How to Enable Flash in Chrome

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Updated November 09, 2019

Adobe Flash Player is great for playing games, audio and videos over the internet, but sometimes the failure to enable or upgrade it means it doesn't always work. This can even be the case when your browser is Chrome, which features its own built-in version of Flash.

Let's take a look at enabling Flash in Chrome and some useful tips on what to do when Chrome Flash doesn't work properly.

How to Enable Flash in Chrome

Enabling Flash in Chrome is easy, as described below:

Launch Chrome.
Type chrome://settings/content in address bar and press Enter.
Scroll down to and select Flash.
Using the first option, switch on Ask first (recommended), otherwise choose Block sites from using Flash.

How to Block and Allow Websites Use Flash in Chrome

It's also very simple to block certain websites from using Flash, or to always let them use the media player:

Launch Chrome.
Type the desired website's address in Chrome's address bar and press Enter.
Select the padlock on the far left of the address bar.
Select Site Settings, then scroll to the Flash area.
You have the same options here as above; these will just apply to the current site you're on. Choose Ask, Allow, or Block.

How to Check Your Version of Flash or Upgrade Flash Player

Most of the time, enabling Flash in Chrome and choosing to block or allow certain websites should be enough for Flash Player to work normally. However, in rare cases, Flash might not work even when it's been enabled.

Often, this is because the user needs to upgrade Flash Player since they don't have the latest version. To check which Flash version you have and to update if need be, you should do the following:

Type (or copy-paste) chrome://components/ into your address bar in Chrome and press Enter.
Scroll down to Adobe Flash Player.
Select Check for update beneath the Adobe Flash Player heading.

If the Status reads Component not updated or Component updated, user has the latest version.
Flash should work properly on websites after doing this, although you may have to reload any website you were on immediately prior to updating before Flash content can be loaded.

How to Install Flash Player or Reinstall It

Another possible solution when Flash Player is crashing or not working on particular websites is to reinstall it.

Type (or copy-paste) https://adobe.com/go/chrome into your Chrome address bar and press Enter.
Select your computer's operating system (e.g. Windows or macOS).
Select your browser: for Chrome choose PPAPI.
Click on the Download Now button and follow the installation steps.

What Else Can I Do When Chrome Flash Isn't Working?

If the solutions above don't work, then one other approach is to update your version of Chrome.

Launch Chrome.
Select the ⋮ symbol on the right-hand side of the address bar.
If you see an Update Google Chrome option, select it. Otherwise, you already have the latest version.

This covers all the logical reasons for Flash Player not working on Chrome, even after it's been enabled. That said, there still might be at least a couple of further explanations for persistent problems.

One is that an extension you have running on Chrome is, for whatever reason, interfering with Flash Player and preventing it from working properly. You can try typing chrome://extensions/ in the Chrome address bar and disabling extensions and plug-ins on a trial-and-error basis to see if the situation is improved.

Other than that, if a particular piece of Flash content doesn't work even though you've tried everything, it just might be the case that the problem lies with the piece of content rather than with your version of Chrome or Flash Player.