How can I sign in to Gmail using Internet Explorer with IWebBrowser2?

I’m using IE8 and IWebBrowser2 for logging into Gmail with stored credentials. What code change enables auto sign-in?

var IEInstance := CreateOleObject('IEComObj.Application') as IWebBrowser2;
IEInstance.Navigate('http://gmail.com');

I encountered this issue a while back. The auto sign-in only works properly when using the secure version of Gmail. While testing, I discovered that pointing the navigate call to the HTTPS address instead of HTTP changed everything. The Auto login process relies on Internet Explorer’s credential handling for secure sites. Simulating this by updating the code to use the full secure URL made stored credentials kick in automatically. This approach saved me a lot of hassle and I believe it should work in other similar situations as well.

try tweaking IE’s security settings via registry so that gmail’s zone lets auto logon work properly. in my case, setting the automatic logon to default helped a lot. reinitializing the webbrowser object after those changes made the stored creds work.

My experience with this issue taught me that getting IE to automatically sign in requires more than just setting the correct URL. I eventually resolved the problem by closely monitoring the browser’s document complete event. Instead of relying solely on the stored credentials, I injected a brief pause to allow the session cookies to initialize properly. Adjusting IE’s internal flags, especially in relation to its authentication routines and cookie management, also proved essential. Ensuring that the application correctly handled these nuances allowed the auto sign-in to work reliably.

Based on my personal experience, I found that auto sign-in issues with Gmail via IWebBrowser2 often stem from subtle differences in handling cookies and session data between versions of Internet Explorer. In my setup, after navigating to Gmail’s URL, I experimented by adding a slight delay and forcing a refresh of the browser object. This allowed IE to properly read and apply the stored credentials. I also discovered that modifying certain HTTP headers helped in ensuring that cookies were consistently accepted. These adjustments made a significant difference in initiating a seamless login session.

In my experience, addressing the auto sign-in issue required more than device-level code tweaks. I eventually discovered that compatibility settings in Internet Explorer could influence credential management when using IWebBrowser2. I made changes to prompt IE to operate in a newer document mode, which, coupled with adjusting the security configuration, enabled the stored credentials to trigger an automatic login. Reviewing and modifying the browser’s settings to ensure it allows automatic login after verifying the server identity also played a key role in resolving the problem.