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Firefox has stopped asking me to activate flash on some sites. So, those sites won't activate flash at all until I select "always activate". How do I fix this?

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I have flash set to "Ask to Activate". However, some websites (But not all) have stopped asking and will not load the parts that require Flash at all, until I set flash to "Always activate". I do not want to keep Flash on "Always activate" since I have had many performance issues with Flash.

So, how do I make sites ask me to activate flash again?

I have flash set to "Ask to Activate". However, some websites (But not all) have stopped asking and will not load the parts that require Flash at all, until I set flash to "Always activate". I do not want to keep Flash on "Always activate" since I have had many performance issues with Flash. So, how do I make sites ask me to activate flash again?

All Replies (1)

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I'm with you on using "Ask to Activate" for Flash. Could you double-check that it hasn't changed to "Never Activate"? The reason I ask is that the plugin list next to your question (Question Details > More system Details) doesn't show Shockwave Flash.

Sometimes the Flash updater leaves an old version and Firefox blocks all versions. You can use the internal about:plugins paste to check for that problem. (Type or paste about:plugins in the address bar and press Enter to load it.) You can use Find (Ctrl+f) to search for npswf to jump to each Flash plugin Firefox has detected. Any old ones?


Some sites are unusually impatient when it comes to checking whether a plugin is available. You usually can still use the plugin notification icon at the left end of the address bar to allow Flash, and if necessary reload the page, or if the site is generally okay, you can make a change using the Permissions panel of the Page Info dialog.

You can call that up using any of these:

  • right-click a blank area of the page and choose View Page Info > Permissions
  • (menu bar) Tools menu > Page Info > Permissions
  • click the padlock or "i" icon to the left of the site address, then the ">" icon, then More Information > Permissions

Near the top, you'll find the plugin permissions for "Adobe Flash" and you can select Allow for the site shown above the list. (This is the same as using Allow and Remember on the notification icon drop-panel.)

The change is saved immediately, so you can just close the Page Info dialog after that.