As of May 2026, Microsoft has retired Internet Explorer across all modern platforms. Support for IE8 on most versions ended in 2016.
Microsoft no longer provides active download links for IE8 on the Microsoft Download Center .
The search term "download windows explorer 8" is often a point of confusion for users. While "Windows Explorer" (now known as ) is the system's file management tool, "Internet Explorer 8" was Microsoft's flagship web browser released in 2009.
Since File Explorer is built into every version of Windows, there is no separate "download" for it; however, Internet Explorer 8 was a standalone update for older operating systems. It is vital to distinguish between these two utilities:
If you need the specific rendering or compatibility of Internet Explorer 8 for old business applications, do not download third-party ".exe" files, which often contain malware. Instead: