Adobe Flash Player is great for playing games, audio and videos over the internet, but sometimes the failure to enable or upgrade it means it doesn't always work. This can even be the case when your browser is Chrome, which features its own built-in version of Flash.

Let's take a look at enabling Flash in Chrome and some useful tips on what to do when Chrome Flash doesn't work properly.

How to Enable Flash in Chrome

Enabling Flash in Chrome is easy, as described below:

1. Launch Chrome.

2. Typechrome://settings/content in address bar and press Enter.

3. Using the first option, switch on Ask first (recommended), otherwise choose Block sites from using Flash.

I have the same issue. Streaming on desktop PC used to work with IE, Chrome and Firefox but now doesn't work on any of them, the site gets stuck on telling me I have to install the DirecTV.com player but I have installed, uninstalled, reinstalled a number of times as well as clearing cache and restarting browser, rebooting computer etc. With no result.

How to Block and Allow Websites Use Flash in Chrome

It's also very simple to block certain websites from using Flash, or to always let them use the media player:

1. Launch Chrome.

2. Type the desired website's address in Chrome's address bar and press Enter.

3. Select the padlock on the far left of the address bar.

4. Select Site Settings, then scroll to the Flash area.

5. You have the same options here as above; these will just apply to the current site you're on. Choose Ask, Allow, or Block.

How to Check Your Version of Flash or Upgrade Flash Player

Most of the time, enabling Flash in Chrome and choosing to block or allow certain websites should be enough for Flash Player to work normally. However, in rare cases, Flash might not work even when it's been enabled.

Often, this is because the user needs to upgrade Flash Player since they don't have the latest version. To check which Flash version you have and to update if need be, you should do the following:

1. Type (or copy-paste) chrome://components/ into your address bar in Chrome and press Enter.

2. Select Check for update beneath the Adobe Flash Player heading.

   If the Status reads Component not updated or Component updated, user has the latest version.

3. Flash should work properly on websites after doing this, although you may have to reload any website you were on immediately prior to updating before Flash content can be loaded.

How to Install Flash Player or Reinstall It

Another possible solution when Flash Player is crashing or not working on particular websites is to reinstall it.

1. Type (or copy-paste) https://adobe.com/go/chrome into your Chrome address bar and press Enter.

2. Select your computer's operating system (e.g. Windows or macOS).

3. Click on the Download Now button and follow the installation steps.

What Else Can I Do When Chrome Flash Isn't Working?

If the solutions above don't work, then one other approach is to update your version of Chrome.

1. Launch Chrome.

2. Select the ⋮ symbol on the right-hand side of the address bar.

3. If you see an Update Google Chrome option, select it. Otherwise, you already have the latest version.

This covers all the logical reasons for Flash Player not working on Chrome, even after it's been enabled. That said, there still might be at least a couple of further explanations for persistent problems.

One is that an extension you have running on Chrome is, for whatever reason, interfering with Flash Player and preventing it from working properly. You can try typing chrome://extensions/ in the Chrome address bar and disabling extensions and plug-ins on a trial-and-error basis to see if the situation is improved.

Other than that, if a particular piece of Flash content doesn't work even though you've tried everything, it just might be the case that the problem lies with the piece of content rather than with your version of Chrome or Flash Player.

The message, 'The Adobe Flash plugin has crashed,' is shown when the Flash plugin stops working unexpectedly. Reloading the page will often get the video, game or animation to play again.

If the Flash plugin continues to crash, updating to the latest version of Flash may fix the issue. This article explains how to update Flash and other possible solutions.

Table of Contents

The latest version of the Flash plugin should perform better and crash less often. To check if Flash is up to date, visit Adobe's test page. If it says you have an outdated version of Flash, install the latest version manually using the steps below.

1. Go to Adobe's Flash Player download page and download the Flash installer.
   Caution: Adobe's download page may include a checkbox for optional software (such as Google Chrome or McAfee Security Scan) that is selected by default. If you do not clear the checkbox before downloading, that software will be installed on your computer when you open the Flash installer.
2. When the download has finished, close Firefox.

   Click the Firefox menu , then click Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen, then click Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu , then click Quit.

3. Open the Flash installer file you downloaded and follow the instructions.

Flash Player 8 Not Working

1. Go to Adobe's Flash Player download page and download the Flash installer.

2. Click the Firefox menu , then click Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen, then click Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu , then click Quit.

3. Open the file you downloaded (i.e. install_flash_player_osx_intel.dmg).
4. In the Finder, open the Install Adobe Flash Player.app to run the installer, then follow the installer's instructions.

1. Go to Adobe's Flash Player download page.
2. When prompted, save the file (i.e. install_flash_player_'version'_linux.'processor'.tar.gz).

3. Click the Firefox menu , then click Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen, then click Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu , then click Quit.

4. Open a Terminal window (in Gnome, click on the Applications menu, select Accessories, and then select Terminal.)
5. In the Terminal window, change to the directory where you saved the file you downloaded (e.g. cd /home/user/Downloads).
6. Extract libflashplayer.so from the file you downloaded with the command tar -zxvf install_flash_player_'version'_linux.'processor'.tar.gz.
7. As the super user, copy the extracted file, libflashplayer.so, to your Firefox installation directory's plugins sub-directory. For example, if Firefox is installed in /usr/lib/mozilla, use the command sudo cp libflashplayer.so /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins and then enter your super user password when prompted.
   

Many Flash problems can be resolved by disabling hardware acceleration in your Flash Player settings (Adobe's Flash Player Help - Display Settings page has details). To disable hardware acceleration in Flash:

1. Go to this Adobe Flash Player Help page.
2. Right-clickHold down the control key while you click on the Flash Player logo on that page, then click on Settings in the context menu. The Adobe Flash Player Settings screen will open.
3. Click on the icon at the bottom-left of the Adobe Flash Player Settings window to open the Display panel.
4. Remove the check mark from Enable hardware acceleration.
   
5. Click to close the Adobe Flash Player Settings Window.
6. Restart Firefox.

Windows 10 Adobe Flash Player Not Working

1. Click the menu button , click Add-ons and select Plugins.
2. Find Shockwave Flash in the list of plugins and click the button.
3. Remove the check mark from Enable Adobe Flash protected mode.
   _{Note: To learn more, see the Adobe Flash protected mode in Firefox article.}
4. Click the menu button and then click Exit to completely close Firefox, so that the change can take effect.
5. Restart Firefox.

Adobe Flash Player Not Responding

• The Flash plugin could be crashing because of an extension, theme or hardware acceleration in Firefox. To see if one of these is causing the problem, go through the steps in the article Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems.

Adobe Flash Player Is Not Working In Chrome

• For more help with Flash problems, see Flash Plugin - Keep it up to date and troubleshoot problems.