Compatibility view settings in microsoft edge windows 10

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Compatibility View setting in Microsoft Edge Legacy browser
Open site with IE Mode on Edge
Open Internet Explorer sites on Microsoft Edge
Enable IE Mode with Group Policy on Microsoft Edge
Install Microsoft Edge policy template
Enable IE Mode on Microsoft Edge
Where do I find Compatibility View settings in Microsoft Edge?
Where is Compatibility View settings in Windows 10?
How do I fix Microsoft Edge Compatibility?
How do I get to Compatibility View settings?

In this post, we will show you how to use Internet Explorer Mode in the Microsoft Edge browser on Windows 11/10 computers.

Internet Explorer offered the Compatibility View that allowed users to view sites, that may be using older technologies, correctly – as some websites that were designed for earlier versions of Internet Explorer might not display correctly in IE9 and later. Thus Internet Explorer offered Compatibility View setting.

If a site that you are trying to view uses older technologies, like some Frames or ActiveX controls, it will not render properly in Edge. So what can a user do in such cases?

If a website coded with older web technologies does not render or open properly in Microsoft Edge Chromium browser on Windows 11/10, you can open it in IE Mode as follows:

Open Microsoft Edge
Open the concerned URL
Click on the 3-buttons settings icon
Select Reload in Internet Explorer Mode
Edge will reload that URL in IE Mode.
You will also see the concerned settings in edge://settings/defaultBrowser.

Compatibility View setting in Microsoft Edge Legacy browser

Is there a Compatibility View setting in the Microsoft Edge Legacy browser? Nope! If you are browsing a website that older technologies and you face problems in either opening the websites or making it render properly when using Edge, what you will have to do is click on the 3-dotted More button in the top right corner and select Open with Internet Explorer.

Internet Explorer will launch and open that site.

Hope this helps!

Anand Khanse is the Admin of TheWindowsClub.com, a 10-year Microsoft MVP (2006-16) & a Windows Insider MVP. Please read the entire post & the comments first, create a System Restore Point before making any changes to your system & be careful about any 3rd-party offers while installing freeware.

Enable IE mode on Edge by opening Settings > Default browser.
Continue selecting the Allow option for the “Allow sites to be reloaded in Internet Explorer mode (IE mode)” setting.
Finally, restart the browser to apply the settings and load legacy websites correctly.
You can also set up the compatibility mode on Microsoft Edge through Group Policy.

On Windows 11 (and 10), the Microsoft Edge version based on the Chromium engine includes a compatibility mode using the Internet Explorer rendering engine to load old websites that otherwise wouldn’t load correctly.

The feature is known as “IE Mode” and has been designed for organizations to load internal sites without using a different browser or redesigning the legacy pages. The new approach loads the pages within Microsoft Edge like a regular website without using and managing multiple browsers.

If you have to use this compatibility mode, the version of Microsoft Edge available in the stable channel includes the “Internet Explorer compatibilities” settings to quickly enable IE Mode and a separate option to open Edge when browsing an incompatible website with Internet Explorer. Alongside the settings, it is also possible to use the Group Policy Editor to configure the compatibility mode.

This guide will teach you how to enable IE Mode to load legacy websites using the Internet Explorer rendering engine on Microsoft Edge for Windows 10 on Windows 11.

Enable IE Mode on Microsoft Edge
Enable IE Mode with Group Policy on Microsoft Edge

To enable IE Mode on Edge for Windows 11 (or 10), use these steps:

Open Microsoft Edge on Windows 11.
Click the Settings and More (ellipsis) button in the top-right corner.
Select the Settings option.
Click on Default browser.
Under the “Internet Explorer compatibility” section, turn on the “Allow sites to be reloaded in Internet Explorer mode” toggle switch to enable IE Mode on Edge.
Click the Restart button.
(Optional) Click the Add button in the “Internet Explorer mode pages” setting.
Confirm the web page to force it to load in IE Mode.
Click the Add button.

Once you complete the steps, when sites require Internet Explorer, you can use Microsoft Edge to reload the page using IE Mode.

If you use the “Internet Explorer mode pages” setting, the sites will open in IE Mode for 30 days. Then the page will load normally again.

Open site with IE Mode on Edge

After the IE Mode is enabled, you need to manually reload a page with the compatibility mode.

To open an incompatible website with IE Mode on Edge, use these steps:

Open Microsoft Edge.
Click the Settings and More (ellipsis) button in the top-right corner.
Click the “Reload in Internet Explorer mode” option.
(Optional) Right-click the tab and select the “Reload tab in Internet Explorer mode” option.

After you complete the steps, the website should reload in compatibility mode. The option won’t be available in the menu if the feature is not enabled.

If you want to exit IE Mode, you can use the same instructions, but on step No. 3, select the Exit Internet Explorer mode option.

Open Internet Explorer sites on Microsoft Edge

On Windows 11, Microsoft Edge also lets you configure the browser so that when someone uses Internet Explorer, all sites will load within Edge.

To allow IE open websites with Edge, use these steps:

Open Microsoft Edge.
Click the Settings and More (ellipsis) button in the top-right corner.
Select the Settings option.
Click on Default browser.
Under the “Internet Explorer compatibility” section, use the “Let Internet Explorer open sites in Microsoft Edge” drop-down menu and select the option to handle browsing when using Internet Explorer:
- Never – IE will never switch to Edge to load the site.
- Incompatible sites only – IE will still load sites, but websites designed for a modern browser will load in Edge.
- Always – IE will always switch to Edge to load websites.

Once you complete the steps, websites will open on Microsoft Edge, according to your configuration when surfing the web with Internet Explorer.

Enable IE Mode with Group Policy on Microsoft Edge

Alternatively, you can enable IE Mode on Edge with Group Policy. However, you will need to download and install the policy template before configuring the Group Policy settings.

Install Microsoft Edge policy template

To install the policy template to enable IE Mode on Edge, use these steps:

Open Microsoft Edge (business) website.
Under the “Policy File” section, click the Download button.
Select the version of Microsoft Edge. (Usually, you want to use the latest stable version available.)
Select the build (latest version available).
Select the platform — for example, Windows 64-bit.
Click the Get policy files option.
Click the Accept & download button.
Double-click to open the MicrosoftEdgePolicyTemplates.cab file.
Double-click to open the MicrosoftEdgePolicyTemplates.zip file.
Select the extraction location.
Click the Extract button.
Double-click to open the MicrosoftEdgePolicyTemplates.zip file again.
Click the Extract all button from the “Compressed Folder Tools” tab.
(Optional) Select the location to extract the files.
Check the Show extracted files when complete option.
Click the Extract button.
Browse the following path inside the (extracted) “MicrosoftEdgePolicyTemplates” folder:
```
windows\admx
```
Select the “msedge.admx” and “msedgeupdate.admx” files and click the Copy option from the “Home” tab.
Quick tip: You only need to copy the “msedgeupdate.admx” file if you want to control the update settings of Microsoft Edge.
Browse to the following path:
```
C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions
```
Click the Paste button from the “Home” tab.
In the “admx” folder, inside the “MicrosoftEdgePolicyTemplates” folder, open the language folder that represents your language — for example, en-US.
Select the msedge.adml and msedgeupdate.adml files and click the Copy option from the “Home” tab.

Quick tip: You only need to copy the “msedgeupdate.adml” file if you also copy the file on step No.12.
Browse to the following path that matches your language:
```
C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions\en-US
```
In the command, change en-US for the folder that matches your local language.
Click the Paste button from the “Home” tab.

Once you complete the steps, the new policies to enable or disable IE Mode on Edge Chromium will install in the Group Policy Editor.

Enable IE Mode on Microsoft Edge

To enable IE Mode on Chromium Edge with Group Policy, use these steps:

Open Start.
Search for gpedit and click the top result to open the Group Policy Editor.

Browse the following path:

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Edge

Double-click the Configure Internet Explorer integration policy.
Select the Enabled option to enable IE Mode for Microsoft Edge.
Under the “Options” section, select the “Internet Explorer mode” option from the drop-down menu.
Click the Apply button.
Click the OK button.

After you complete the steps, websites will render in the Internet Explorer compatibility mode. And you’ll notice a familiar IE icon on the left side of the address bar, letting you know the website uses Internet Explorer.

These steps enable IE Mode for intranet websites. If you want to load external websites with Microsoft Edge, you will have to enable and set up the “Configure the Enterprise Mode Site List” policy, which includes creating an XML file with the list of domains you want to load automatically with the Internet Explorer mode.

Where do I find Compatibility View settings in Microsoft Edge?

MS Edge - Enable Internet Explorer Compatibility Mode.

Launch Microsoft Edge..

Open the drop down menu (1) by clicking the 3 dots on the upper right corner..

Click Settings (2)..

In the left column, click Default browser (3)..

In the “Internet Explorer compatibility” section, set the toggle switches to..

Where is Compatibility View settings in Windows 10?

For Windows 10.

Open Internet Explorer, select the Tools button , and then select Compatibility View settings..

Under Add this website, enter the URL of the site you want to add to the list, and then select Add..

How do I fix Microsoft Edge Compatibility?

Open the Settings app and click Update & Security > Troubleshoot > Additional troubleshooters. Run the Internet Connections, Program Compatibility Troubleshooter, and Windows Store Apps troubleshooters to scan and automatically fix any problems which could potentially be causing Microsoft Edge problems.

How do I get to Compatibility View settings?

To change your Compatibility View settings Open Internet Explorer for the desktop, click Tools, and then click Compatibility View settings. In the Compatibility View Settings box, add the problematic website URL, and then click Add. Compatibility View is turned on for this single website, for this specific computer.