Internet Explorer Command Line Options

Internet Explorer offers a number of command-line options that allow you to troubleshoot and configure the browser. This article describes the options supported by Internet Explorer.

Supported Command-line Options

The following declaration shows the command-line definition for Internet Explorer.

iexplore.exe [ [ -embedding ] 
               [ -extoff ] 
               [ -framemerging ] 
               [ -k ] 
               [ -noframemerging ] 
               [ -private ] ]
             [ URL ]

The following table describes the supported command-line options for Internet Explorer.

Command-line Option	Description
-embedding	Used to start Internet Explorer via OLE Embedding (such as the WebBrowser Control).
-extoff	Internet Explorer 7 and later. Starts Internet Explorer in No Add-ons mode, which can be used to troubleshoot problems with browser add-ons. For more information, see Troubleshooting Internet Explorer Add-ons .
-framemerging	Internet Explorer 8 and later. Allows Internet Explorer to opportunistically merge new frame processes into existing frame processes. For more information, see Internet Explorer 8 and Reliability .
-k	Starts Internet Explorer in kiosk mode; the browser is opened in a maximized window that does not display the address bar, the navigation buttons, or the status bar.
-noframemerging	Internet Explorer 8 and later. Prevents Internet Explorer from opportunistically merging new frame processes into existing frame processes.
-private	Internet Explorer 8 and later. Starts Internet Explorer with InPrivate Browsing set to active. For more information, see InPrivate Browsing: Frequently Asked Questions .
URL	After starting, Internet Explorer navigates to the page or resource specified as the URL.

Superseded, Deprecated, and Obsolete Options

The following table lists command-line options that have been superseded by other options, deprecated, or are obsolete. The options should no longer be used.

Command–line Option	Status
-channelband	Obsolete as of Internet Explorer 7.
-e	Obsolete as of Internet Explorer 7.
-eval	Obsolete as of Internet Explorer 7.
-nomerge	Available in pre-release versions of Internet Explorer 8; this option has been superseded by the -noframemerging option describe earlier.
-new	Obsolete as of Internet Explorer 7.
-nowait	Obsolete as of Internet Explorer 7.
-remote	Obsolete as of Internet Explorer 8.
-v	Obsolete as of Internet Explorer 8.
-version	Obsolete as of Internet Explorer 8.

Supported Command-line Options

Superseded, Deprecated, and Obsolete Options

Related Topics