The time has come to seriously evaluate whether to remove Flash Player from a PC, considering the security problems it is having in recent times. Without Flash, your system will surely be safer and probably even faster.
While we are thinking of removing Flash Player from Pc we must take into account a fact. Adobe Flash Player has proved to be an important and valid complement for Internet surfers, because it has supported browsers in their multimedia functions and is still present on most PCs. The implementation of native video features in HTML 5 on the one hand and the constant emergence with Flash of significant security problems on the other, it is clear that its day is coming to an end. Flash is a heavy consumer of CPU resources and probably for this reason that is omnipresent on all PCs, now it is considered more as a damage than a resource for our computers.
How to remove Flash Player from PC
Given the above, the time has come to evaluate whether we should keep it or remove it. Unless you have a specific need to keep Flash, many security experts recommend its removal and we, after seeing how to uninstall it from the Mac, we propose this guide to remove it from the PC, because it seems a simple procedure, but it is not.
We got to the point and the first thing to do before removing Flash Player from PC is to check if Flash is installed on your computer, because if you are not sure, there are several ways to verify it. There are many versions of Flash Player, starting from the old stand-alone multi-platform reader called Shockwave Flash, to the versions with which different browsers implement Flash. For example, Internet Explorer uses a plug-in called Flash ActiveX, the Google Chrome browser has a built-in Flash Player and Firefox uses a different Flash add-on. To check if your browser has installed Flash, Adobe has provided a service that you can find here. To check, click on Check Now and you will have the following image that in our case shows the control made on the Chrome browser with the indication of the installed Flash version.
If you have the stand-alone Player, this should be listed in the Control Panel under the Programs-> Programs and Features section. Here you will find the ActiveX plug-in for Internet Explorer listed if it has been installed. Firefox add-ons will not be listed in the Control Panel or the built-in Flash for Chrome. Before starting to remove Flash Player from Pc it is important to know that the methods are different based on the type of browser, let’s see what they are.
Remove Flash Player for Internet Explorer and Firefox
There are several ways to remove Flash Player. A first way is to use the simple uninstallation program provided by Adobe that can be downloaded from this link.
The Adobe uninstaller works for Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers, because I have personally verified that it does not work with Chrome, simply because the Flash player is integrated into Chrome and can only be disabled by Chrome itself.
Remove Flash Player from Chrome
To be noted that for some days Chrome no longer integrates Flash Player in its browser, so this applies only to those who have already installed Chrome on the PC. To disable Flash Player from Chrome, in the browser’s address bar type “chrome://extensions” (without quotes). A window will open in which you can make settings for some plug-ins. The image below shows the settings for Flash Player for Chrome.
Simply click on “Disable” and restart the browser. In Settings, the item “Activate” will now be available if you want to restore Flash again.
If you have installed Shockwave Flash player, it can be uninstalled from the Control Panel. It should be listed under Programs-> Programs and Features.
Reinstall Flash on the PC
After seeing how to remove Flash Player from PC but for some reason you need the presence of Flash on your computer, you can reinstall it by going to this Adobe link. In conclusion, removing Flash Player from Pc helps you have a safer computer, but also faster when you surf. What is lost by not having Flash? You probably will not see any advertising banner.