Internet Explorer Now Warns of Adobe Flash’s Upcoming Demise

When visiting sites hosting Flash content, Internet Explorer 11 will warn that Adobe Flash is no longer supported after December 2020.

In July 2017, Adobe made joint announcement with Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Mozilla that Adobe Flash was being discontinued and support for it was being removed from all browsers.

With today’s release of the optional Windows 10 preview cumulative update for Windows 10 versions 1909, 1903, and 1809, Microsoft is warning users that the end of Adobe Flash is coming soon.

For those who do not install today’s optional updates, this change will be included in the October Patch Tuesday updates.

With this update installed, Internet Explorer will now display a warning on sites utilizing Adobe Flash content that Flash is no longer supported after December 2020.

"This site uses Adobe Flash Player which will not be supported after December 2020."

This notification will be displayed to a user once every 60 days until December 31st, 2020, for each site you visit that hosts Adobe Flash content.

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For those who do not wish to see this alert in Internet Explorer, you can configure the ‘DisableFlashNotificationPolicy’ value under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main, as shown below.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
“DisableFlashNotificationPolicy”=dword:00000001

Microsoft’s plans for Adobe Flash

If you click on the ‘Learn more’ button in the alert, you will be brought to a page explaining how Adobe Flash is reaching the end of support.

“Microsoft is ending support for Adobe Flash Player on Microsoft Edge (both the new Microsoft Edge and Microsoft Edge Legacy) and Internet Explorer 11 at the end of 2020,” a Microsoft support document explains.

After December 2020, Adobe Flash Player will no longer receive security updates, and all versions older than the one released on June 9th, 2020, will automatically be disabled in the browser.

In the Fall of 2020, an optional update will be made available titled “Update for Removal of Adobe Flash Player” that will remove Adobe Flash from Windows. This update is permanent and cannot be uninstalled.

Finally, in the Summer of 2021, Microsoft will release a mandatory cumulative update that permanently removes Flash Player, and all related APIs and Group Policies.

While the removal of Adobe Flash may make some feel nostalgic, its usefulness has long faded away, and it’s more of a security risk than anything else at this point.

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