Although Adobe Flash has been mostly replaced by the rise of HTML5, there are some older sites that still rely on it. As such, if your Flash Player isn’t up to date, certain objects on a webpage might not work as intended.
The good news is that testing your Flash player is a quick and simple task. We’ll walk you through the process step-by-step so that you can get back to browsing the internet as soon as possible.
Step 1 – Check Your Installed Version
Adobe actually has a webpage that tells you your currently installed version of Flash. Just open a browser and go to http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/about/.
If Flash is installed, you’ll see an animation play. If nothing appears, that means you don’t have Flash installed, so go ahead and install that and try loading the page again.
You should also see a box appear that tells you the currently installed Flash version. Take a look at the table near the bottom of the page – does your version match the latest version for your browser or platform? If so, great!
If not, you’ll have to update it. You can download the latest version here.
Step 2 – Fixing Any Issues
Let’s say you’ve installed Flash but it’s not running properly. This could be due to a number of issues, but luckily, Adobe has a page dedicated to helping you resolve any of them.
The first thing you should check is your browser’s address bar. Since some of the internet’s more annoying and intrusive ads use Flash, browsers have taken to blocking Flash elements by default. Is there a notification on the right-hand side of your address bar? If so, click it and allow Flash to run.
You may also have to click an icon on the left of the website address and tell it not to block Flash by default. This is an incredibly common reason as to why Flash isn’t working.
Step 3 – Manage Exceptions
If you’ve tried all of the above steps and Flash still isn’t working, try opening the page in a different browser. If it works, there’s a good chance you’ve set up an exception. So what does this mean?
Well, it means that at some point, something on this page annoyed you enough that you decided to prevent it from happening again! Still, it’s an easy fix: just click the notification on the right of the address bar and click Manage.
Make sure that the Block sites from running Flash option is off, then take a look at the lists below. If the site you’re on is in the blocked list, remove it by clicking the three dots to the right and choosing Remove. If that doesn’t work, try specifically adding it to the Allow list.
Conclusion
Getting Flash to work is harder than it used to be, but on the other hand, most people will never have to do anything with it, as it should take care of itself. If you do need to update or test your Flash installation, at least you know how.
Now that you know how to test your Adobe Flash player, take your time to read our guide on how to call someone straight to voicemail. This guide might help you too.
