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How to Remove Flash Player from Windows PC

Adobe Flash Player has reached its end of life in 2019

2 min. read

Updated onOctober 4, 2023

updated onOctober 4, 2023

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Key notes

The Microsoft Update Catalog has been refreshed to include a tool that will remove all traces ofAdobe Flash Playerfrom your operating system.

The giant tech company has beenpreparing to kill Flash Playerfor some time now and it now facilitates all the details to make sure that no traces of this program are left behind.

The official removal date was December 31st, but if you still have it on your PC, you should perform this action using the Flash removal tool.

How is removing Flash Player going to affect my OS?

How is removing Flash Player going to affect my OS?

It’s important to know that using the Flash removal tool won’t affect Flash-related plugins that come with various browsers, such as Chrome or Firefox. In their turn, browsers have stopped supporting this add-on anyway.

Once you’ve made this action and removed Flash Player from your device, you won’t be able to restore it. In case you want to use Flash Player again, you will need to reinstall or reset Windows 10.

Or you may need to restore the device to an earlierrestore point.

As expected, by applying this update, you might get errors when trying to access older Flash-based media content. Newer and safer content is HTML5-based.

Eventually, all websites and apps will have to move forward toward Flash-free content.

How do I use the Flash removal tool?

In order to permanently remove any trace of Adobe Flash Player from your Windows PC, you need to use the Flash removal tool. It is included in the Microsoft Update Catalog.

More specifically, the catalog now includes KB4577586, also namedUpdate for Removal of Adobe Flash Player(followed by the OS version and specs). You need to download and use the appropriate tool version for your OS.

1. Go to theMicrosoft Update Catalog.

2. Search forKB4577586in the search box.

  1. Scroll down to the Windows version that you’re using.

  2. Click on theDownloadbutton next to it.

  3. Execute the downloaded file by double-clicking on it.

  4. Restart your PC when asked.

Note: If your Windows version is not listed, check back later.

What browser still supports Flash Player?

What browser still supports Flash Player?

Even though you can’t use Flash without proper add-ons, we recommend using Opera One when doing so due to it’s enhanced security features.

This great browser comes with social media integration, great tab management, and, most importantly, a free, built-in VPN. Plus, it also features a built-in AI and Ad Blocker.

Find out more aboutOpera VPNby reading our dedicated article.

Opera One

Do you think this move will heavily impact your online activity? Share your opinion with us using the comments section below and let us know whether you succeeded in removing Flash from your PC.

More about the topics:Adobe Flash Player

Sinziana Mihalache

Sînziana loves getting people to better understand products, processes, and experiences beyond a simple user guide, either in writing or making use of images. She joined the team after a long-term collaboration with one of the world’s top cybersecurity companies - Bitdefender. Outside work, Sînziana enjoys climbing mountains, backpacking around the world, and writing about almost anything on her blog.

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