Add Flash Sites to Metro Internet Explorer 10 Whitelist

Flash support is included in the Metro version of Internet Explorer, but only sites that are whitelisted will be allowed. Here's how to whitelist them.

John Savill

January 26, 2013

1 Min Read
Add Flash Sites to Metro Internet Explorer 10 Whitelist

Q: How can I add multiple flash sites to my Metro Internet Explorer 10 whitelist?

A: Although Flash support is included in the Metro version of Internet Explorer, only sites that are on the Flash whitelist can actually leverage the Flash engine. Microsoft continues to update this whitelist as more sites are tested and found to behave well with Flash, protecting the performance and battery life of the devices leveraging the Metro Internet Explorer (and for Windows RT).

It is possible to edit the whitelist file and add additional domains that will be enabled for Flash. In my example I'm going to add Splitsvillelanes.com, which is where I'm trying to book a lane for a date with my wife (I'm a lousy husband) and currently this is what I see on my device in the Metro IE.

  1. Navigate to %LOCALAPPDATA%MicrosoftInternet ExplorerIECompatData folder. For example, for my account this folder is C:UsersjohnAppDataLocalMicrosoftInternet ExplorerIECompatData.

  2. Open the iecompatdata.xml file in Notepad.

  3. Navigate to the section of the file and scroll to the end and add your new domain just before the tag. For example, my final lines in the Flash section are now these:

    zumiez.com   zynga.com   splitsvillelanes.com
  4. Save the file.

  5. Close the Metro version of Internet Explorer and restart.

  6. The site will now load and be able to use Flash.

I can now book a lane for my date night!

Note that during the next cycle when Microsoft updates the whitelist file, your changes will be lost, which means you might want to disable the automatic updating of the whitelist. This is explained in the FAQ "Stop automatic updating of the IE 10 Flash whitelist."

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