Adobe discontinues Flash Player – now remove it properly from the computer
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After many years of struggle, Adobe Flash Player is finally a thing of the past. It is high time to remove the last remains of the previously widespread tool. TECHNOLOGY BUTTON explains how to do this.
Contents
The Flash Player was once ubiquitous
Once upon a time, the Internet was unthinkable without the Flash Player. Websites, games, videos and animations all ran on the basis of Adobe Flash. Some may still remember the stickman fighting games and many other mini-games that ran in the browser. There were entire websites like Miniclips and Newgrounds that practically only provided Flash content. Flash was a popular development tool because it was easy, fast, and universally available. With its low learning curve, it offered many budding developers an opportunity to create simple games and animations with little effort. Even YouTube initially ran on Flash. Tests with the HTML5 standard did not begin until 2010, and in 2015 Flash was gradually replaced by HTML5.
Why is Adobe discontinuing Flash Player?
Despite the widespread use of Flash Player, Adobe never got the tool’s security and data protection problems under control. In addition, it was not uncommon for the player to lead to a drop in performance that could freeze the entire computer. The following standards such as HTML5 and MPEG4 are much more stable and secure – and thus make the Flash Player obsolete.
Adobe therefore asked developers in 2015 to switch to HTML5. In 2017, just two years later, the company announced that it would permanently discontinue Flash Player. Deadline: December 31, 2020.
Now remove the Flash Player from the computer
Well-known browsers such as Chrome and Firefox still support the execution of Flash content, even if it is blocked by default. From January 12th, 2021 it will be over and Flash will finally disappear completely. This is what Adobe announced on its support page : “To protect users’ systems, Adobe will block the execution of Flash-based content in Flash Player from January 12, 2021.”
Not only will the program be of no use from January 12th. The end of support also means that there will be one more updates, which makes the software even more unsafe for users. A request to install the program will appear on computers on which Flash Player is still installed.
If the message does not appear, there is an alternative manual method of uninstalling Flash Player.
Remove Flash Player from Windows PC
- Download the “Uninstaller” for Adobe Flash: https://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/support/uninstall_flash_player.exe .
- Close all applications that use Flash – such as browsers, games and other programs with the “.swf” file extension.
- Run the “Uninstaller” and confirm the deinstallation.
- Windows XP and Windows 7 only : To delete remaining folders and files, press the Windows key and R at the same time, enter ” C: \ Windows \ system32 \ Macromed \ Flash ” in the field and confirm with Enter. Delete all files from the folder. Repeat the step with the following entries and delete all other files: ” C: \ Windows \ SysWOW64 \ Macromed \ Flash “, ” % appdata% \ Adobe \ Flash Player “, ” % appdata% \ Macromedia \ Flash Player “.
- Restart the computer.
Remove Flash Player from Mac
Before uninstalling Flash Player, you need to find out which version of macOS is running on your computer. To do this, click the Apple logo , then click About This Mac .
For version Mac OS X 10.4 or newer, including macOS
1. Download the “Uninstaller” for the Flash Player:
Uninstaller for Mac OS X 10.6 and newer
Uninstaller for Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5
2. Run the file and follow the on-screen instructions to uninstall Flash Player. You need to close all browsers to complete the process. The process then continues automatically until you receive a message that the uninstallation is complete.
3. To delete any remaining files and folders, you need to open the Library folder on your Mac. To do this, go to the Finder and click on Go in the taskbar . Hold down the Option key to make the Library entry visible in the list. Click on the entry. Now go to the following paths in the library and delete all content:
- Library / Preferences / Macromedia / Flash \ Player
- Library / Caches / Adobe / Flash \ Player
For version Mac OS X 10.1 to 10.3
1. Download the “Uninstaller” for the Flash Player .
2. Run the file and follow the instructions on the screen.
3. Close all browsers and applications with “.swf extension” that are running Flash.
4. Wait for the uninstaller to automatically remove the Flash Player.
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