Uninstalled Flash player will not reinstall

Question

My windows 10 computer came with the free adobe flash player. I was having problems with it so I uninstalled it thinking that I could reinstall it with ease. Well, in trying to do so, the adobe flash player download will not allow me to download it because it keeps saying that I already have it on the computer when I actually don't. Any help?

_maria_ · Answer

That's correct behaviour you are observing. Since Microsoft embeds Flash Player in IE and Edge browser, and all updates are released by Microsoft via Windows Update the Flash Player ActiveX Control standalone installer does not work on Windows 8 and above. Likewise the Flash Player uninstaller also does not uninstall Flash Player ActiveX Control on Windows 8 and above. You can try the following options, however, there is no guarantee these will work:

Run sfc /scannow
Refresh Windows 10s: Recovery options in Windows 10 - Windows Help See Reset Your PC > Keep my files

If those don't work you'll most likely need to re-install Windows. As usual, creating a back-up is always recommended before running either of these two options.

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