Microsoft has announced that its Microsoft 365 Services stop supporting Internet Explorer 11 on August 17th, 2021. However, this month, some Microsoft 365 services are already turning the page on Internet Explorer 11.
Services ending support this month
The following Microsoft 365 services are ending support for Internet Explorer 11:
My Apps, My Account, My Access, and My Groups Postponed
This change was postponed to August 17th, 2021
As part of MC223753, Microsoft announced the end of support for Internet Explorer 11 to access My Apps, My Account, My Access, and My Groups beginning November 13, 2020.
Microsoft recommends using Edge, Chrome, or Firefox to access these web portals.
Microsoft Teams
As part of MC225570, Microsoft announced that the Microsoft Teams web app will no longer support Internet Explorer 11 after November 30, 2020. After November 30, 2020, people will be unable to access the Teams web app from Internet Explorer 11 and be notified to use the desktop app or access the web app from Microsoft Edge.
Services ending support on August 17th, 2021
This means that after the above dates, organizations will have a degraded experience or will be unable to connect to Microsoft 365 apps and services using Internet Explorer 11:
- New Microsoft 365 features will not be available
- Certain features may cease to work when accessing the app or service
Is your organization impacted?
In the below scenarios, people in your organization may be impacted:
End-users accessing Microsoft 365 services on Windows Server 2016
For organizations sticking to the ‘one browser for all’ mantra for their end-users on Windows Server 2016 Remote Desktop Services (RDS) hosts, this means that, for now, their users can continue to use the above Microsoft 365 services, when theses hosts are installed with the non-Chromium Microsoft Edge browser. This party ends on March 9th, 2021, after which these organizations will need to migrate to another browser like Chrome, Firefox or Brave.
To use the Chromium-based Microsoft Edge and the Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise (formerly known as Office 365 Professional Plus), Remote Desktop Services hosts need to run at least Windows Server 2019.
Office 2016 can be used with Microsoft 365 services until its end of support date of October 10th, 2023. (changing its announcement that connections to Office 365 services from Office 2016 would no longer be supported after October 13th, 2020).
End-users accessing Microsoft 365 services on Windows 8.1
For organizations sticking to the ‘one browser for all’ mantra for their end-users on Windows 8.1, this means they need to install Edge Chromium. This is the better choice compared to the non-Chromium Edge, as Microsoft is already referring to the non-Chromium Edge as Edge Legacy. Edge Legacy will be end of life on March 9, 2021, while Window 8.1 end of support is currently scheduled for January 1st, 2023.
To use the Chromium-based Microsoft Edge and the Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise (formerly known as Office 365 Professional Plus), Remote Desktop Services hosts need to run at least Windows 10. Windows 10, version 20H2 is the first version of Windows to include the Chromium-based Microsoft Edge, by default.
Office 2016 can be used with Microsoft 365 services until its end of support date of October 10th, 2023. (changing its announcement that connections to Office 365 services from Office 2016 would no longer be supported after October 13th, 2020).
Concluding
When your organization uses Microsoft 365 services, now is a good time to start migrating from Internet Explorer 11 to (the Chromium-based) Microsoft Edge.
Further reading
Identity-related new features in Windows 10, version 20H2 build 19042
Microsoft 365 apps say farewell to Internet Explorer 11 and Windows 10 sunsets Microsoft Edge Legacy
Login