Uninstall Adobe Flash Player

What the Adobe Flash Player Uninstaller does

This Automox Worklet™ detects and uninstalls Adobe Flash Player from Windows endpoints, including both 32-bit and 64-bit installations. The Worklet scans registry entries across multiple locations to identify Flash installations, then uses Adobe's official uninstall tool to remove the application and all associated files.

After uninstalling Flash, the Worklet performs cleanup operations to remove residual Flash binaries and directories, including Flash utility executables (Flashutil) and the Macromed Flash directories from both system directories.

The Worklet references Adobe's end-of-life notice and recommendations for complete removal of unsupported software that could expose endpoints to security vulnerabilities.

Why remove Adobe Flash Player from endpoints

Adobe discontinued support for Flash Player on December 31, 2020, and actively blocked Flash content from running in the player beginning January 12, 2021. Leaving Flash installed on your endpoints creates a significant security liability, as the unsupported software will never receive patches for new vulnerabilities.

Automox recommends immediate removal of Flash Player from all endpoints to protect your systems from potential exploitation. The uninstaller tool downloads the official Adobe removal utility, verifying a clean and verified removal process.

Automating Flash removal across your organization through this Worklet delivers consistent compliance and eliminates the risk of forgotten or incomplete manual uninstallations that might leave residual files behind.

How Adobe Flash Player uninstallation works

1. Evaluation phase: The Worklet scans the Windows registry (HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall) for Adobe Flash Player in both 32-bit and 64-bit locations, including the Wow6432Node for 32-bit applications on 64-bit systems. If found, the endpoint is flagged for remediation.

2. Remediation phase: The Worklet downloads Adobe's official uninstall tool from Macromedia servers and executes it with force arguments to remove Flash Player. It then verifies removal of Flash utility binaries (ActiveX.exe, Plugin.exe, pepper.exe) from system directories and removes the Macromed Flash directories from both C:\Windows\System32 and C:\Windows\SysWOW64.

Adobe Flash Player uninstallation requirements

• Windows 10, Windows 11, or Windows Server 2016 and later

• Local administrator privileges to modify registry entries and remove system files

• Network connectivity to download Adobe's official uninstall tool from https://fpdownload.macromedia.com

• Timeout window of 300 seconds for uninstallation process to complete (configurable)

• Works on both workstations and servers running supported Windows versions

Expected state after Flash Player removal

After successful remediation, your endpoints will have Adobe Flash Player completely removed from the registry and filesystem. All Flash-related binaries, utilities, and directories will be deleted, including residual Flashutil executables and the Macromed Flash folders that can remain after standard uninstallation.

On subsequent evaluations, the Worklet will report endpoints as compliant because no Flash Player registry entries will be found. Note that this Worklet does not remove Flash Player that is natively bundled in Microsoft Edge or Internet Explorer. For those versions, follow Microsoft's recommendation to install KB4577586 from the Windows Update catalog.

How to validate uninstall adobe flash player changes

1. Run this Worklet on a pilot Windows endpoint and review evaluation output for uninstall adobe flash player.

2. Confirm Automox activity logs show successful completion and exit code 0.

3. Verify endpoint state using checks aligned to evaluation script logic, such as Write-Output, Get-ChildItem, Get-ItemProperty.

4. Validate remediation effects from script operations such as Get-ChildItem, Get-ItemProperty, Where-Object, then rerun evaluation for compliance.