How to Disable Protected Mode in Internet Explorer

Protected Mode helps prevents malicious software from exploiting vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer, protecting your computer from the most common ways that hackers can gain access to your system.

As important as Protected Mode is, it's been known to cause problems in specific situations, so disabling it might be beneficial in troubleshooting certain scenarios. However, don't disable it unless you have reason to believe it's causing a major problem in Internet Explorer. If it's otherwise behaving normally, it's safest to keep it enabled.

Follow these easy steps to disable Internet Explorer Protected Mode:

These steps apply to Internet Explorer versions 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11, when installed on Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, or Windows Vista.

Internet Explorer Method

1. Open Internet Explorer.

   

   If you'd rather not go through Internet Explorer to complete these steps, see Tip 2 at the bottom of this page for some alternative methods.

2. From the command bar, go to Tools > Internet options.

   

   In Internet Explorer 9, 10, and 11, the Tools menu reveals when you press the Alt key once. See What Version of Internet Explorer Do I Have? if you're not sure.

3. Select the Security tab.

4. In the bottom half of this window, directly above the several buttons you see, uncheck Enable Protected Mode, and then select OK.

   

   This will require a restart of Internet Explorer, as you may have seen next to the checkbox in this step.

5. Choose OK if you're prompted with a Warning! dialog box, advising that The current security settings will put your computer at risk.

6. Close Internet Explorer and then open it again.

Verify that Protected Mode is truly disabled by checking the setting again, but there should also be a brief message at the bottom of Internet Explorer that says it's turned off.

Try again to visit the websites that were causing your problems to see if resetting the Internet Explorer security settings on your computer helped.

Windows Registry Method

An advanced way to disable Protected Mode in Internet Explorer is through the Windows Registry.

1. Open Registry Editor.

   

2. Use the folders on the left to open the following key within the HKEY_CURRENT_USER hive:
   

   \Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\
   

3. In the Internet Settings key, open the Zones subkey and then open the numbered folder that corresponds to the zone that you want to disable Protected Mode in.

   • 0: Local computer
   • 1: Intranet
   • 2: Trusted sites
   • 3: Internet
   • 4: Restricted sites

4. Create a new REG_DWORD value called 2500 within the zone.

   

5. Open the new value and set it as 3 to disable Protected Mode (0 enables it).

   

See this Super User thread on managing Protected Mode settings in the registry for more information.

More Information About IE Protected Mode

1. Protected Mode isn't available with Internet Explorer installed on Windows XP. Windows Vista is the earliest operating system that supports it.

2. There are other ways to open Internet Options. One is with Control Panel, but an even quicker method is through a Command Prompt or the Run dialog box, using the inetcpl.cpl command.

   Another is through Internet Explorer's menu button at the top right of the program (which you can trigger with the Alt+X keyboard shortcut).

3. You should always keep software like Internet Explorer updated. See How to Update Internet Explorer if you need help.

4. Protected Mode is disabled by default only in the Trusted sites and Local intranet zones, which is why you have to manually uncheck the Enable Protected Mode checkbox in the Internet and Restricted sites zones.

5. Some versions of Internet Explorer on some versions of Windows can use what's called Enhanced Protected Mode. This is also found in the Internet Options window, but under the Advanced tab. If you enable Enhanced Protected Mode, you have to restart your computer for it to take effect.