Internet Explorer is now only included in Windows 10 as a legacy product, and most users will never have a reason to use it.
If you want to block Internet Explorer from accessing the Internet on your system, there are several easy ways to do this. These include:
- Blocking IE with Windows Firewall
- Turning off Internet Explorer completely
- Using Windows 10 Family Parental Controls
- Use IE Content Advisor.
- Block Internet Explorer with third-party applications.
Block Internet Explorer access to Internet Explorer using Windows Firewall
One of the fastest and easiest ways to block Internet Explorer from accessing the Internet is to use the built-in firewall in Windows 10.
Windows Firewall settings allow you to control how certain applications on your computer can access the Internet. You can configure a detailed rule to block all inbound and outbound Internet connections using Internet Explorer.
- To do this, select the Windows Start menu and type “Firewall”.
- Select Windows Defender Firewall.
- Select “More Settings” from the left menu. This will open Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security.
- In the left navigation pane, select Outbound Rules. In the right pane, select New Rule.
- The New Outbound Rule Wizard will open. On the first page of this wizard, select Program and click Next.
- On the next page, you will need to select the path to the Internet Explorer application. Specify the path (% programFiles% (x86) Internet Explorer iexplore.exe) in the Program Path section.
Note. If the above path does not work after completing the wizard, change this path to C: Program Files Internet Explorer iexplore.exe.
- Click Next to continue. On this page, select Block connection.
- Click Next to continue. Make sure Domain, Public, and Private are selected.
- Give the rule a name and click Finish.
Now that you have blocked all outgoing Internet connections from Internet Explorer, when you open IE, you will see that you can no longer access any websites.
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Completely disable Internet Explorer
There are several ways to completely disable Internet Explorer on any Windows 10 PC. Windows Internet Explorer is not a standard Windows application. This is considered a Windows feature. For this reason, you need to disable it in Windows Components.
- Select the Start menu and type Windows Features.
- Select Turn Windows Features On or Off.
- Scroll down the list of features to find Internet Explorer and deselect.
- Click OK to completely disable Internet Explorer.
Windows will prompt you to restart your system to completely disable and remove IE from your Windows system.
An alternative to using Windows features is a command that you can run to disable or enable Internet Explorer.
- First select the Start menu and type Command Prompt.
- Right-click the command line application and select Run as administrator.
- Enter DISM / online / Disable-Feature / featureName: Internet-Explorer-Optional-amd64.
You will see a confirmation message that the operation was completed successfully.
Use Windows 10 Family Parental Controls
You can block Internet Explorer from accessing the Internet using IE’s built-in parental controls. But before you can do that, you need to customize the family in Windows 10.
- Select the Start menu, type Settings, and open the Settings app.
- Select Family & Others in the left pane.
- In the Your Family section, click the + sign next to Add Family Member.
- You will need to invite family members for whom you want to control Internet access using their email address.
Note. Microsoft will need to charge 50 US cents from your credit card to prove that you are an adult in the household.
- After adding your child to your family account, you can block the Internet. Access in Internet Explorer by enabling the Allow only these websites option and leaving this list blank.
You will only block Internet Explorer from accessing the Internet for the family members you have configured, but this is one option if that’s what you want to do.
Block Internet Explorer with a third-party firewall
If you would rather turn off Windows Defender Firewall, you can use a third-party firewall, such as the free firewall.
Many firewall applications are loaded on top of Windows Firewall to provide additional functionality, but do not allow individual applications to be controlled. Free firewall allows you to block Internet access for individual applications such as Internet Explorer.
- To configure this, start Internet Explorer, and then install and run the Free Firewall application.
- Select Applications from the left navigation bar.
- Scroll down the list of applications and find Internet Explorer. You should see one entry for 64-bit and 32-bit versions.
- Change the setting for both to Deny All.
- This parameter will not be active until you activate the firewall. To do this, select Start from the left navigation bar.
- In this window, enable your firewall.
Now that this is enabled, Internet Explorer will not be able to access the Internet, while all other browsers will still.
Block Internet Explorer by updating the proxy server
There is another option that blocks Internet access from Internet Explorer, but it also blocks Internet access from all other browsers.
All communication on port 80 on the Internet (web browsing) goes through a proxy server configured by your ISP. This works because of the LAN setting on your PC to automatically detect the settings for the correct proxy server.
- You can find this option by selecting the Start menu and typing Internet Options.
- In Internet Options, select the Connections tab and select Local Area Network Settings.
- In the LAN Settings window, uncheck the Auto detect settings box and select Use a proxy server for your LAN.
- Set an address that is not a real proxy server, such as 1.0. 0.0. Select OK to complete the setup.
Now, no browser on your computer can access the Internet. However, keep in mind that any advanced computer user who wants to re-enable Internet access can simply go into the LAN settings and return those settings to normal.
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