Windows Server Download Blocking: Loosening Security Restrictions

Internet Explorer’s Enhanced Security Configuration (IE ESC) — enabled by default on Windows Server — deliberately blocks file downloads as one of its hardening measures, which is sensible for a server that shouldn’t normally be used for general browsing, but gets in the way when you genuinely do need to download a driver, tool, or update directly onto the server.

The Error

Your current security settings do not allow this file to be downloaded.

Allowing Downloads

1. Click Start, type Internet Options, and open it.
2. Go to the Security tab.
3. Click Custom level….
4. Scroll to the Downloads section and change File download from Disable to Enable.
5. Click OK through the remaining dialogs to apply.

Retry your download — it should now proceed normally. Consider re-enabling the Disable setting afterward if the server doesn’t need ongoing download access, since IE ESC’s restrictions are a genuine (if blunt) security measure for a machine that’s meant to be managed remotely rather than browsed from directly.

Is This Still Relevant on Current Windows Server (2026)?

Yes, more than you might expect. Despite Internet Explorer 11 being retired as a desktop application on Windows 10/11 back in June 2022, that change was specific to the Windows client OS and didn’t touch Windows Server — IE11 remains available as an optional feature on Windows Server 2019, 2022, and the current 2025 release, and IE ESC is still a working Server Manager toggle on all of them, behaving exactly as described above. Microsoft has stopped actively updating its own IE ESC documentation (the official FAQ page is now archived under “previous versions” and only references Server 2003 through 2012 R2), but the feature itself hasn’t been removed. Microsoft Edge is the default, primary browser on modern Windows Server, and Edge does have its own “Enhanced Security Mode” — but that’s a separate, client-side hardening feature (site isolation, JIT disabling on untrusted sites) unrelated to this Server Manager IE ESC toggle, so it’s not a drop-in equivalent. If you’re specifically downloading via IE on a current server, the fix above still applies unchanged; if you’ve switched to Edge for that server’s browsing needs, IE ESC won’t be what’s blocking you in the first place. Worth also being aware that Microsoft tightened restrictions around Edge’s legacy IE mode in October 2025 after it was found being abused as an attack vector, which is a good reminder to treat IE-based browsing on a server as something to minimise rather than a permanent workflow.