Flash does not work properly or will not update

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If you experience these symptoms when using the Flash plugin with Firefox, you may have a conflict with old versions of Adobe's Flash plugin or DLM extension:

  • Flash content does not work, acts strangely, or causes errors.
  • Even after installing the latest version of Flash, you see a notice to update (e.g., at Mozilla's Plugin Check).

This article describes how to troubleshoot problems caused by old versions of Flash. For ​gene​ral ​info​rmat​ion ​about Flash, see Flash Plugin - Keep it up to date and troubleshoot problems.


Check for multiple versions of Flash

To determine whether you have more than one version of Flash installed:

  1. At the top of the Firefox windowOn the menu bar, click Tools and then select Add-ons. The Add-ons window will appear.
  2. Select the Plugins panel.
  3. Look for items labeled Shockwave Flash.

Remove Adobe's DLM extension

If you did not see multiple versions of Flash listed, you may have the Adobe DLM extension installed, which can prevent Flash from updating to the latest version:

  1. At the top of the Firefox windowOn the menu bar, click Tools and then select Add-ons. The Add-ons window will appear.
  2. Select the Extensions panel.
  3. Look for an item labeled Adobe DLM.
  4. If you see Adobe DLM, click on it to select it, then click Uninstall. When prompted, confirm that you want to uninstall the extension.
  5. Click the Restart Firefox button at the top of the Firefox window.

After you remove the Adobe DLM extension, follow the instructions at Installing the Flash plugin.

Remove versions in Firefox plugins folder

If you saw multiple versions of Flash listed, check to see if there is a version installed in the Firefox plugins folder:

  1. Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  2. Navigate to the Firefox plugins directory (e.g., C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\plugins).
  3. If you see a file named npswf32.dll, delete it.

If you found npswf32.dll, after you have deleted it, open Firefox and check to see whether you still have multiple versions listed. If you do still have multiple versions listed, or if you did not find npswf32.dll, continue following the instructions in this article.

Uninstall and reinstall Flash

Note: Running Adobe's uninstaller will remove Flash from all browsers, including Internet Explorer. You will be prompted to reinstall Flash when you visit a page that requires it, such as Adobe's Test Page.

If you still see that there is more than one Shockwave Flash in your list of plugins:

  1. Follow Adobe's instructions on how to uninstall the Flash Plugin.
  2. After you run Adobe's Flash uninstaller, see Installing the Flash plugin for instructions on how to re-install Flash.

When you finish, check again to see whether you still have multiple versions of Flash installed.

Manually remove duplicate plugins

If you still have multiple versions of Flash installed after following the instructions above If you see that there is more than one Shockwave Flash in your list of plugins, remove the older versions' files manually.

Change preferences

First, set Firefox to display where plugins are installed:

  1. Type about:config in the address bar and press EnterReturn.
    A warning page may appear. Click Accept the Risk and Continue to go to the about:config page.
  2. In the field labeled Filter, type plugin.expose_full_path.
  3. Double-click on the plugin.expose_full_path preference to set its value to true.

Determine old plugin locations

Next, open the Firefox Installed plugins page and determine where the older versions of Flash are installed:

  1. Enter about:plugins in the Firefox Location bar (i.e. the address bar). The Installed plugins page wll open.
  2. Look for the Shockwave Flash entries. For all but the latest version, note the location next to File (e.g. C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\plugins/usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox/plugins).

    df580768f1d2b5f3ac338a62c6ac458b-1261019540-974-1.png

Remove old plugin versions

Once you have determined where each version you want to remove is located:

  1. Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  2. Delete or rename each of the files that correspond to old versions of the Flash plugin.

Verify uninstallation

Lastly, verify that the extra versions of Flash are removed and reset the preference you changed above:

  1. Enter about:plugins in the Firefox Location bar (i.e. the address bar). The Installed plugins page will open.
  2. Verify that all versions of Flash except the latest one are removed. If not, take note of the location next to File for the extra versions that remain, close Firefox, and then delete or move that file.
  3. Type about:config in the address bar and press EnterReturn.
    A warning page may appear. Click Accept the Risk and Continue to go to the about:config page.
  4. In the field labeled Filter, type plugin.expose_full_path.
  5. Double-click on the plugin.expose_full_path preference to set its value back to false.

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