Excel Web Query and IE 11 retirement

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Excel Web Query and IE 11 retirement

DonQuijote 61

The retirement of IE 11 has been announced for August 2021.
Working with Excel we rely on Web Queries, that we understand use their own version of IE (reference).

To be clear this refers to Excel desktop professional 2019 on the menu: Data > Get External Data > From Web.
This doesn't refer to the Power Query version: Data > Get & Transform > From Web.

We expect that our web queries will continue to work on excel desktop after August 2019 but I would like to know if this has been confirmed (hopefully from someone on the excel team).
I would also like to know if there will be any changes such as a transition to Edge on the web queries or if they will continue to run based on their own version of IE.
Also if any updates will be required on Excel desktop for the web queries to continue running smoothly.

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Answer 1

Emily Hua-MSFT 27,796

@DonQuijote

I can understand your concerns, but currently I do not find any KB from Microsoft related to the browser used by Web Query for Excel.
Besides, there is no related updates or features listed on Microsoft 365 roadmap.
I will update my reply here if there is any update.

If conditions permit, I suggest you open a paid support ticket with Microsoft Support to have a confirm.

Thanks for your understanding.

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DonQuijote 61 Reputation points

2021-04-20T09:40:30.87+00:00

@Emily Hua-MSFT , if this is not mentioned in the list of updates, does it mean the Web Query will continue to work as the currently work? Is there a possibility that the Web Query could be discontinued? Any additional information would be very much appreciated and I will also try to create a support ticket on my end. Thanks
Emily Hua-MSFT 27,796 Reputation points

2021-04-22T10:17:45.503+00:00

@DonQuijote
Thanks for your reply.
There is also a web quey on menu: New Query > From Web.
Could you please check whether this feature could be helpful?
DonQuijote 61 Reputation points

2021-04-29T12:56:06.807+00:00

Thank you for your reply @Emily Hua-MSFT
This could be an option for new queries but the problem are the existing Web Queries which are many.
Will the legacy Web Query stop working with the IE retirement? This would have dramatic implications.
Beyond the issue of the existing queries, the Power Query "From Web" also behaves differently so we would need to keep the option of using the legacy Web Query going forward.
Emily Hua-MSFT 27,796 Reputation points

2021-04-30T09:47:40.15+00:00

@DonQuijote

>Will the legacy Web Query stop working with the IE retirement?

The Web Query (From Web) feature uses browser functionality provided by Windows which happens to currently be IE based.
This announcement does not indicate Windows will remove IE or that Excel would stop using the web controls based on IE. It is specific for Office and states "This means that after the above dates, customers will have a degraded experience or will be unable to connect to Microsoft 365 apps and services on IE 11.". For example, using Excel Online may have either degraded experience or will not work at all.

In theory that would continue to function the same and if Windows updates their web functionality it should work with the replacement.
DonQuijote 61 Reputation points

2021-04-30T15:11:14.267+00:00

Hi @Emily Hua-MSFT , thank you for the answer. It seems to me that we should be able to continue working with Excel Web Query the same way as soon as IE is not removed from our Windows and Excel desktop continues to support Web Query (From Web - Legacy).

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Excel Web Query and IE 11 retirement

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