Adobe Flash Player is a free software plug-in used by web browsers to view multimedia, execute rich Internet applications, and stream video on your Mac.

As is typical of most Mac malware these days, the latest OSX/MacOffers variant disguises itself as an Adobe Flash Player installer. OSX/MacOffers arrives as a Flash Player-mimicking Trojan horse. In 2020, nobody should believe any site that prompts them to download or update Flash. Microsoft Edge doesn't come with Adobe Flash Player installed, but you can enable it to view websites that still use Flash. If you prefer Microsoft Edge over the default Safari, you can also.

Adobe Flash Player is the most popular multimedia player plug-in available. However, recently there have been security concerns which has threatened its popularity as users seek safer alternative solutions. Opera, Firefox and Chrome contain built-in versions of Flash running in sandbox mode. This method is safer than running Flash as a plugin. However, currently the reality is that you still may need the Adobe Flash Player on your Mac because many websites will not work well if you uninstall it. Here I’ll show you how to install Adobe Flash Player and how to set it up correctly.

How to install Adobe Flash Player on your Mac.

1. Go to http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ to download the Adobe Flash Player installer.

2. By default, the installer package will be downloaded to your “Downloads” folder.

3. Select the file on your Mac and double click to install it.

4. Select “Allow Adobe to install updates (recommended)” and click “DONE” to complete the installation.

If you installed Adobe Flash Player, but still cannot view online videos on certain websites, you need to check Adobe Flash Player on your browsers.

How to set up Adobe Flash Player on various browsers.

Safari

1. Launch Safari and go to the Apple menu bar and click Preferences.

2. Select the Websites tab and select On for “When visiting other websites.”

3. Refresh the browser tab, or restart the browser.

Google Chrome

1. Launch Chrome and type chrome://settings/content in the address field.

2. Select “Ask first (recommended)” and turn it on.

3. Refresh the browser tab or restart the browser.

Opera

1. Launch Opera and go to the Apple menu bar and click Preferences.

2. Select the Websites tab and then select “Allow sites to run Flash”

3. Refresh the browser tab or restart the browser.

Firefox

1. Launch Firefox and go to the Apple menu bar and click Tools – Add-ons.

2. Click the Plugins tab and turn the “Shockwave Flash” to “Always Activate.”

Note: (SWF (Shock Wave Flash) is a special format created by Macromedia, which has been acquired by Adobe. It is widely used in web design, animation production and other fields.)

For enhancing the user experience and security, Adobe is always trying to improve Adobe Flash Player. However, sometimes when you view a website, a Flash Player upgrade popup appears. Most people would click the “update” button to update their Flash Player, but this could be a false popup used by hackers to compromise your Mac. This is a method hackers use to trick you into downloading adware and malware through a false popup.

Be careful and don’t trust any automatic updates of Adobe Flash Player. Here I will tell you how to install real Flash Player updates and set it up.

How to update Flash Player on Mac safely

1. Go to the Apple menu bar and select System Preferences.

2. Select Flash Player.

3. Select the Updates tab and select “Allow Adobe to install updates (recommended)”. (Note: The Flash plug-in is officially updated 1~2 times a month, so selecting this option avoids frequent update.)

4. You may now notice that the Flash Update settings now shows NPAPI and PPAPI plugins. Let me explain them.

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NPAPI – used by Safari, Firefox

PPAPI – used by Chromium, Opera and Chrome (Chrome’s implementation is built in)

5. Click Check Now to confirm that you currently have the latest version installed.

If you had clicked a false popup and downloaded adware, don’t worry, the Apple App Store has many antivirus apps, such as Trend Micro’s Antivirus One, that you can use to do a free scan.

Follow the steps below in case you downloaded a fake Adobe Flash Player.

1. When you first install Antivirus One, click “Pattern Update” to make sure your virus pattern is up to date. We suggest you update the virus pattern every day.

2. After the first installation, we highly suggest you perform a full scan of your Mac to check all files for possible infections. The Full scan will take more than one hour.

3. If you still find adware and a full scan has not found any viruses, we recommend you use Adware Cleaner. You can access Adware Cleaner in the left panel of the Antivirus One window.

How to uninstall Adobe Flash Player

Adobe Flash Player for the Mac is a plug-in, not a Mac OS X application. When you try to uninstall Adobe Flash Player from your Mac, you might find that this plug-in is not so easy to delete. For example, you might see this message:

Cannot find Adobe Flash Player in your Applications folder.

In this case, Adobe Flash Player could not be removed and no reason was given. The following steps show how to uninstall Adobe Flash Player with no remaining parts.

1. Go to the /Applications/Utilities/ folder on your Mac and double-click the Adobe Flash Player Install Manager app.

2. Click Uninstall to begin the process.

3. Type the password and click Install Helper.

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4. If your browser is running, the following window will appear. Select “Force Close All” to continue.

5. After the uninstaller removes the Adobe Flash software from your Mac, click Done.

Although Adobe has written and published instructions to run Flash on iOS, Steve Jobs, Apple’s co-founder, and former CEO, famously fought against the free programs and, namely, free Adobe software.

In an article published on apple.com in April 2010, Steve highlighted the reasons why Adobe Flash Player will never be an official component of Safari, Apple’s integrated web browser. Jobs pushed hard for an upgrade to HTML to support videos without Flash. Ultimately, the result became what we know as HTML5.

Why Is Apple Against Flash?

As highlighted is in his article, Jobs main concern was never security. In fact, he explicitly mentioned that protecting the App Store was never the main reason behind Apple’s stance against Flash. Steve argued that Flash is a closed system because it’s developed and owned by Adobe. In contrast, HTML5, CSS, Javascript are open systems which is why Apple decided to adopt them. The former Apple’s CEO was against Flash because it was 100% property of a private company despite being widely available.

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In the same article, Steve Jobs went on to explain that HTML5 allows web developers to create advanced graphics, animations, and typography without relying on 3rd party software such as Flash. He also argued that major video service providers such as YouTube, Netflix, HBO, Vimeo, and FOX don’t depend on Flash. When Steve wrote his article, almost 40% of online video content was viewable on Apple products. Apple was able to meet all of their customers’ video-related needs without Flash support.

Is Flash Safe for Mac?

The short answer is yes, Flash can run on a Mac without any major issues. However, since it is not officially supported by Apple for the reasons mentioned above, it will require some tweaking first. Here’s what you need to do before and after installing Flash on a Mac:

• Check this brief guide to see which version works best with your iOS version.
• Uninstall any previous version you have of Flash Player.
• Close all applications before installing.
• After the installation finishes, reboot your device.
• When the device boots back up, head to Safari>System Preferences>Flash Player>Advanced then click Check Now.
• Close and relaunch Safari.

The most important step is making sure that you’re downloading Flash from Adobe. To avoid any confusion, click here to reach the download page. In all cases, you should always make sure that you’re downloading from adobe.com and not any other domain.

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Alternatives to Flash

If you prefer not to download and install Adobe Flash for any reason, you should try using Google Chrome instead of Safari. Chrome comes with an integrated Flash player and will not require any extra permission. Flash also comes turned on by default in Google Chrome so you will not have to do any extra tweaking.

Alternatively, you should consider dealing with websites built on modern technologies. Particularly, websites who support HTML5. As mentioned in this article by Aphr, 95% of websites who used to rely on Flash switched to HTML5. If everyone is switching to Flash, it shouldn’t be hard to find an alternative to your favorite website after a quick online search.