Missing Flash? Try These 3 Alternatives (That Still Work!)

Download Article

Play games or watch animations with these Flash replacements

Written by Hannah Dillon

Last Updated: August 6, 2025 Fact Checked

Download Article

Ruffle

|

Flashpoint Archive

|

Flash Projector Content Debugger

|

FAQs

|

Video

|

Q&A

|

Warnings

Due to security issues with Adobe Flash Player, Adobe ended support for Flash as of December 2020. Many sites are upgrading their Flash games and animations to HTML5, but not all sites have made the switch just yet. If you still want to play Flash games or use older sites that haven't yet upgraded to a more modern technology, we'll show you how to download alternatives to Adobe Flash Player.

Installing Adobe Flash Player: Alternatives

The best alternative to Flash is Ruffle. Ruffle can be installed as a browser plugin or as a standalone Flash player application. If you're looking to play old Flash games, try Flashpoint Archive. If you have downloaded .SWF files, you can also run them with the Adobe Flash Player projector content debugger.

Section 1 of 4:

Ruffle

Download Article

Use Ruffle, a full-featured Flash Player emulator. Ruffle is an open-source Flash emulator you can use to play games and view other Flash content just like using Adobe Flash Player.^{[1]
X
Research source} You can install Ruffle on your PC (Windows or Linux) or Mac and use it to open .SWF files on your computer, or try the browser extension that lets you use Flash on websites. It's a nearly seamless alternative, and you can download it from https://ruffle.rs/#releases.
- To use Ruffle in your browser, you can install it via the Chrome Web Store (which works in Google Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers like Opera), the Firefox Add-Ons Store, or the Microsoft Edge Add-ons Store.
  - If you are using Safari on Mac, go to https://ruffle.rs/downloads and click the Safari button under "Browser Extension" for the newest version of Ruffle. Double-click the .TAR.GZ file that is downloaded to extract it, then double-click the .SAFARIEXTZ file to install the extension.
- To use Ruffle as a standalone Flash player, download and install the desktop application for your operating system from https://ruffle.rs/downloads.

Section 2 of 4:

Flashpoint Archive

Download Article

Play old Flash games with Flashpoint Archive. Flashpoint Archive is a project that aims to preserve as many Flash games and animations as possible. Since 2017, they have archived over 170,000 games and over 30,000 animations.^{[2]
X
Research source} While Flashpoint Archive won't make Flash work on websites, it can provide an alternative if you're looking to play an old Flash game or watch an old Flash animation.
- Windows 8.1 and newer:
  - To use Flashpoint Archive, download and install the Flashpoint player from Flashpoint Archive's website.
- Mac:^{[3]
  X
  Research source}
  - Open Terminal and run this command: curl -fo ~/Downloads/fp13_mac.tar.xz .
  - Go to your Downloads folder. Press Ctrl and click the .XZ file, then choose Open With > Archive Utility.
  - Open the Flashpoint 13 for macOS folder and run the Flashpoint application.
- Linux: If desired, you can run the Windows version of Flashpoint on a Windows virtual machine or through Wine. Otherwise, follow the steps below to install the Linux version of Flashpoint:^{[4]
  X
  Research source}
  - Download this archive file and extract it to an empty directory that your user has read and write permissions for.
  - Open the directory you extracted the archive to, then run setup-desktop-entry.sh to add the launcher to your desktop.
  - Download this archive file to get Flashpoint's libraries.
  - Extract the archive to the Libraries directory in your Flashpoint install.
  - Re-run setup-desktop-entry.sh to generate a new desktop entry that will load the binaries and libraries you just extracted.
  - Download this archive file to get Flashpoint's Wine runtime.
  - Extract that archive file to FPSoftware > Wine. Flashpoint should use this Wine runtime, which has been optimized for Flashpoint, instead of the one already on your system.

Section 3 of 4:

Flash Projector Content Debugger

Download Article

Use the Adobe Flash Player projector content debugger. This developer testing program lets you open Flash files (in the .SWF format) in a standalone app, meaning you won't need to rely on a web browser. This is a great option if you have saved SWF files to your computer. To get the debugger:
- Go to https://archive.org/details/flashplayer_32_sa_debug_2. Adobe has removed the Projector Content Debugger from their website, but you can download it from the Internet Archive.
- Double-click the downloaded file to install it.
- You can now open a file in the newly installed Adobe Flash Player app by clicking File > Open, selecting the SWF file, and clicking Open.

Section 4 of 4:

FAQs

Download Article

1
What is Adobe Flash used for and do I need it? Adobe Flash was used to create and view interactive content and videos. It was both a standalone application and a browser plug-in. You no longer need Flash as Adobe has retired it.
2
Why was Adobe Flash banned? Adobe Flash was not banned, it was retired. Adobe decided to stop supporting Flash in 2020 due to security concerns and changing technology. There are now newer technologies that serve as better replacements for Flash (HTML5, WebGL, and WebAssembly).^{[5]
X
Research source}
3
Should I delete Adobe Flash? Yes, if you still have Flash on your computer, you should uninstall it. Leaving unsupported software on your computer can leave you open to security vulnerabilities.
4
What are the risks of Adobe Flash Player? The biggest risk of keeping Adobe Flash Player on your computer is security. As Adobe is no longer providing security patches to Flash, hackers could use this as an entry point to your computer. It also takes up unnecessary space on your computer, since Flash is not used for anything anymore.
5
Will Adobe Flash ever come back? No, Adobe will not bring Flash back. If you encounter a website that still requires Flash, it is up to the website developer to update their site to use other technologies to display that content. You can use a Flash emulator like Ruffle to view or play Flash content instead.

Community Q&A

Search

Add New Question

Question

How do I download it on an Android?

Community Answer

Newer versions of Android can't use Flash. Evidently Adobe and Google can't come to an agreement, so the public suffers until they do.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 9 Helpful 22
Question

Is the Adobe flash player safe for my computer?

Community Answer

If you see a lock on the website of Adobe, then it is safe and should be easy to download.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 18 Helpful 23
Question

Where is the Download folder located?

Community Answer

If you're using Google Chrome, you can hit Ctrl-J to access downloaded files.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 12 Helpful 20

See more answers

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Video

Tips

Submit a Tip

All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published

Name

Please provide your name and last initial

Submit

Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

Warnings

Adobe doesn't recommend using older browser versions that still support Flash, as this may lead to a security vulnerability.^{[6]
X
Research source} If you still have Flash and are using an old version of your browser to keep using it, it's best to uninstall it and use one of the above alternatives.

Thanks
Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0