This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

How can I prevent the Flash player from constantly crashing?

  • 2 replies
  • 66 have this problem
  • 17 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

more options

Whenever I try to watch a YouTube video I get an error, saying the Adobe Flash Plugin has crashed. I've updated it and Firefox AND restarted my computer, which seems to be everything recommended in the help article for this issue. Is there anything else I can try?

Whenever I try to watch a YouTube video I get an error, saying the Adobe Flash Plugin has crashed. I've updated it and Firefox AND restarted my computer, which seems to be everything recommended in the help article for this issue. Is there anything else I can try?

All Replies (2)

more options

For youtube specifically I suggest joining the html5 trial. This bypasses flash completely for many videos and so solves the flash issues. Click 'Join the trial' here:

http://www.youtube.com/html5

For other sites that use flash please see below -

A couple steps that help with many Flash issues:

Disable hardware graphics acceleration in Firefox and in Flash

(A) In Firefox, un-check the box here and restart:

orange Firefox button (or Tools menu) > Options > Advanced > General > "Use hardware acceleration when available"

(B) In Flash, see this support article from Adobe: http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/video-playback-issues.html#main_Solve_video_playback_issues


Could you also test in Firefox's Safe Mode? That's a standard diagnostic tool to bypass interference by extensions (and some custom settings). More info: Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode.

You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using

Help > Restart with Add-ons Disabled

In the dialogue, click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Reset)

Any difference?

Modified by Ed

more options

You can check for problems with current Flash plugin versions and try these:

  • disable a possible RealPlayer Browser Record Plugin extension for Firefox and update the RealPlayer if installed
  • disable protected mode in the Flash plugin (Flash 11.3+ on Windows Vista and later)
  • disable hardware acceleration in the Flash plugin