Microsoft 365 is Phasing Out Internet Explorer (What You Need to Know)
When tools that your business may have been using for years begin a phaseout period, it can be frustrating because it means a change in workflow.
Employees have to adopt new processes, and this can mean some loss of productivity while ramping up a new learning curve. But being prepared for these changes ahead of time is vital to business continuity and to mitigate any disruptions.
One big phaseout is beginning this month for Internet Explorer 11 when it loses support from Microsoft Teams, an application with over 75 million active daily users.
This loss of support will impact user experience when using Teams on the web, including those without the Teams application that are joining a video call through a link.
The loss of support for IE 11 from Microsoft Teams is just the beginning. Next year, all the other Microsoft 365 applications will also drop support for the browser.
When is this happening? What does this mean for your user experience? We’ll tell you everything you need to know!
Timing Dates: Loss of Microsoft 365 Support for IE 11
You’ll have very little time before Microsoft Teams no longer works properly in the IE 11 browser, and a little more time before the browser loses support from Microsoft 365 as a whole.
November 30, 2020: Teams Ends Support for IE 11
Microsoft Teams will no longer support the IE 11 browser at the end of November.
If you use Teams for video calls and send invites outside your organization, it’s a good idea to make a notice to add to the bottom of your Teams invites that says something like this:
“Note: As of 11/30/2020, Microsoft Teams will no longer support Internet Explorer 11, which may impact your ability to join a meeting in Teams. Please ensure you’re using one of the Teams compatible browsers:
- Microsoft Edge
- Chrome
- Safari”
August 17, 2021: Microsoft 365 Ends Support for IE 11
In August of next year, the other applications in Microsoft 365 will no longer support IE 11. This can be even more disruptive to a workflow if your organization has not already switched to a different browser.
This will impact all applications opened online, including:
- Word
- Excel
- Outlook
- PowerPoint
- OneDrive
- SharePoint
- Yammer
- Lists
- and others
What Does “Loss of Support” for IE 11 Mean?
Microsoft describes “loss of support” as customers having a degraded experience or being unable to connect to the services at all in Internet Explorer.
Here are the various scenarios that users can run across when trying to access Microsoft 365 applications after they’ve ended support for IE 11:
- Inability to connect to the application at all
- No access to new application features
- Features that worked in the past may cease to work
Ultimately, users would have an inconsistent and unreliable experience when trying to use Teams or Microsoft 365 from IE 11, so much so that it requires an upgrade to a different browser in order for the apps to work correctly.
Browser Upgrade Options
If your employees currently use IE 11 and your Sturgeon Bay, WI also uses Microsoft 365 and or MS Teams, you’ll want to explore upgrade options as soon as possible to avoid potential downtime.
There are a few different browser options you can choose, depending upon your operating system and workflow.
Microsoft Edge
Edge is the browser that Microsoft brought out in 2015 and is designed to be a successor to Internet Explorer.
While the browser had some growing pains early on, it’s since been upgraded to a fast Chromium-powered system and is gaining more support from extension developers.
Edge has attractive security features and productivity features like Categories, which allows you to open a panel and save websites under groups.
If you happen to use any IE 11 legacy websites that are going to require you to continue using IE, Edge also has IE Mode, which allows you to open IE 11 sites in the Edge browser, so you avoid having to use two separate browsers in your workflows.
Chrome
Chrome is the most popular browser and has the most extension and app support due to that fact.
It can be a “memory hog” and use up system resources. It gets updated regularly and has several security features, though some worry about privacy due to Google’s main business being advertising.
Safari
If your office uses Apple computers and devices, then Safari may be a good upgrade option. It’s fast and offers several security features.
However, it no longer supports Windows, so it would not be a good choice for devices running Windows.
Firefox
One other choice that is fast and has good default privacy settings is Firefox. It’s important to note that not all Teams features work in this browser, so you would not want to use it if you use Microsoft Teams.
Get Help Migrating Browser Data & Upgrading Your Workflows
Quantum PC Services can help your Sturgeon Bay business upgrade successfully, including migrating all data safely from one browser to another.
Contact us today to schedule a consultation! Call 920-256-1214 or reach us online.
