All you need is to force disable C.M. in IE - Just paste This code (in IE9 and under c.m. will be disabled):

<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=9; IE=8; IE=7; IE=EDGE" />

Source: http://twigstechtips.blogspot.com/2010/03/css-ie8-meta-tag-to-disable.html


This should be enough to force an IE user to drop compatibility mode in any IE version:

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

However, there are a couple of caveats one should be aware of:

  • The meta tag above should be included as the very first tag under <head>. Only the <title> tag may be placed above it.

If you don't do that, you'll get an error on IE9 Dev Tools: X-UA-Compatible META tag ignored because document mode is already finalized.

  • If you want this markup to validate, make sure you remember to close the meta tag with a /> instead of just >.

  • Starting with IE11, edge mode is the preferred document mode. To support/enable that, use the HTML5 document type declaration <!doctype html>.

  • If you need to support webfonts on IE7, make sure you use <!DOCTYPE html>. I've tested it and found that rendering webfonts on IE7 got pretty unreliable when using <!doctype html>.

The use of Google Chrome Frame is popular, but unfortunately it's going to be dropped sometime this month, Jan. 2014.

<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=EDGE,chrome=1">

Extensive related info here. The tip on using it as the first meta tag is on a previously mentioned source here, which has been updated.


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

should force your page to render in IE8 standards. The user may add the site to compatibility list but this tag will take precedence.

A quick way to check would be to load the page and type the following the address bar :

javascript:alert(navigator.userAgent) 

If you see IE7 in the string, it is loading in compatibility mode, otherwise not.


If you're using ASP.NET MVC, I found Response.AddHeader("X-UA-Compatible", "IE=edge,chrome=1") in a code block in _Layout to work quite well:

@Code
    Response.AddHeader("X-UA-Compatible", "IE=edge,chrome=1")
End Code
<!DOCTYPE html>
everything else

The answer given by FelixFett worked for me. To reiterate:

<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=11; IE=10; IE=9; IE=8; IE=7; IE=EDGE" />

I have it as the first 'meta' tag in my code. I added 10 and 11 as those are versions that are published now for Internet Explorer.

I would've just commented on his answer but I do not have a high enough reputation...