Adobe Flash plugin has crashed - Prevent it from happening again

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  • Creator: Michael Verdi
  • Comment: added a note for localizers - much of this new version is copied from another article
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  • Reviewed by: AliceWyman
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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 Flash continues to crash, updating to the latest version of Flash should fix the issue for most people. In some cases you may have to downgrade Flash to version 10.3. This article covers both of those solutions.

Note: This article is specifically for Flash crashes. If you are experiencing issues such as video appearing black, white or grey and never playing, please see Flash 11.3 doesn't load video in Firefox.

If Flash continues to crash, updating to the latest version of Flash should fix the issue. This article explains how to do that.

Plugin crash notification

Solution 1: Update Flash

  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 Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  3. Open the Flash installer file you downloaded and follow the instructions.
Note: If you are having problems with the Flash installer from Adobe's download page, you can use this Flash Player installer link to directly download the full installer.
  1. Go to Adobe's Flash Player download page and download the Flash installer.
  2. Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select 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 Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select 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.

    0a85171f1802a3b0d9f46ffb997ddc02-1260326970-447-1.png

Solution 2: Downgrade to Flash 10.3

If updating Flash to the latest version didn't solve the problem, you can try downgrading to Flash 10.3.

Warning: Flash 10.3 doesn't auto-update so you won't be notified of new versions. Keeping Flash up to date is critical to keeping your computer safe.
Note: You may want to write down these steps or print them out as you will have to close Firefox during this process.

Step 1: Uninstall Flash

To uninstall Flash on Windows, you will need to use the uninstaller provided by Adobe.

  1. Download the uninstaller program from Adobe - uninstall_flash_player.exe (676 KB)
  2. Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  3. Run the uninstall Flash program that you download and follow the prompts.
  4. When you are finished, start Firefox again and continue with the next section.

See the Adobe help article Uninstalling Flash Player on Windows for more details.

Step 2: Install Flash 10.3

The following instructions will show you how to download and install Flash 10.3.

  1. Download Flash 10.3 from the Adobe site - install_flash_player_10_plugin.exe (3 MB)
  2. Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  3. Open your downloads folder and double-click the file named install_flash_player_10_plugin.exe to start the installation.
  4. Follow the instructions in the installer. When the installation is complete you can open Firefox again.

Solution 1: Update Flash

  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 Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  3. Open the Flash installer file you downloaded and follow the instructions.
Note: If you are having problems with the Flash installer from Adobe's download page, you can use this Flash Player installer link to directly download the full installer.
  1. Go to Adobe's Flash Player download page and download the Flash installer.
  2. Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select 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 Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select 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.

    0a85171f1802a3b0d9f46ffb997ddc02-1260326970-447-1.png

Solution 2: Downgrade to Flash 10.3

If updating Flash to the latest version didn't solve the problem, you can try downgrading to Flash 10.3.

Warning: Flash 10.3 doesn't auto-update so you won't be notified of new versions. Keeping Flash up to date is critical to keeping your computer safe.
Note: You may want to write down these steps or print them out as you will have to close Firefox during this process.

Step 1: Uninstall Flash

To uninstall Flash 11.3 on Mac OSX, you will need to use the uninstaller provided by Adobe.

  1. Download the uninstaller program from Adobe:
    Mac OS X 10.6 and above: uninstall_flash_player_osx.dmg (225 KB)
    Mac OS X 10.5: uninstall_flash_player_osx.dmg (435 KB)
  2. Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  3. Double-click the .dmg file that you downloaded to open a folder with the uninstall Flash program.
  4. Double-click the uninstall Flash program and follow the prompts.
  5. When you are finished, start Firefox again and continue with the next section.

See the Adobe help article Uninstalling Flash Player on Mac OS for more details.

Step 2: Install Flash 10.3

The following instructions will show you how to download and install Flash 10.3.

  1. Download Flash 10.3 from the Adobe site - install_flash_player_10_osx.dmg (6.1 MB)
  2. Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  3. Open your downloads folder and double-click the file named install_flash_player_10_osx.dmg to open a folder with the Flash 10.3 install program.
  4. Double-click the Flash 10.3 installer to start the installation.
  5. Follow the instructions in the installer. When the installation is complete you can open Firefox again.

Update Flash

The latest version of the Flash plugin should perform better and crash less often. To check if Flash is up to date, visit Mozilla's Plugin Check page. If it says that Flash needs to be updated, 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 Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  3. Open the Flash installer file you downloaded and follow the instructions.
Note: If you are having problems with the Flash installer from Adobe's download page, you can use this Flash Player installer link to directly download the full installer.
  1. Go to Adobe's Flash Player download page and download the Flash installer.
  2. Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select 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 Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select 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.

    0a85171f1802a3b0d9f46ffb997ddc02-1260326970-447-1.png

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