How to programmatically turn off quirks mode in IE8 WebBrowser control?

Question

I want to use IE8 as a WebBrowser control in a C# application. How can I disable "quirks mode" and force IE into standards compliance (as far as it is implemented)?

Answer 1

The last I heard was that IE8 would use standards mode by default. Are you seeing an actual problem with the latest beta version? Are you sure it's rendering in quirks mode to start with, without a user explicitly hitting the compatibility view button?

Answer 2

I think the issue you're facing is described in IEBlog: WebBrowser Control Rendering Modes in IE8:

While webmasters can easily alter their site to render properly in the new version of IE, many software vendors do not have the resources to instantly push out new versions of their applications with updated internal pages. In order to ensure that these existing applications remain in working order, IE8 renders pages running within instances of the WebBrowser control in IE7 Standards Mode by default.

Here I should note that the comments on the page say the above is incorrect, and that "IE8 renders pages running within instances of the WebBrowser control in IE7 Strict Mode OR Quirks mode by default, depending on the page's doctype."

The solution is as follows:

When an executable loads an instance of the WebBrowser control it scans the registry to check whether the executable wants IE7 Standards or IE8 Standards mode.

...

To run in IE8 Standards Mode insert the following registry value:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_NATIVE_DOCUMENT_MODE]

"MyApplication.exe"=dword:13880

In both of these instances, MyApplication.exe should be replaced with the name of the executable that will be running WebBrowser controls in a specified mode.

So it sounds like the "programmatic" solution is to write a key in the registry saying you want IE8 Standards mode for WebBrowser controls in your specific application.

Answer 3

Please note there have been some changes since the beta, the registry keys have been renamed etc. Read more here.

Answer 4

If you don't want to use the registry key technique, you could insert the following tag:

<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=8" />

The "content" attribute forces rendering in various modes.

Answer 5

Hey I have a question. I am doing a registry check to see if IE8 is running in IE7 compatibility mode. I am not able to get the exact registry key to do the same.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks RS

Answer 6

This meta tag has worked wonders - really appreciate it !!!

Bye bye Compatibility View button -