Internet Explorer 8 Command Line Arguments

Internet Explorer 8 is not a bad browser. No really. It is definitely better than Internet Explorer 7 or the dreaded Internet Explorer 6. Microsoft has added several interesting features to the web browser that can compete with the features offered by popular third party browsers like Opera, Google Chrome or Firefox. It is probably still the most used web browser in business and enterprise environments.

Microsoft has introduced a few new features in Internet Explorer 8 including the inPrivate privacy feature but also architectural changes that made Internet Explorer 8 a multi-process browser. Microsoft has created a handful of command line arguments for Internet Explorer 8 that can be useful under certain circumstances.

Probably the most interesting is the ability to start Internet Explorer 8 directly in InPrivate mode by using the -private argument. This can be combined with the url argument that will open a specified url directly in Internet Explorer 8. The argument to open a specific url is simply that url, for example http://www.ghacks.net/. You can add the two parameters to any Internet Explorer 8 shortcut so that you start the web browser immediately in inPrivate mode and the specified url.

A right-click and the selection of Properties should open the Internet Explorer Properties window which contains a Target form in the Shortcut tab.

Simply append -private http://www.ghacks.net/ at the end of the line. The full line should look like the following afterwards:

"C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" -private http://www.ghacks.net/

There are two additional command line arguments available for Internet Explorer 8 that might come in handy. The -k argument starts Internet Explorer 8 in Kiosk mode which has been designed primarily for presentations. It will start the web browser without toolbars and status bar.

The final parameter is -extoff which will start Internet Explorer 8 without extensions which is useful for troubleshooting purposes.

Which leads to the closing question: Does anyone know how to always launch Internet Explorer in InPrivate mode. The shortcut works fine if Internet Explorer 8 is started from the icon but it does not help if the user clicks on a link in another program like Microsoft Outlook.

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Tags: inprivate, internet explorer 8, internet-explorer, kiosk mode, Microsoft internet explorer, web browser
Categories: Browsing, Internet Explorer

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12 Responses to “Internet Explorer 8 Command Line Arguments”

1. Ben Zipperer says:

   June 23, 2009 at 2:31 pm

   The WinHelpOnline blog has a registry patch to start IE8 in inprivate mode by default.

   http://www.winhelponline.com/blog/how-to-start-internet-explorer-8-in-inprivate-mode-by-default/

   Reply
2. MiW says:

   June 23, 2009 at 2:33 pm

   If you modify the shell file associations with url:// in explorer, you can change the launch parameters for iexplore.exe.

   That way all clicked links will launch in private mode.

   You could even enforce this at a group policy level for an organisation, changing the shell associations for all.

   Reply
   • Martin says:

     June 23, 2009 at 3:01 pm

     MiW I was that far but the Internet Shortcut points to “c:\WINDOWS\system32\rundll32.exe” “c:\WINDOWS\system32\ieframe.dll”,OpenURL %l and not Internet Explorer. Any idea where to put the -private parameter?

     Reply
3. LouCypher says:

   June 23, 2009 at 4:09 pm

   Is there
   “C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe” -uninstall
   parameter that work?

   Reply
4. Asher says:

   June 23, 2009 at 4:10 pm

   “introduced a few new features in Internet Explorer 8″

   Reply
5. PIP says:

   June 24, 2009 at 4:55 pm

   Quote:

   “Is there
   “C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe” -uninstall
   parameter that work?”

   No … your wrong … use
   “C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe” -delete

   Reply
6. Shrekker says:

   June 24, 2009 at 6:48 pm

   >> “Is there
   >> “C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe” -uninstall
   >> parameter that work?”

   > No … your wrong … use
   > “C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe” -delete

   I thought one could use
   “C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe” -destroy

   Reply
7. lvrennes says:

   July 27, 2009 at 10:36 pm

   hello, does anybody know how to start ie8 from a shortcut with mutliple tabs?

   Reply

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   June 24, 2009 at 12:48 pm

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   June 24, 2009 at 2:14 pm

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4. Internet Explorer 8: Argumentos de línea de comandos | MuyInternet says:

   June 24, 2009 at 11:55 pm

   [...] Hay otros dos argumentos de línea de comandos disponibles para Internet Explorer 8, que podrían resultar útil. El argumento -k que inicia a IE 8 en modo pantalla completa y que ha sido diseñado para presentaciones. Se iniciará el navegador web, sin barras de herramientas ni barras de estado. [...]

   Reply