How to Fix It When Chrome Flash Is Not Working

If you have trouble playing animations, videos, or games in the Google Chrome browser, it's usually because of a problem with Adobe Flash. If Flash is disabled in the Chrome settings, it isn't available on any website you visit.

Here's how to enable Adobe Flash within Chrome to make the plug-in available for use, manually enable Flash to run on a website you trust, and fix any Flash errors you may encounter.

Adobe has discontinued Flash, and the major browsers, including Chrome, will no longer support Flash, even optionally, by the end of 2020.

How to fix Flash in Google Chrome — Agnieszka Boeske / Unsplash

Cause of Flash Not Working on Websites

Even if you previously enabled Flash to work on a trusted website, when you quit Chrome, your Flash settings aren't saved. The next time you open Chrome, you'll have to allow Flash again for it to work on a trusted site.

You'll need to enable Flash in the Chrome settings, and then you'll need to manually enable Flash on a website you trust that requires Flash to work properly.

Enable Flash in Chrome

Enabling Flash in the Chrome settings makes the plug-in available for use.

Open a Google Chrome browser window.
Select More (three dots) in the upper-right corner to access the Chrome menu.
Select Settings.
Under Privacy and Security, select Site Settings.
Select Flash.
Make sure that Ask first is toggled to On. Flash is now available for use on websites you visit.

Allow Sites to Use Flash

Now that you've enabled Flash in Chrome, here's how to let Flash run on a website you trust:

Go to the website for which you want Flash enabled.
Select the Lock icon on the left side of the address bar.
Select the Flash drop-down arrow and choose Allow.
Close the window. A message stating, "To apply your updated settings to this site, reload this page" appears. Select Reload.
Wait while the page refreshes. When it reloads, Flash is enabled.

Flash Errors in Chrome

If Flash still doesn't run correctly after you enabled it on a trusted site, the plug-in might be corrupted or in need of an update. If Chrome needs an update, this might interfere with Flash, as well. You may see one of these errors:

Adobe Flash has been blocked because it's out of date.
Couldn't load plug-in.
The following plug-ins were blocked on this page.
This plug-in is not supported (or not responding).

Here are a few ways to fix a Flash error in Chrome.

How to Update Flash

If an outdated version of Flash caused the error, here's how to fix it:

Open a Chrome browser window.
Type or paste chrome://components in the address bar and press Enter to open Chrome Components.
Find Adobe Flash Player and select Check for Update. Any update available will be applied.
Go back to the content you were trying to view or hear, then reload the page.

Update Chrome

If an outdated version of Chrome caused the Flash error, here's how to update Chrome.

Go to the More menu (three dots).
Look for an option to Update Google Chrome.

If you don't see this option, you have the latest version of Chrome.
Choose Relaunch after Chrome updates.
Go back to the content you were trying to view or hear, then reload the page.

Re-Download Flash

If you still get a Flash error, download Flash from the Adobe website.

Go to adobe.com/go/chrome.

Only install Flash from the Adobe website.
Select your computer's operating system in the Step 1 window.
Select the option listing PPAPI in Step 2.
Clear the check boxes for any default software you do not want to install, then select Download Now to reinstall Flash.

Flash Plug-in Crashing

If you see an error message stating that the Flash plug-in has crashed or you see the Flash icon in the address bar, force the plug-in to close and then reload it.

Select More (three dots) in the upper-right corner to access the Chrome menu.
Select More Tools.
Select Task Manager.
Select Plugin: Shockwave Flash.
Select End Process, then close the Task Manager window.
Go back to the content you were trying to view or hear, then reload the page.