How to download Adobe Flash Player for free

You have recently started using your computer again and for days now you have been trying to view those online videos made in Flash that you liked so much, but you just don’t understand why you can’t use it from your multimedia station? If the answer is yes, it is most likely due to the lack of Adobe Flash Player on your computer. Some “old-style” websites, in fact, may need Adobe Flash Player to work correctly… but over time many things have changed in this sense.

The life cycle of this program, in fact, ended in December 2020 and, since then, Adobe has progressively abolished the possibility of reproducing content written in Flash using the aforementioned software, up to completely eliminating it. However, this does not mean that the content you intend to access can no longer be reproduced in any way.

In the course of this guide, therefore, I will explain to you in detail how to download Adobe Flash Player for free or, at least, a version of the software still available for testing purposes, through which it is possible to play files in SWF format and written websites. in Flash without any particular problems. For completeness of information, I will then show you how to open FLV movies through one of the best known media players out there. So, how about getting started right away? Yup? Very well, I wish you a good read.

Index

• Preliminary information
• How to download Adobe Flash Player for free on Windows
• How to download Adobe Flash Player for free on Mac

Preliminary information

For a long time, Flash has been one of the distinctive symbols of multimedia content scattered around the Web: through this language, in fact, it has been possible to create and disseminate movies, audio, games, applications and even entire websites characterized by animations, sounds and others. interactive multimedia elements.

However, over time, the language has become increasingly insecure, presenting vulnerabilities that are often unresolved and, as a result, widely exploited by cybercriminals. Secondly, the use of Adobe Flash Player – that is the software used to view Flash content, also distributed in the form of a plugin for Google Chrome (where it was included “as standard” for a long time), Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer – often culminated with problems of instability of the entire operating system, due to the huge amount of resources necessary for its execution.

For this reason, as well as for Apple’s decision not to bring Flash to iPhone (which also contributed to its scarce use on Android and, therefore, in the entire mobile field) and for the spread of more modern languages ​​such as ‘ HTML5 (more efficient and economical in energy consumption), Flash has undergone a constant decline: the first to abandon the reproduction of content written in the aforementioned language were the manufacturers of Web browsers, who blocked and then completely eliminated the suitable plugin’s purpose.

Subsequently, Microsoft released an update for Windows 10, aimed at the immediate deletion of Flash Player from the computer; Additionally, as of December 31, 2020, Adobe discontinued support for the Flash Player software, which was permanently blocked on January 12, 2021.

This, however, does not mean that it is no longer possible to play files (locally or on the Internet) with SWF or FLV extensions, on the contrary: there are totally free tools, which I am going to talk to you about in the following chapters of this tutorial, which allow you to somehow make up for the now definitive absence of the Flash Player originally distributed by Adobe in a very practical way.

Before continuing, however, remember that Flash is an insecure language and that the execution of content written in this language could expose the data stored on the computer to concrete security risks and/or make the operating system unstable. Pay close attention to what you are about to open, I warned you!

How to download Adobe Flash Player for free on Windows

One of the solutions you can use to view files containing Flash animations and having the SWF extension is Adobe Flash Projector: if you have never heard of it, it is an official Adobe tool, free, dedicated to developers.

As pointed out by Adobe, the program should be used solely for testing purposes and not for any other purpose; also remember that the execution of the contents in Flash is far from safe and that some files could even damage the computer and the data stored on it: personally, I do not take any responsibility in this regard. Then don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Having made this necessary premise, if you are interested in obtaining the software in question, open this Web page and click on the item Download the Flash Player projector content debugger under the wording Windows.

Once you have obtained the program file, open it and, when you see the relative window appear on the screen, click on the File> Open … menu: now, if the content to be opened is on the Internet, type the address in the dedicated text box and click on the OK button to view it.

If, on the other hand, you intend to open an SWF file stored on your computer, first click on the Browse … button and use the proposed panel to select the item to execute. To start playing it, click on the Open button.

Another excellent solution that you can use to view Flash movies with the FLV extension is VLC Media Player, one of the most famous and flexible multimedia players currently available.

To get it, if you use a computer equipped with Windows 10 or later, visit the relevant section of the Microsoft Store, click on the Open Microsoft Store button, to open the market in question, and click on the Get button, in order to download the program. When the download is complete, press the Start button, to open VLC.

If you are using an older edition of Windows, go to the official VLC page, press the Download VLC button and, once you have the installation file, open it and click on the Yes, OK, Next buttons (three consecutive times), Install and Finish, to conclude the setup. More info here.

At the first start, you will be asked whether or not to authorize the program to download information on multimedia files and updates from the Internet; set the appropriate boxes as you see fit, click on the Continue button and, once you reach the main VLC screen, open the Media> Open file … menu (above) to open the screen for choosing the item to play.

Now, set the drop-down menu located at the bottom right on the All files item, choose the FLV content of your interest and press the Open button to play it; alternatively, you can directly drag and drop the file in question into the VLC window.

Note: If you wish, you can set VLC as the default program for opening FLV files. I have explained to you how to proceed in the guide that I have reported to you a little while ago.

How to download Adobe Flash Player for free on Mac

And on Mac? Well, the viable options are almost identical to those already analyzed for Windows. Therefore, if you are interested in playing files or web content in SWF format, you can use the Flash Player Projector debugging tool.

Again, the same recommendation made above applies: this program should be used for testing purposes only and running SWF content could have serious repercussions on the integrity of your computer. Then don’t say I didn’t warn you!

In any case, to obtain Flash Player Projector for Mac, connect to this website and click on the Download the Flash Player projector content debugger link under the Macintosh entry. Once you have the program file, open it and copy the Flash Player icon to the Mac Applications folder. Now, double-click on the application you just copied and press the Open button, to authorize its execution.

Once this is done, use the File> Open path … menu, if the SWF content to be played is on the Internet, or the File> Open file … menu if, on the other hand, the SWF file resides in memory. Note that the aforementioned items are available directly on the Mac menu bar, as the debugger window, if devoid of content, is not visible.

If, on the other hand, you need to play a movie with the FLV extension, I recommend that you rely on VLC Media Player: if you do not have the program, connected to its home page , click on the Download VLC button and, once you have obtained the installation .dmg file of the program, open it.

Now, use the window that appears on the screen to drag the VLC icon into the macOS Applications folder, double-click the newly created icon and, if necessary, press the Open button, in order to overcome the restrictions imposed by Apple in against non-certified developers (operation that must be performed only at the first start).

Once the program is open, open the File menu > Open file… and use the panel that is proposed to you to select the element to play; alternatively, you can drag the FLV file directly into the VLC window, to start it instantly.