Can not declare IE 11 as default program

Is anyone running into this problem with Windows 7 or 8.0/8.1?

I can set ie11 as default browser and it will work with everything except Office. I'm pretty sure outlook will always open Edge.

essenbe said:

I can set ie11 as default browser and it will work with everything except Office. I'm pretty sure outlook will always open Edge.

When I run into a link in Word, it requires Ctrl + click on the link. That's by design.

Hmmm, it could be that in the older versions of Outlook, you need to press and hold Ctrl while clicking on the link.

caveman88 said:

According to what I found on Google, you should never run OL in compatibility mode SO I do not think I will be trying that. Thanks for the suggestion anyway.

Caveman . . . have you pressed Ctrl and held it while clicking on the link in Outlook? Since it works in other Office programs, it might work with Outlook. Worth a try anyway.

How to put this . . . It's not Outlook that's misbehaving, it's Internet Explorer!

A. Many of you have complained that when IE is your default browser, links in Outlook won't work.

We've tried everything we know, and the only way to get links in Outlook to work is to make Edge, Firefox and/or Chrome the default browser. Once IE is made the default again, links no longer work.

B. A member of a private group asked the question: "Is there a known issue with HTML messages not wrapping correctly in the reading pane of Outlook? Two guys in [a private] forum have the problem . . ."

Since I hadn't seen what this member was "hearing" from others, I replied that everything was working fine for me. That all HTML messages were rendering correctly.

I think this will explain what the problem really is; and it's not Outlook . . . Items A. and B. above are related, although it doesn’t look like it at first.

1. I am running Windows 10 Build 10532.

2. I run Firefox as my default browser.

3. While working within this thread Item A., I changed my default browser to IE in order to test some options, hoping to help solve this dilemma.

4. When the forum member in Item B. asked about "HTML messages not wrapping", I told her mine were working fine (I was using Firefox as my default browser at the time).

5. After changing the default browser to IE, Office 365 Build 16.0.4229.1023 dropped and (coincidentally) I started to see what I attached to the beginning of this post. Because I hadn't seen what the private forum member described I didn't associate this new anomaly as being the same.

I had intended to come back here to this Item A. discussion and basically explain that although this is a problem, I don’t see how we can expect Microsoft to jump into the Way Back Machine and correct whatever is wrong with Outlook links. In the back of my mind, I thought it had to be a Windows 10 fluke. However, now that I have a new perspective on things, I think we should all be sure to give feedback, telling them that Internet Explorer is broken in Windows 10.

While discussing anomalies in O365 with a HippsieGypsie, it hit me . . . I had changed my default browser to IE at the same time Build 4229.1023 dropped and now we had two problems with "HTML" messages. Could it be . . . ?

I changed my default browser back to Firefox and well, the rest of the story is that HTML messages are all rendering correctly once more. At the same time, every single complaint I’ve seen is that links will not work in IE, but will in Firefox, Edge and/or Chrome. I think I remember at least one of you saying links worked in Opera too.

So, am I crazy to think that something happened to Internet Explorer in Windows 10 that keeps HTML from rendering correctly? Logic tells me that if three or four out of five browsers are working, then there's something wrong with the fifth one, not Outlook. :)

If this is fuzzy logic, just let me know and I'll shut up. :)

BTW, ignore the two attachments below; they're not correct and I can't seem to delete them.

OK, folks, I'm in contact with friend who's been an Outlook MVP since 1999, so I'm thinking she knows what she's talking about. :)

For those who're unable to use IE to open links in Outlook 2003 through 2013, go to her site and see if this solution will work for you.

Outlook Links Wont Open In Windows 10

Good luck and be sure to post your results.