Following the debut of its Chromium-based Edge browser earlier this year, Microsoft yesterday announced plans to sunset the legacy version of Edge. Additionally, the company said its Microsoft 365 suite of apps and services is dropping support for Internet Explorer 11.

Microsoft is providing users with plenty of notice before support is dropped for both products. If you use Microsoft Teams, Microsoft said the communication platform will no longer support Internet Explorer 11 beginning November 30, 2020. Other Microsoft 365 apps and services will then cease support for IE 11 beginning August 17, 2021.

Meanwhile, Microsoft Edge Legacy will reach its end of life on March 9, 2021, and will receive no security updates after that. All users on the latest stable Windows 10 releases should have already received the new Chromium-based Edge browser.

Customers have been using IE 11 since 2013 when the online environment was much less sophisticated than the landscape today. Since then, open web standards and newer browsers—like the new Microsoft Edge—have enabled better, more innovative online experiences. We believe that Microsoft 365 subscribers, in both consumer and commercial contexts, will be well served with this change through faster and more responsive web access to greater sets of features in everyday toolsets like Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, and more.

Because many businesses still rely on legacy IE 11 apps, Microsoft isn't fully pulling the plug on the browser just yet. IE 11 will continue to function, but Microsoft encourages users to migrate to the new Microsoft Edge which features an Internet Explorer mode to maintain compatibility. The Internet Explorer mode lets you seamlessly access a legacy IE app in one tab while browsing the rest of the modern web in other tabs. Just note that Microsoft 365 apps and services won't work with Edge's Internet Explorer mode after August 17, 2021.