Adobe Flash ends Thursday and you need to uninstall for security reasons

Updated: Dec 31, 2020 / 06:34 PM CST

A window on the Mozilla Firefox browser shows the browser has blocked the Adobe Flash plugin from activating due to a security issue on July 14, 2015 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

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SAN JOSE, Calif. (NewsNation Now) — It’s the end of an era on the internet. Adobe will stop supporting its Flash player on Dec. 31, 2020.

You may have noticed this Adobe Flash icon on sites. It will no longer work as of Dec. 31, 2020. (Courtesy: Adobe)

Most people won’t notice the change. Apple got rid of supporting Flash on most platforms a decade ago.

Part of the reason to get people to uninstall is that as of Dec. 31, Adobe won’t be updating the security of it anymore. For that reason, Adobe will also block Flash content from running in Flash Player beginning Jan. 12.

Flash debuted in 1996 as Macromedia Flash. The tool would go on to deliver animations, videos and other new experiences to the World Wide Web. Adobe announced the end of the platform in 2017.

“Several industries and businesses have been built around Flash technology — including gaming, education and video,” Adobe said in 2017. “But as open standards like HTML5, WebGL and WebAssembly have matured over the past several years, most now provide many of the capabilities and functionalities that plugins pioneered and have become a viable alternative for content on the web.”

According to the company, more than 1.3 billion people across web browsers and operating systems used Flash — 11 times more people than the bestselling hardware game console.

2.2% or 220,000 of the top 10 million websites are using Flash, as of Dec. 31, according to Web Technology Surveys, a site that tracks the top 10 million websites in the world.

How do I uninstall?

If Flash is still installed on your device, you will likely be prompted to uninstall. Browsers like Google Chrome have been alerting users for months.

If you have Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge, the browsers plan to remove the program in an update. Flash may also be installed on your computer. Adobe has created a tool to check if Flash is installed on your computer.

Here’s how to uninstall on Windows or Mac OS.