By now, you’ve probably heard that the future of Adobe Flash isn’t bright. Plagued by security issues, Adobe Flash has always been a thorn in the flesh of software developers such as Apple and Microsoft, who finally said that enough is enough and decided to get rid of it. In this article, we explain why Adobe Flash matters and why you, as a Mac user, should care about its inevitable demise.
Adobe Flash player may still be called Shockwave Flash in some places still. The Shockwave (for director) Player is a different Plugin and is not needed for Flash to work. The Shockwave player plugin is used little now days compared to the Flash player. This wikiHow teaches you how to update Adobe Flash Player on your Windows, Mac, or Linux computer. While Adobe Flash Player will usually update itself automatically if you installed it with default settings, you can force it to check for and install an update if one is available.
The Origin of Adobe Flash
In 2011, Adobe Flash Player 11 was released, and with it the first version of Stage3D, allowing GPU-accelerated 3D rendering for Flash applications and games on desktop platforms such as Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X.
Before you start, check the version of Safari running on your Mac. To display the version number, choose Safari > About Safari. If your Safari version is 11.0 or later, follow the steps in For Mac OS X 10.11, macOS 10.12, and later. If your Safari version is 10.0 or later, follow the steps in For Mac OS X 10.10.
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Adobe Flash started its arduous life in the 90s, when its precursor, named SmartSketch, was published by FutureWave Software. The rising popularity of the internet at the time made FutureWave Software realize that their vector drawing application had had the potential to challenge Macromedia Shockwave, a multimedia platform for building interactive multimedia applications and video games.
In 1995, FutureWave Software approached Adobe Systems and offered SmartSketch for sale. Adobe Systems, however, declined the offer, which led to FutureWave Software getting acquired by Macromedia and its subsequent rebranding to Macromedia Flash 1.0. Under Macromedia’s patronage, Flash quickly gained both market share and new features, including scripting and data access capabilities.
In 2005, Macromedia was acquired by Adobe Systems for approximately $3.4 billion. Adobe Systems added support for the ActionScript 3.0 programming language, improved the animation capabilities of Flash, included a 3D engine that allowed basic object transformations in 3D space, and allowed GPU-accelerated 3D rendering for Flash applications and games on desktop platforms, just to name a few noteworthy improvements.
The End of Adobe Flash
By the beginning of this decade, Adobe Flash, including Flash for Mac, has already established itself as a popular multimedia platform for building interactive multimedia applications and video games. In 2011, Flash was included in 99 percent of desktop browsers. Unfortunately for Flash, the platform had already entered the last stage of its life by that time.
In an open letter titled Thoughts on Flash, Steve Jobs explained why he decided not to include support for Flash in iOS, “Adobe’s Flash products are 100% proprietary. They are only available from Adobe, and Adobe has sole authority as to their future enhancement, pricing, etc. While Adobe’s Flash products are widely available, this does not mean they are open, since they are controlled entirely by Adobe and available only from Adobe. By almost any definition, Flash is a closed system.”
Most Apple shareholders would most likely consider this to be a good-enough reason to adopt HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, and other open standards instead, but Jobs had more reasons to stay away from Flash. “Symantec recently highlighted Flash for having one of the worst security records in 2009. We also know firsthand that Flash is the number one reason Macs crash. We have been working with Adobe to fix these problems, but they have persisted for several years now. We don’t want to reduce the reliability and security of our iPhones, iPods and iPads by adding Flash,” he said.
Apple wasn’t the only company that was sick and tired of the security plaguing Flash. As such, nobody was surprised when Adobe released a press release, officially stating that the company was planning to stop updating and distributing the Flash Player at the end of 2020.
“Adobe will continue to support Flash on a number of major OSs and browsers that currently support Flash content through the planned EOL. This will include issuing regular security patches, maintaining OS and browser compatibility and adding features and capabilities as needed.”
While most major websites have already moved away from Flash and, just like Apple, embraced HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript, some still depend on the deprecated technology, forcing many Mac users to keep Adobe Flash for Mac installed on their computers. If you count yourself among them, the first thing you should do is ensure that you’re using the latest version of Flash.
How to Update Adobe Flash Player for Mac?
To update Flash Player Mac, complete the following steps:
Open Apple’s Spotlight app by pressing the command key on your keyboard and hitting the space bar.
Type Flash Player.
You should see an option titled “Flash Player.prefPane” under System Preferences. Click on it.
Go to the Updates tab.
Click on the Check Now button.
If Adobe Flash Player finds any available updates, it will prompt you.
Adobe Flash Player Download
How to Download Adobe Flash Player for Mac?
Follow the steps below to download Flash for Mac:
Go to the official download page: https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/otherversions/
Select your operating system (Mac OS X 10.6 – 10.13) from the first drop-down menu on the left side of the page.
Choose whether you want to download Adobe Flash Player for Mac Chrome and Opera or for Safari and Firefox by clicking on the second drop-down menu on the left side of the page.
Click on the Download now button on the right side of the page.
Install Flash for Mac just like you would any other Mac software.
How to Disable Adobe Flash Player on Mac
Considering how often are new Flash security vulnerabilities discovered, it makes sense to keep Adobe Flash Player disabled and activate it only when you really need it.
Safari
Open Safari and go to the Menu bar and click on and then Preferences.
Click on the Security button and then Plug-In Settings.
Uncheck Adobe Flash Player from the left-hand menu.
Click on Done to finalize the change.
Chrome
Open Chrome and type in the following in Google Chrome’s location bar and press Enter: chrome://settings/content
Find the Flash Player listing on the Content settings screen and click on it.
Uncheck the Allow sites to run Flash option.
Close the chrome://settings/content tab to confirm the change.
Firefox
Open Firefox and type in about:addons in the Firefox address bar.
Click on Plugins on the left-hand side.
Look for Flash and select either Never Activate or Ask to Activate from the drop-down box right next to it.
Close the about:addons tab to confirm the change.
How to Enable Adobe Flash Player on Mac
The most straightforward way how to re-enable Adobe Flash Player on Mac computers is to simply uninstall it. Doing so will also ensure that you’re using the latest version and enable Adobe Flash Player on Mac across all installed web browsers and applications that use it. Alternatively, you can follow the instructions from the chapter above to re-enable Adobe Flash Player in individual web browsers.
How to Uninstall Adobe Flash Player on Mac
Adobe has created a dedicated uninstaller for Macs, and you can download it here.
Launch the downloaded uninstaller like you would any other Mac application.
Click on the Uninstall option.
Make sure you don’t have any web browser open on your computer as the uninstaller wouldn’t be able to complete the uninstallation process.
When you see the message notifying you that the uninstallation succeeded, click Done.
Delete the following directories:
<home directory>/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash Player
<home directory>/Library/Caches/Adobe/Flash Player
Restart your computer.
Visit this page to check if Flash Player is installed on your computer.
The same page also contains links to many Flash tutorials from Adobe.
How to Recover Files After Adobe Flash Malware Infection
Adobe Flash is among the most popular attack vectors used by cybercriminals to infect Mac computers. For example, in January 2018, a hacker successfully disguised dangerous malware as an Adobe Flash Player installer, probably targeting diplomats and other high-profile individuals.
If your computer had been infected with malware because of Adobe Flash, causing you to lose important files, there’s still some hope left — provided you act quickly enough. There are a number of data recovery software solutions for Mac computers that can recover even those files that your Mac can no longer see.
One such software solution stands out because it blends excellent usability with state-of-the-art data recovery algorithms, and its name is Disk Drill.
Disk Drill is a professional yet easy to use data recovery application that supports the recovery of over 200 file formats from virtually all storage devices. To use it, you simply launch it, select the storage device from which you would like to recover lost or deleted files, and click on the Recover button right next to it.
Of course, Disk Drill also allows you to precisely control the recovery process. As a nice bonus, Disk Drill comes with several extra free disk tools, including a duplicate file finder, a disk space analyzer, a data protection “Recovery Vault”, a disk monitoring utility, and a data backup tool for creating byte-to-byte disk and partition backups. Visit the official website of Disk Drill to download it for free.
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Got a message that says you have to update Flash Player on Mac? Don’t promptly click the update button. If you are not careful, you can accidentally install adware or malware instead of Flash Player. And that’s not what you need, right?
In this article we’ll show you the best way to check for Flash updates and also give you a comprehensive guide to update Adobe Flash Player for Mac safely. Plus, we’ll tell you how to uninstall it from your computer completely.
What is Flash Player?
For years, Adobe Flash Player has been one of the most popular plug-ins used by web browsers to reproduce videos, web ads, and interactive animations. But now its position is rocked by some security concerns and safer alternative solutions.
Google Chrome and Firefox contain the built-in version of Flash running in the sandboxed mode. This method is safer than running Flash as a plugin. What about Safari, it disables Flash Player by default starting from macOS Sierra. The point is that Apple wants you running on HTML5 — the newer and safer way of browsing the web. It supports the same multimedia elements as Flash but without any security issues.
However, the reality is that you still may need the Adobe Flash Player on your Mac. Many websites will not work if you uninstall it completely. Live streams like BT Sport can only be delivered in Flash, so if you are the BT Sport customer, you’ll want to keep the Flash Player. In addition, a great number of gaming and education sites use Flash and until they implement the HTML5 standards, you’ll need the Flash Player.
Why watch out for Flash updates on Mac?
Adobe is always trying to push its technology further and release the Flash updates to enhance the user experience and security. However, attackers still find the ways to trick you into downloading adware and malware through the popups. That’s why you should know how to protect your Mac against the malicious attacks when you’re trying to update your Adobe Flash for Mac.
Fortunately, it’s easy to make sure that you are installing the real Flash for Mac and are not exposed to the vulnerable software. All you have to do is to be careful and don’t trust the automatic updates.
How to update Flash Player on Mac (if it’s already installed)
Instead of downloading anything from a popup, follow simple steps to check whether you really need to update Adobe Flash on Mac.
Install adobe flash player 10. Go to the Apple menu and click System Preferences.
In the bottom left corner, choose Flash Player.
Choose the Updates tab.
Click the Check Now button.
If an update is available, click Yes to update. If no updates are available, you have the latest version of a Flash Player for Mac installed.
Easy enough, right? Make sure to invest some time and check if you do need to update Flash. Otherwise, downloading a false software package may harm your computer.
How to install Flash on your Mac safely
If Flash is not installed, which is by default on all new Macs, here’s a step-by-step guide to install it safely.
Visit the Adobe Flash Player page.
Click the Download now button.
The installer will download to your computer. If you’re using Safari, the file will go to your Downloads folder. If you’re using another browser, it may ask where to save the file.
Open your Downloads folder and find the .dmg installer file.
Double-click the Install Adobe Flash Player file.
You will be asked if you really want to install Adobe Flash Player. Read the message carefully to make sure that it’s the file you just downloaded. Click Open to proceed.
7. Agree to terms and conditions by clicking a checkbox.
8. Click the Install button.
9. In the window that appears, type your username and password.
10. Click the Install Helper button.
11. Click Allow Adobe to install updates (recommended).
12. Click Done.
That’s it. It’s also recommended to relaunch your web browser after installing Flash.
How to uninstall Flash completely
If you’re concerned about the security flows associated with your Adobe Flash Player, we’ll show you how to uninstall it from your Mac.
Usually, uninstalling Flash can cause a bit of headache. But with CleanMyMac X, you can remove Adobe Flash Player in a few clicks. Adobe flash player for mac older version. Just follow these simple steps:
Download CleanMyMac X and launch it.
Go to the Extensions in the sidebar.
Click Preferences Panes and then checkmark Flash Player.
Adobe flash player update for mac. Click the Remove button.
Adobe Flash Player Shockwave
As you see, uninstalling Flash with CleanMyMac X is as easy as pie. Moreover, the whole process won’t take more than five minutes. Try it out to uninstall Flash Player on Mac completely.
Adobe Flash Player Update For Mac
That’s it! Follow the tips above and don’t let the tricky popups and websites take advantage of you. This way you’ll stay up-to-date safely.