Internet Explorer was once a major player in the internet browser world. How many people use Internet Explorer in 2023?

The following article will discuss how many people use Internet Explorer, but also where it’s gone since its launch in 1995. 

Microsoft has since released a new browser, naming it Microsoft Edge. This browser isn’t IE, nor has it gained the momentum, or popularity that IE had in its time.

Edge was bundled with Windows 10 back in 2015, and then released for use on other operating systems between 2015 and 2020.

How many people use Internet Explorer is still an important data metric, though it’s about to lose Microsoft support in June 2022.

Microsoft will finally retire Internet Explorer 11, the last browser for that program.

Not everyone has migrated to another browser, so we are going to address how many people use Internet Explorer, and any related information you need if you are using it. 

Let’s find out how many people use Internet Explorer.

How Many People Use Internet Explorer in 2023?

According to browser usage statistics, there are still about 28 million global users of the Internet Explorer browser.

Its highest market share occurred in 2004 when IE had 94.04% of the market.

After 2004, the IE browser began its decline.

The main reported reason for Internet Explorer’s decline was its lack of speed. It was way too slow.

Not only that, but there were numerous security concerns. Oddly, many governments were using it as their exclusive browser, which isn’t wise because of security concerns.

Internet Explorer was also slow at finding and fixing bugs, and they provided insufficient support for the browser extensions and add-ons that users nowaday depend on for productivity.

Essentially, IE had become the browser that lacked adaptability and provided only minimal functionality.

Additionally, over 80% of Windows 10 users ditched Internet Explorer as their default browser rather quickly. 

Now, Edge is the default browser on Windows 10 and 11 operating systems, but it remains to be seen if users keep it as their default.

Currently, Google Chrome has the main market share of the browser market. 

When Did IE Lose Its Grip on Its Market Share?

After Internet Explorer’s biggest year in 2004, it started slipping in popularity. Between 2011 and 2021, IE went from a market share of 39.47% to 0.61%, which is a steep decline.

The reasons were its slow operation, lack of extension support, and the other reasons mentioned in the last section.

Support was ended for Internet Explorer 11 back in August 2020, but now, it’s going to lose all support across all operating systems in June 2022.

Microsoft has been urging firms to stop using IE before June 15, 2022 to make sure that employees don’t end up with issues once IE is totally retired. 

As of that date, IE 11 won’t even start anymore. Instead, Microsoft Edge will be the browser that loads up, according to the Microsoft company.

Microsoft is, of course, recommending that forms use Edge instead to avoid issues. 

However, Internet Explorer mode may load via remote or local content that newer browsers cannot load.

Only Edge will support that mode. Firefox and Chrome don’t support this technology. 

What Browsers Rose to The Challenge After IE?

How many people use Internet Explorer? The 28 million users will soon find themselves loading Edge instead if they fail to migrate their bookmarks and such to a new browser.

It’s time to choose one as your default browser if you don’t plan to use Edge. 

Here are the browsers that came after Internet Explorer and where they are today.

Google Chrome

Google launched Chrome in 2008, which has reached top ranking among browsers today.

Where Internet Explorer was once the most prominent, Chrome was found to be superior to IE.

It’s worth noting that Internet Explorer still had 60% of the browser market share in 2008, but Chrome quickly took over by 2012, as the most used browser across the globe. 

Apple Safari

A year before Google launched Chrome, Apple introduced Safari for Windows and Mac. This happened on June 11, 2007.

Safari was soon found to be the most energy efficient and fastest of all other browsers.

It was obviously superior to Internet Explorer and overtook it within a few years. Safari is still the second-most user browser after Chrome. 

Other browsers that have been used more than Internet Explorer include Opera, Samsung Internet, Firefox, Android, and others. 

Where Do Browsers Rank Today?

Here is how browsers rank at the time of this writing.

1. Chrome

2. Safari

3. Edge

4. Firefox

5. Samsung Internet

6. Opera

7. UC Browser

8. Android

8. Internet Explorer

9. All others

Naturally, Internet Explorer will drop off the list as the application retires.

Chrome has such a hold over the market (64.95%), that even the second and third most used browsers (Safari (19.01%) and Edge (3.99%)) pale in market share comparison.

How many people use Internet Explorer now? Internet Explorer still has a meager market share of 0.64%. 

Conclusion

How many people use Internet Explorer? We answered this topic du jour by discovering that 28 million people still use the IE browser, which still has a tiny market share of 0.64%. 

We also learned that Internet Explorer will no longer be available online to users as it’s retiring and all support will soon end (June 15, 2022).

If you have an older computer with an older Windows operating system, you may be able to still use IE as your browser, but if it glitches, there are no fixes for it. 

If you have an organization, Edge will load in place of Internet Explorer after the retirement date.

If you use Internet Explorer at the office, and you have the Windows 10 or 11 operating system, there will be no more Internet Explorer to use. 

However, there may be an IE mode option for loading certain content that cannot be loaded by Edge or other browsers. 

It remains to be seen if Edge can gain the popularity that Internet Explorer once had.

Do you use Internet Explorer? Have you decided which browser you plan to use once it retires?