Launch IE from a link in Chrome

Question

I want to have a link in Chrome e.g.

Open Link

that when you click on it in the Chrome Browser that it launches the link in an IE window.

Can anyone

Answer 1

Great solution @topcat3! To fix it for IE11, the link must contain https:// or http://:

<a href="alert:https://www.google.com">open google in IE</a>

And I tweaked the registry command with the ProgramFiles variable:

cmd /k set myvar=%1 & call set myvar=%%myvar:alert:=%% & call "%%ProgramFiles%%\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" %%myvar%% & exit /B

Answer 2

Ok so I did the following which works :

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
   alert
      (Default) = "URL:Alert Protocol"
      URL Protocol = ""
      DefaultIcon
         (Default) = "iexplore.exe,1"
      shell
         open
            command
               (Default) = cmd /k set myvar=%1 & call set myvar=%%myvar:alert:=%% & call "C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" %%myvar%% & exit /B

Then have your link

<a href="alert:www.google.ie">link</a>

Answer 3

You can use ie-tab for chrome. It invokes an IE frame inside your chrome browser. Worked good for me.

Answer 4

All answers above mention HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, but how do we use it? Where to use it? It is not mentioned.

But now I have the solution please follow the below steps.

1. Open New Notepad and Paste below code in Notepad

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\iehttp]
@="URL:Open with IE Protocol"
"URL Protocol"=""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\iehttp\shell]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\iehttp\shell\open]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\iehttp\shell\open\command]
@="cmd /V /C \"set URL=%1&& set URL=!URL:iehttp=http!&&cmd /c \"\"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Internet Explorer\\iexplore.exe\"\" !URL!\""

2. Ctrl + s
3. Give Name like: iphttp.reg + Save in desktop
4. After that double click on iphttp.reg file from the desktop, first popup click on Yes

Done from the Registry side no need to refresh or restart the computer. It will give two links for testing:

 <a href="http://www.google.com" target="_blank">Open Same Browser</a>
 <a href="iehttp://www.google.com">Open With IE</a>

That's IT. It is working fine now.

Limitation: from Jquery, Javascript it's not working as per my understanding.

Answer 5

Building on the responses from @topcat3 and @danieln above, I tweaked the solution to get rid of the annoying lingering DOS window. Here's what works nicely for me:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
    alert
    (Default) = "URL:Alert Protocol"
    URL Protocol = ""
    DefaultIcon
        (Default) = "iexplore.exe,1"
    shell
        open
            command
                (Default) = cmd /v /k set "myvar=%1" & set myvar=!myvar:alert:=! & start "" /B "!ProgramFiles!\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" !myvar! & exit

Answer 6

Starting with Chrome 74, legacy browser support (LBS) is built into chrome. The behavior meets the needs you describe, i.e. (pun intended) certain URLs are opened in a new Internet Exploder window, and not in a tab in Chrome.

From Google's official site on LBS:

As an administrator, you can automatically switch users between Chrome Browser and another browser. Deploy Legacy Browser Support (LBS) and use policies to specify which URLs open in an alternative browser. For example, you can ensure that browser visits to the internet use Chrome Browser, but visits to your organization’s intranet use Internet Explorer®.

For older versions of Chrome (≤73), a separate install is needed, namely the "legacy browser support extension". The P.S. to the question explicitly excludes browser extensions, but the reason seemed to be that clicking on the link should open a separate IE window.