you can upgrade to any higher version if you want. For example, if you uninstall Internet Explorer 11 and return to Internet Explorer 8, you can install Internet Explorer 9 or 10 manually.

Use Command Prompt

Open an elevated Command Prompt. Click Start Menu, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, then select "Run as administrator".

Copy and paste the following command. This command will uninstall Windows Explorer updates:

FORFILES /P %WINDIR%servicingPackages /M Microsoft-Windows-InternetExplorer-*11.*.mum /c "cmd /c echo Uninstalling package @fname && start /w pkgmgr /up:@fname /norestart"

Paste the above command and press↵ Enter

Accept errors. You may receive some error messages during command execution. You will have to click OK every time the error window appears.

Restart the computer. When you return to the Command Prompt screen, the uninstallation process is complete. You need to restart your computer to complete the process.

Hide updates. If you don't want to keep being prompted to reinstall Internet Explorer 11, you can skip it by hiding it from Windows Update.

Open Control Panel. You can open Control Panel from the Start Menu.

Select "Windows Update". If you are viewing in Category mode, Select "System and Security", then select "Windows Update".

Click the " # optional update(s) available" link.

Right-click on the Internet Explorer 11 entry. Select "Hide update".

Install another version of Internet Explorer. After downgrading to an older version of Internet Explorer, you can upgrade to any higher version if you want. For example, if you uninstall Internet Explorer 11 and return to Internet Explorer 8, you can install Internet Explorer 9 or 10 manually.

Lesley Montoya

Update 23 June 2024