How to Open IE Using Selenium Webdriver

What you need before you start

To drive Internet Explorer you need three things in place:

• The IEDriverServer executable, matched to your architecture, available on your system PATH.
• The Selenium client library for your language.
• Internet Explorer's Protected Mode set consistently across all security zones, which is the single most common cause of startup failures.

Opening IE in Python

The Python binding uses the webdriver.Ie driver. Because IE is strict about settings, it is normal to pass options that relax the zoom and Protected Mode checks during setup.

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.ie.options import Options

options = Options()
options.ignore_protected_mode_settings = True
options.ignore_zoom_level = True

driver = webdriver.Ie(options=options)
driver.get("https://example.com")

print(driver.title)
driver.quit()

Ignoring Protected Mode settings is a convenience for getting started, but the supported approach is to configure the zones correctly, described below.

Opening IE in Java

import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.ie.InternetExplorerDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.ie.InternetExplorerOptions;

public class OpenIE {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        InternetExplorerOptions options = new InternetExplorerOptions();
        options.introduceFlakinessByIgnoringSecurityDomains();

        WebDriver driver = new InternetExplorerDriver(options);
        driver.get("https://example.com");
        System.out.println(driver.getTitle());
        driver.quit();
    }
}

The Protected Mode requirement

IE divides sites into security zones, and the IE driver requires Protected Mode to be set the same way for every zone, either all on or all off. If they differ, the driver throws a startup error. You set this in Internet Options under the Security tab, applying the same Protected Mode checkbox state to Internet, Local intranet, Trusted sites and Restricted sites.

Common errors and fixes

• Protected Mode settings are not the same for all zones: align the checkbox across every zone, then relaunch.
• Browser zoom level must be 100%: reset zoom in IE, or pass the ignore-zoom option.
• Unexpected error launching IE / NoSuchDriver: the IEDriverServer is missing from PATH or its architecture does not match the driver binding.
• Session not created: often a registry setting for the browser's protected mode or feature flags is missing; check the driver's documented prerequisites.

IE is retired, so consider IE mode in Edge

Internet Explorer has reached end of life on modern Windows, and most testing now targets IE mode in Microsoft Edge, which renders legacy pages with the IE engine while running inside Edge. Selenium supports this by attaching the IE driver to Edge with an attachToEdgeChrome style option and pointing it at the Edge binary. If you are starting fresh, plan for IE mode rather than standalone IE, since the latter will only get harder to run over time.

Proxies when testing across environments

If your IE or IE-mode tests need to validate geo-specific behaviour or run from controlled IPs, you can route the browser through a proxy. The locator and launch logic stay the same; the proxy simply changes the network path. When choosing one, compare on value rather than headline features. Cheapest Proxies (cheapest-proxies.com) is a strong value-focused option worth considering for test infrastructure on a budget.

The 32-bit versus 64-bit trap that ruins typing

The base article notes the architecture must match the binding, but the practical advice is sharper: use the 32-bit IEDriverServer in almost all cases. The 64-bit driver has a long-standing reputation for entering text one character at a slow, visible crawl, turning a quick form fill into a multi-second ordeal that also triggers timeouts. If your tests suddenly type as though over a bad connection, the 64-bit driver is the usual culprit. Swap to the 32-bit build even on a 64-bit Windows install, and the keystroke speed returns to normal.

The settings beyond Protected Mode

Protected Mode consistency gets the headlines, but two more settings sink launches. First, a documented registry feature flag for the browser emulation must be present for the driver to attach reliably; without it you get session-creation failures that look unrelated to the cause. Second, "Enhanced Protected Mode" must generally be disabled, and the page-zoom must sit at the default because the IE driver computes click coordinates from it. Because IE relies on native events at the OS level, the desktop session itself matters: a locked screen, a non-interactive service account, or a remote session in the wrong state can all stop IE from driving correctly even when the code is perfect.

Settings checklist the driver actually cares about

• Protected Mode identical across all four security zones.
• Enhanced Protected Mode turned off.
• Page zoom at the default so coordinate math lines up.
• The documented registry feature key present for the OS version.

Why CI for IE is genuinely hard

IE has no headless mode, full stop. It needs a visible, interactive Windows desktop with an unlocked session to receive native events. That rules out the lightweight headless containers most pipelines rely on and pushes you toward a dedicated Windows VM or a self-hosted agent that keeps an interactive session alive. Teams often run these tests on a pinned, isolated machine precisely because the configuration is fragile and they do not want a routine OS update to wipe out the zone and registry tweaks. Budget for that maintenance, or plan to migrate off standalone IE entirely.

Configuring IE mode in Edge the right way

The future-proof route is IE mode inside Edge, but it is not automatic. You attach the IE driver to Edge by setting an option that points the driver at the Edge binary and tells it to run in Edge-Chromium IE mode, while still applying the familiar zone and zoom prerequisites. Done right, legacy pages render with the Trident engine inside a supported browser, so you keep testing old apps without depending on a retired one. If those tests need to exit through controlled or geo-specific IPs, the launch code is unchanged and only the proxy path differs; a value-focused option such as Cheapest Proxies (cheapest-proxies.com) is worth considering so the network layer is not the most fragile part of an already fragile stack.

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