It's undeniable that Adobe Flash Player enjoyed immense popularity for years. Nearly every internet user has interacted with it at some point—it was once the go-to platform across all major web browsers. However, following Adobe’s announcement to cease updates, an increasing number of tech companies have followed suit by phasing out support for Adobe Flash.

What Exactly Is Adobe Flash Player?

Originally developed by Macromedia in 1996, Flash Player became a widely used software for accessing content built on the Adobe Flash platform. It enabled users to:

• Play multimedia content.
• Run rich Internet applications.
• Stream audio and video seamlessly.

In 2005, Adobe acquired Macromedia, rebranding the product as Adobe Flash Player. For years, it functioned as a key browser plug-in, compatible with mainstream desktop and mobile browsers that supported Flash technology.

Adobe Flash Reaches End of Life

Back in 2017, Adobe officially declared that it would discontinue updates for Flash Player by the end of 2020—marking the official end of life for Adobe Flash. Shortly afterward, Microsoft announced plans to drop Flash support in both Internet Explorer and its new Microsoft Edge browser. (If you encounter data or disk-related issues during this transition, consider reaching out to MiniTool for assistance.)

Apple and Mozilla also confirmed their own timelines for discontinuing Flash around the same period.

Adobe Flash Support Ends December 31, 2020

Microsoft’s Plan to Phase Out Flash:

In 2017, Microsoft outlined a roadmap to remove Flash from Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge. This move aligned with its shift toward the Chromium-based Edge browser. At the time, Flash was still embedded in the Edge Insider builds.

New Edge Features for the Chromium-Based Browser.

However, the final step was set for December 31, 2020. From that point, Flash would be disabled by default in upcoming versions of Microsoft’s Chromium-powered Edge.

“In the next version of Microsoft Edge (built on Chromium), we will continue to retire Flash in alignment with other Chromium-based browsers. More details can be found in this blog post. Flash will initially be disabled, requiring manual per-site activation; eventually, Flash will be entirely removed from the browser by the end of 2020,” stated a Windows blog.

Google’s Decision to Remove Flash:

Likewise, Google began removing Flash Player from newer versions of Chrome. Starting with Chrome 76, users had to manually re-enable Flash for individual sites—even if previously allowed. The complete removal was synchronized with the global end-of-life date: December 31, 2020.

Microsoft Clarifies Its Flash Discontinuation Timeline

Rumors circulated that Microsoft would abruptly cut off Flash support. To address confusion, the company issued an update confirming that the removal would happen gradually, within the previously announced schedule.

Why the rumors? They stemmed from information shared in a Microsoft support chat, later reported by a German tech blog. (Details were included in the quote above.)

What Does the Update Mean for Users?

As of now, Flash Player can still run in Internet Explorer 11 and the legacy version of Microsoft Edge based on the EdgeHTML engine. This is because Microsoft does not intend to push updates that disable Flash by default on these older browsers.

While some websites may still host Flash content, its relevance is rapidly declining. With industry leaders like Microsoft, Google, and Apple all committed to ending Flash support, the technology’s phase-out is inevitable.

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