PSA: Google Meet will stop working with IE11 very soon

Welcome to the Workspace Sessions. Workspace Sessions brings you the latest from Google Workspace, the Google Admin Console, and all things related to Enterprise and Education from the world of Google.

Earlier this year, Microsoft officially dropped support for the aging IE11 and Edge Legacy browsers in favor of the company’s new Chromium-based Edge browser. This wasn’t a massive surprise and, for the most part, users have long since migrated to the newer version of Edge or an entirely different platform like Chrome or Opera. That said, Internet Explorer still holds around 0.5% of the global market share as of July 2021 and some of those users are in for a not-so-pleasant treat if they use Google’s Meet video chat service.

As Microsoft sunsetted its support for IE11, Google also began the process of deprecating support for the antiquated browser. In March of this year, Google’s Workspace platform dropped IE11 from its list of supported web browsers but the widely-used Meet Video service gave IE11 a temporary stay of execution. This is likely due to the mass number of users that have been pushed into remote working and learning as a result of the ongoing pandemic.

Starting tomorrow, this will no longer be the case. For the outliers still using IE11, you will need to upgrade to the Chromium-based Edge browser from Microsoft or another web browser from Google’s approved list of supported software.

Last year, Microsoft announced that they will stop supporting Internet Explorer 11 (IE 11), and as of March 15, 2021, Google Workspace officially stopped supporting IE11.

Beginning August 17, 2021, you will no longer be able to use Google Meet on IE11. To avoid disruption, please switch to a different browser before that date.

Workspace Blog

I would guess that this will be a non-issue for most users. The majority of PC users that are using products like Google Meet, Zoom, or other video conferencing platforms have likely moved on to a newer browser long ago. Still, there are users out there still surfing around with IE11 and, if they use Google Meet, this could provide a speed bump come tomorrow. I personally know of someone who uses an outdated Windows laptop that will not take any more upgrades and it can not install the new Edge browser or any other up-to-date Chromium browser for that matter. These instances will be few and far between but it will happen and those users will have to get their hands on a new PC or Chromebook if they wish to keep using Google Meet. You can find a list of officially supported browsers here.

This installment of Workspace Sessions is sponsored in part by CTL. CTL is an industry leader in the deployment and management of Chrome and Chrome OS hardware. Headquartered in the USA, CTL designs and purpose builds Chrome devices specifically to meet the needs of its customers. Find out more about CTL here.