Back on August 17th of 2020, Microsoft announced that they would discontinue support for Microsoft 365 apps and services for Internet Explorer 11 in one year, this as a lead-in to their intent to discontinue support for Internet Explorer 11 itself. On August 17th of this year (2021), Microsoft 365 apps and services no longer support Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) and users may have a degraded experience, or be unable to connect to, those apps and services if using IE11. Microsoft will be phasing out those apps and services over weeks and months to ensure a smooth end of support.
While Microsoft 365 apps and services no longer support IE11, the IE 11 desktop application remains a supported browser by Microsoft until JUNE 15, 2022. On June 15, 2022, the Internet Explorer 11 desktop application will be retired by Microsoft and go out of support on certain versions of Windows 10.
As a current QuickBooks Desktop user you are likely aware that all 'current' QuickBooks Desktop products 'require' Internet Explorer 11 as part of their 'system requirements'. The Specific Intuit System Requirements for the latest three years of QuickBooks read:
- QuickBooks 2021 System Requirement - Browser: Internet Explorer 11 (32-bit)
- QuickBooks 2020 System Requirement - Browser: Internet Explorer 11 (32-bit)
- QuickBooks 2019 System Requirement - Browser: Internet Explorer 11 (32-bit)
While there will certainly be a new version of QuickBooks Desktop (2022) released long prior to Microsoft's deadline for the 'demise of Internet Explorer 11' next June 15th, and I can not address any Browser support or requirements related to QuickBooks Desktop 2022 because I am currently under a 'Non-disclosure Agreement', the intent of this article is to discuss the impact and potential issues of what's happening with Internet Explorer 11 and the existing three QuickBooks Product lines (shown above) and to make certain you, our loyal readers, are aware of these issues.
Hopefully Intuit is already planning a smooth transition of these products to Microsoft Edge (at a minimum); however, there is more to such a transition than simply plug-n-play with a different browser. You see, one reason Intuit has always had Internet Explorer as the sole 'supported (and required) browser' for QuickBooks Desktop was because they relied upon necessary 'third-party components' of Internet Explorer in support of the overall QuickBooks application. So, it's not so simple as just deciding, "let's use Edge, or Chrome or Firefox as our supported browser."
But, without a transition to an alternative browser in support of the prior QuickBooks Desktop versions, while these version of QuickBooks will continue to run under a non-supported Internet Explorer which will also continue to run, the use experience will significantly decline, more problems will be regularly encountered by users, and the potential of 'bad actor' penetration into these applications increases.
This will be one more reason why QuickBooks Desktop users will want to watch closely what happens with the upcoming release of QuickBooks Desktop 2022 products, for let us not forget that this issue with Internet Explorer 11 is but one of the major Microsoft transitions in the wings. Soon to be also is the entire Windows 11 Operating System release and planned migration Microsoft is intending for existing Windows 10 users. That will certainly be another round of issues with which QuickBooks Desktop users need to be preparing to manage.
Insightful Accountant will continue to do our best to keep you aware and updated on both the Internet Explorer 11 and Windows 11 related impacts on QuickBooks Desktop as they evolve.