Enable auto-updates for Adobe Flash Player
Sometime in the past month I have noticed that every single Mac I’ve used has mysteriously had Adobe Flash’s auto-update disabled. If you don’t have it set to automatically update you’ll find yourself having to manually download and install updates every few weeks. Even with automatic updates enabled you’ll often find yourself having to update manually because sometimes it seems the current version doesn’t get updated automatically before your current one gets blocked for security concerns.
- Click the Apple menu in the top left corner of your screen
- Click System Preferences
- Click Flash Player (bottom row, probably)
- Click the Updates tab
- Change the radio dial to “Allow Adobe to install updates”
- Enter your login password when prompted; this is the admin password used to start up your Mac or to install software
How to safely update Adobe Flash Player
Hackers and con-artists have taken note of how frequently Adobe Flash Player is getting updated these days. Knowing that most of us just click a button to update Flash whenever we are prompted has led to one of the most common ways for malware and adware to get onto your Mac these days. You click the download button and install, but it turns out that it’s not actually Adobe Flash Player at all, and you may not even realize it. But there is an easy way to make sure you are getting an authentic copy of Flash Player.
- Click the Apple menu in the top left corner of your screen
- Click System Preferences
- Click Flash Player (bottom row, probably)
- Click the Updates tab
- Click “Check Now” for each type of Flash Player you have installed, NPAPI or PPAPI. If one of them says you don’t have it installed you probably don’t need it. NPAPI is for Firefox and Safari. PPAPI is for Opera and Chromium (not Chrome, which has Flash Player built-in)
- When prompted to install the update, your default browser will launch and the download will begin. Depending on which browser you use it will behave slightly differently, but you will probably find the DMG file in your Downloads folder or on your Desktop.
- Open the DMG file, and run the installer contained within
- After Flash Player has successfully installed, eject the DMG virtual drive (just like you would a thumb drive) and put the DMG file in your trash.
