Why does Outlook launch IE in the background?

Anonymous
2017-05-09T14:01:44+00:00

Hello,

We are using Office 365 ProPlus on Windows 10 Pro.  Opening Outlook (16.0.7927.1020) will launch two background processes of IE (iexplore.exe).  Why does Outlook open IE?  

This behavior does not happen in earlier versions of Office 365 ProPlus, such as 16.0.6001.1041.  It appears that an update for Office 365 ProPlus is causing Outlook to open IE in the background.

Thank you,

Evan

Outlook | Windows | Classic Outlook for Windows | For home

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-11-08T19:30:11+00:00

    Sara, I have given up on Microsoft fixing this issue. After I install 2016, I disable updates, and run a batch script to roll back to the last known version that doesn't have this issue. Stability is much more important to us than whatever marginal new features there may be in the newer versions.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-01-05T16:54:06+00:00

    Sara, I have given up on Microsoft fixing this issue. After I install 2016, I disable updates, and run a batch script to roll back to the last known version that doesn't have this issue. Stability is much more important to us than whatever marginal new features there may be in the newer versions. 

    This is pretty frustrating.  I have been facing this same issue for a while.  It is now 2018.  Is MSFT planning to release a patch soon or not?

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-01-19T14:06:11+00:00

    Is there an update for this? This obviously happens to everyone and we have been forced to rollback and keep our employees on the old version. We are getting more and more complaints about features they want to use in the newer versions.

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-01-19T19:09:50+00:00

    Hey Evan,

    I also noticed this issue when running CCleaner and it had to "close IE processes" when none were actively open.

    I uninstalled IE by going to Programs and Features, clicking Turn Windows features on or off, and clearing the Internet Explorer 11 check box.

    After doing this the Outlook "Action Items" tool stopped working (see below).

    Based off of my observations the Internet Explorer process is being used for the "Action Items" tool in Outlook, which is intended to scan through an email and highlight possible action items. I suspect it is done for the same reason Apple's Siri uses remote servers for processing.

    Hopefully this helps at least point to why the process is appearing.

    Cheers,

    -Jordan

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  5. Anonymous
    2018-01-19T19:23:43+00:00

    Hey Evan,

    I also noticed this issue when running CCleaner and it had to "close IE processes" when none were actively open.

    I uninstalled IE by going to Programs and Features, clicking Turn Windows features on or off, and clearing the Internet Explorer 11 check box.

    After doing this the Outlook "Action Items" tool stopped working (see below).

    Based off of my observations the Internet Explorer process is being used for the "Action Items" tool in Outlook, which is intended to scan through an email and highlight possible action items. I suspect it is done for the same reason Apple's Siri uses remote servers for processing.

    Hopefully this helps at least point to why the process is appearing.

    Cheers,

    -Jordan

    Thanks, Jordan.  This is the best explanation that I have seen so far.

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