IE11 Retirement FAQ for Access Apps
Internet Explorer 11 will reach end-of-life before we have an Edge-based browser control. Read on to learn how this will affect Access developers.
As you may be aware, Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) goes out of support on June 15, 2022.
If you use the existing browser control in your Access applications, you may be wondering how this affects you. Here's the short answer:
End-of-life for IE11 has no direct impact on Access applications that use the existing browser control, but it may have an indirect impact.
Let me explain.
The current IE-based web browser control (code-named "Trident") will continue to be supported through 2029. This is what I mean when I say IE11 end-of-life will have no direct impact on Access apps that use the existing browser control.
However, the entire world knows that IE11 desktop browser will not be supported after June 15, 2022. This means that website authors will no longer feel compelled to provide IE11-compatibility for their sites. Over time, then, fewer websites will work properly on the IE11-based Access browser control. This is what I mean when I say IE11 retirement will have an indirect impact on Access apps.
To be clear, I am not suggesting that websites that have worked for years in the Access browser control will suddenly stop working on June 16. Rather, I expect we will see a slow transition away from IE11 support in the industry. The transition will occur one website at a time.
This does mean that one day after June 15, 2022, the site you've been serving in an Access web browser control for years will suddenly stop working. It might not happen in 2022, or even 2023. It might not happen at all. But it could happen at any time.
Which means Access apps that rely on the web browser control to serve a particular website become a ticking time bomb on June 16, 2022.
All the more reason Microsoft needs to get moving on the new WebView2 browser control...
Further reading
Michael Aldridge (M365 DEVELOPER)
Eric Van Aelstyn
