Mac installation says Safari is open, but it is not.

[mazion]

MPBr

OSX 10.8.3

Adobe Flash Player Version 11.7.700.169

Tried to install newest version of flash player when prompted.

Flash installer says that Safari is open and it can not continue, so I check my tasks and Safari is not open. I open safari and then close it with CMD+Q to ensure all instances are closed. This does not work.

Restart my computer to ensure that safari isn't open. Attempt installation again with fresh restart. Flash installer says that Safari is open and it can not continue.

Can not install newest version of Flash, nor can I locate information pertaining to this issue.

Any help is appreciated (assuming that it's not a problem with the latest installer which will be remedied shortly).

Thanks

[C_F_McBlob]

No. I gave you a solution, and you knew better than the solution.

[Peter Danckwerts]

How true.

[C_F_McBlob]

Touché. To your credit, going forward, I'll be advising people running Safari to check their preferences on relaunch. It would appear that there is something lately that is changing the preference, but the rest of my advice will remain, as it is still valid. 

[jlingo527]

Thank you, it worked great tips.

[houselove_org]

Mike M has the answer: his recommendations worked for me. I was stuck with a stalled Flash installer like everybody else.

[Peter Danckwerts]

I tried that and it did let me install and came up with a 'success' message but Flash is still not working. I really think I'll dump anything which requires Flash, as I have already done on my own websites.

[dtr68]

Uninstalling Adobe and then installing the new Flash Plug-in worked for me.  I assume this is because I had the old plug in running in the background, and this is what the new one thought was "Safari".  Either way, this worked on my iMac and my Macbook Air.  Happily.  Thank you very much, der1004.  great job!

[philip550c]

I am having the same problem, Late 2012 MacMini with Mountain Lion

[Jaxdia]

Same problem here. Restarted as well, and Flash Installer was the first thing I ran. Apparently Safari managed to bypass time and space to run first.

Machine is a late 2010 iMac with Mountain Lion.

[krista06880]

I have this same issue. I was prompted to update Adobe Flash. When I attempted to follow said direction, but was directed by the installer to "please quit the following program to continue". It listed Safari as being open, but under Force Quit in the Apple menu, Safari does not show as open. In checking the Activity Monitor as suggested above, I don't see any process that relates to Safari.

Adobe, please either stop having Flash tell me to update to a version that is impossible to install or fix the thing so it can install properly. This is a frustrating waste of time -- not a good thing from a user experience.

My setup: MacBook Pro OS X version 10.8.3

Many thanks!

[alexisbb721]

What I did, and it seems to be working(!)

is I opened Finder

and saw Adobe under devices.

I "ejected" it

closed Safari.

went to my downloads (again) and double-clicked to install Adobe Flash and it worked (didn't say Safari was open, went past 50%...completed)

[JamesInsource]

I'll add my helpful solution to this problem:

1) Go to Activity Monitor (search in the spotlight for "Activity Monitor" if you don't know where the app is)

2) Under the CPU tab, look for "Flash...." and quit that process

3) Install Flash update as per usual

My comps issue was that Safari was closing, but apparently the flash plug-in was not.  I needed to stop Flash to update Flash

Hope this helps someone!

[C_F_McBlob]

A common mistake (especially among people who have newly switched to Mac from Windows) is the misperception that closing the Safari window closes the app... it doesn't. As long as it's still "lit" in the dock, it's open.

That's why the "clean install" instructions include a hard reboot. To kill all running apps and processes.

[JamesInsource · Accepted solution]

@Mike M - Agreed!

Note: Before using my method above, Safari was completely shut down and was not "lit".  Users should definitely check to ensure Safari is completely closed, before taking further measures.

[Peter Danckwerts]

Mike M, your suggestion for rebooting ingores the fact that, depending how your system is set up, your computer may restart Safari on reboot, either because it was open before or because it is set as a Login item. In any case, rebooting shouldn't be necessary. Adobe used to include a utility in the installer which allowed you to force Safari to close and killed associate processes at the same time. It would save a lot of trouble if they reintroduced that. Also, there are other programs, such as FaceTab, which will cause the Flash installer to say that Safari is running (perhaps they are using WebKit).

[C_F_McBlob]

danckwerts wrote:

Mike M, your suggestion for rebooting ingores the fact that, depending how your system is set up, your computer may restart Safari on reboot, either because it was open before or because it is set as a Login item. In any case, rebooting shouldn't be necessary. Adobe used to include a utility in the installer which allowed you to force Safari to close and killed associate processes at the same time. It would save a lot of trouble if they reintroduced that. Also, there are other programs, such as FaceTab, which will cause the Flash installer to say that Safari is running (perhaps they are using WebKit).

The option to "reopen windows on restart" (meanign to restore applications) and the login items are BOTH user set. The reopening when the reboot is executed, by checkign a box specificaly to do that, and the other in the system preferences, requiring entry of the admin password before apps can be added. Anyone who has knows how to do either, would certainly know that a reboot withthe box checked would reopen Safari, and would know that they have to terminate the process manually. Most people DON'T have Safari set as a login item, however. There are some "widgets" that will try to connect through Safari, and Facetab can a f;ase positive too, but onyl if it's a login item.

It would be nice to have the force quit in the installer, but as one of the top posters in the Apple forums told me, OS X has changed since 10.6, to be more like iOS.  One of the significant changes with Lion and it was refined in Mt. Lion and Mavericks, is the "Gatekeeper" which keeps apps from running if the developer can't be identified. If Apple lags on updating Gatekeeper definitions, a brand new update launching the force quit would hit a snag at that point and people would be right back here asking what to do. Not having it facilitates the install IMHO.

Currently I'm running 10.6.8, 10.7.5, 10.8.5 and 10.9 and I haven't run into the "You must close Safari" warning when it was closed. I don't use Facetab, and I only have widgets installed on my Mavericks machine. I've trashed them all on the others. 

[Peter Danckwerts]

I know, Mike, but you seemed to think you might be addressing newcomers to the Mac.

[C_F_McBlob]

There are a lot of them out there. And when I went through knowledge writing training, I was taught to "respectfully treat everyone who may see what I write as if they had just seen a computer for the first time.

That means detail, detail, detail, and never assume anyone knows anything, so include every step, whether I think it's necessary or not."

[Peakoverload]

This is something that I've had a problem with for ages but just found the solution. Like everyone here I kept getting the 'close Safari' message even though I never use Safari and it's never running. However I did have a program called Menu Tab Pro installed which basically give you direct access to Facebook and it was this that was using the Safari Flash plugin! Disabling this then allowed me to install the update no problem at all. If anyone has this program installed on their Mac or quite possibly any similar app may well find that closing these programs will solve your issues.

[theamazo]

Another FYI to those finding their way here. The hint that helped me was the mention of WebKit. I use the app Fluid. Fluid is a very handy app that allows the user to create custom web browsers. For example I use it to have an isolated browser for Facebook. This disconnects all the BS that FB & other websites use to track your account and "refine" their knowledge of the user. Because it uses WebKit it apparantly looks like Safari to the installer which then wrongfully complains about Safari being open. All I needed to do was to close the Fluid browser (& Safari, of course) and it worked.

Frankly I was getting to the point where I was considering banashing Flash altogether. The recent method Adobe uses to install the app (via a web browsers) is probably causing all sorts of problems for users who are willing to figure it out. Give the historical problems with Flash & security as well causing crashes, it probably will remain a serious issue for Mac users for a long time. I never like installation methods that "guide" the user through some process that includes online use of a browser. They are susceptible to all sorts of issues. It is this issue that now makes me hesitate to use the "Creative Cloud".

[12345bottaj]

I am having this close safari problem….I did not understanbd anything that you wrote above..sorry I am not a techie.  what do i do to ghet SAdobe Flash player to download?  thanks jim

[billm7615108]

I am having the same issue with downloading Pro.  Where is direct help with downloads through a real human?

[ridhij42083560]

Hi,

This is an old thread. Could you please try a new thread stating the exact problem you are facing with details about the OS. Also, if adding a snapshot would help debug/identify issue please do so.

Thanks!

[Guest]

This did it for me. Thank you.

[RegiGJ]

Thank you! it was as simple as that. Nothing complicated really, but needed to be put out there. So yea thanks