Internet Explorer Won't Open Because of Corrupt Files
Internet Explorer Won't Open Because of Corrupt Files
Another cause of problems for Internet Explorer is malicious software that's corrupted system files. To see if this is causing your issue, restart your computer in safe mode. This ensures that none of the malicious apps start when your computer does.
To start your computer in safe mode, restart your computer and hold down the Shift key while it reboots. After the computer restarts, select Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Startup Settings > Restart. After the computer restarts again, follow the on-screen instructions to start in safe mode.
Once your computer launches in safe mode, try starting Internet Explorer. If it launches correctly, then you know the issue you were having before restarting your computer in safe mode may have been malicious software. If malicious software modified your Internet Explorer settings, you have a couple of options to set things back to normal. You can reset your Internet Explorer settings or reinstall Internet Explorer.
RESET INTERNET EXPLORER SETTINGS
- Open your computer's Control Panel and select Internet Options.
- Select the Advanced tab. Under the Reset Internet Explorer settings section, select Reset.
- Enable Delete personal settings. Select Reset to finish the IE reset process.
- Once Internet Explorer resets, restart your computer and try opening it again. If it works, then you've resolved the issue.
UPDATE INTERNET EXPLORER
If resetting Internet Explorer doesn't work, you may need to update it. You can repair your installation by visiting the Microsoft website and downloading the latest update. Once you install the latest update, restart your computer. This should replace any Internet Explorer DLL files that might have been corrupted by malicious software.
Even if resetting or updating Internet Explorer settings fixes the issue, you may still have malicious software on your computer. It's a good idea to run a full antivirus scan.
REINSTALL INTERNET EXPLORER
Finally, if none of the above options worked and you still can't get Internet Explorer to open, you need to fully reinstall Internet Explorer.
Since the web browser is included as a Windows feature, you can't uninstall it and reinstall it like a normal app. Instead, you need to disable and then reenable it as a Windows feature. To do that:
- Go into the Control Panel and select Programs and Features.
- Then select Turn Windows features on or off.
- In the Windows Features window, you'll see Internet Explorer enabled. Disable it, and select OK.
- Reboot the computer to finalize the uninstall. Once your computer reboots, repeat the above steps and reenable Internet Explorer. You'll need to restart your computer one more time to finish the reinstallation.
Internet Explorer Not Opening
If you've gotten this far in this article, you should find that Internet Explorer is working fine again.
To avoid the issue from happening again, make sure to install good antivirus and anti-malware scanning software. Also, ensure that Internet Explorer is still working after you run Windows updates. If it isn't, you can use the steps listed above to fix it again.