How to Uninstall Adobe Flash Player in Mac?

Once upon a time Flash Player or Shockwave Flash was the popular browser plugin and part of almost every website on the web. It offered the way to view and interact with rich media content like games and videos. As things changed, it became a security threat and the developer Adobe stopped maintaining the program. If you are still using Flash Player on Mac, it’s high time you should uninstall and delete the program.

Why You Should Uninstall Flash Player?

Unfortunately, Flash Player has a long history of security threats over years and Adobe was even apologizing for not fixing them on time. Finally, the end of life for Flash Player was on 31^st December 2020 and the product was no more supported by Adobe. Due to this fact, Chrome and all other browsers by default will block Flash content from playing on the browser. However, many people still used to play Flash based games and there are old websites that work only if you have Flash Player extension (or plugin) installed on the browser. If you are still using Flash Player, you should uninstall the software immediately as it can potentially lead to hacking of your Mac.

Adobe Flash Player on Mac

There are two possible ways you can use Flash Player on Mac. One is to use as a browser extension and other is to install as a standalone software. Since browsers do not support the software any more, the most possible probability is that you might have downloaded it from some third-party site and installed it on your Mac.

Uninstalling Flash Player in Mac

The uninstallation process consists of the following steps:

1. Check your Mac has Flash Player
2. Find your Mac version
3. Download uninstaller for your Mac version
4. Uninstall Flash Player
5. Delete residual files

1. Check Adobe Flash Player Installed or Not in Mac

It is easy to check whether your Mac has Flash Player. Click on the Apple logo and go to “System Preferences” menu. If Flash Player is installed, you will see the software icon at the bottom of the window as shown in the below picture.

If you do not see the Flash Player, probably it is not installed on your Mac.

2. Check Your Mac Version

Since the uninstaller package varies depending on your Mac version, it is necessary that you find the correct version. Click on the Apple logo and select “About This Mac” menu. You will see a pop-up like below where you can find the version under “Overview” section.

3. Download Uninstaller File from Adobe

Go to Adobe website and download the uninstaller package corresponding to your Mac version. There are three versions available and we have also given the direct link for you to download the file.

• macOS version 10.6 or later – download uninstaller
• macOS version 10.4 and 10.5 – download uninstaller
• For versions 10.3 or older – download uninstaller

4. Run Uninstaller On Your Mac

After downloading the file go to your “Downloads” folder and find the downloaded .dmg uninstaller file. First make sure to close all your browsers and other apps that may use Flash Player.

• Double click on the downloaded dmg file and it will mount the uninstaller. You will find the window open like below and double click on the “Adobe Flash Player Uninstaller” file.

• If you see the warning message, click “Open” to confirm opening apps downloaded from third-party sites. You may not see this warning, if you have setup the preferences for allowing third-party app installation.

• On the next window, click on “Uninstall” button to delete the Flash Player.

• You will be prompted to enter your administrator password. Type the password and click “Install Helper” button to proceed further.

• Finally, you will see a success message like mentioning Adobe Flash Player was removed from your Mac.

• Click “Done” button and you will be redirected to the thank you page on Adobe website.

• Now, go to “System Preferences…” section and you will not see Flash Player icon there.

5. Delete Flash Player Files

The above steps are sufficient to completely delete Flash Player from your Mac. However, Adobe recommends deleting the following folders if they are available as left over.

• /Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash\ Player
• /Library/Caches/Adobe/Flash\ Player

Open Finder app and go to “Go > Go to Folder” menu. On the pop-up that appears type or paste the above paths to check whether those folders are existing. If the folders are available, then simply delete them. Otherwise, you can safely assume that you got rid of the Flash Player in your Mac.

Still Want to Use Flash Player?

There are two options available if you still want to use Flash Player.

• In Google Chrome, you have Flash Player Emulator extension. You can install this to avoid “Adobe Flash Player is blocked” and continue to run Flash Player.
• If you still miss the old Flash based games, do not worry. The Internet archive website has a software library collection for Flash games. These games also use the emulator to play games on the browser without installing it.

If you own a Flash based website, you can make use of the emulator and extract possible content. However, it is recommended to move on with the latest technologies like HTML5 and WebGL.

Final Words

Since Adobe no more supports Flash Player, make sure you uninstall from your Mac as soon as possible. Make sure to download the correct uninstaller package for your Mac version and delete the left over files.