How to Enable Flash in Chrome

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.

Enabling Flash in Chrome is easy, as described below:

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

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 the Return key.

Click the padlock icon on the far left of the address bar.

Click 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.

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.

1. Type (or copy-paste) chrome://components/ into your address bar in Chrome.
2. Scroll down to Adobe Flash Player.
3. Click the Check for update button 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.

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

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

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

1. Launch Chrome.
2. Click the ⋮ symbol on the right-hand side of the address bar.
3. If you see an Update Google Chrome option, click 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.