How to Find CLSID ActiveX in IE

By Chris Hoffman

Find CLSID ActiveX in IE
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The Internet Explorer web browser uses ActiveX controls for plug-ins such as Adobe Flash, Sun Java, Apple Quicktime and more. ActiveX controls, like other types of objects in Windows, are identified by globally unique class IDs. CLSIDs are used for embedding ActiveX controls in other locations, for blacklisting ActiveX controls so Internet Explorer doesn't load them and for other purposes. Internet Explorer doesn't show CLSIDs in its main window because they're not of use to most users, but you may find the CLSID of ActiveX controls loaded in Internet Explorer using the Windows registry.

Open the registry editor by clicking "Start" and "Run," typing "regedit" into the run dialog and pressing "Enter."

Expand the "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT" folder by clicking the plus sign to its left.

Select the "CLSID" folder under the "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT" folder by clicking it.

Click "Edit" and "Find."

Type "Control" in the "Find What" box.

Check the "Keys" box under "Look At" and uncheck the "Values" and "Data" boxes.

Click "Find Next." The first ActiveX control will be displayed.

Click "ProgID" under the "Control" folder. If the name displayed in the "ProgID" folder isn't the ActiveX control you want, press "F3" to find the next control.

Repeat this process until the name of the ActiveX control is shown in the "ProgID" folder.

Read the name of the folder containing the "ProgID" sub-folder from the left pane of the registry editor window. The folder's name is the ActiveX control's CLSID.

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