Have you ever been browsing a site when all of a sudden, sites stopped loading, ad spaces or games would turn into a big black screen with a sad puzzle piece inside, and pretty much everything you tried to do from that point on totally did not work? At the top of the page, you might see a yellow warning bar that says “Shockwave Flash has crashed.”
Are you tired of getting those errors? Here’s how to stop those annoying shockwave flash crashes in Google Chrome.
What Causes Shockwave Flash Errors?
You may wonder why these errors keep popping up. These errors are typically caused by two versions of a flash player installed on your computer. You didn’t even know you had two versions, did you? Well, most people who have used FireFox, IE, or another web browser installed on their computers also have the Adobe Flash Player installed. The problem comes up because Chrome also comes with a built-in flash player, called Pepperflash. Having both the Adobe Flash Player and the Chrome PepperFlash player enabled can cause a conflict which results in the “The following plugin has crashed: Chockwave Flash” error.
The Solution
Fortunately, there is a way to stop shockwave flash crashes in Google Chrome. We can stop these errors by disabling one of the Flash Players plugins in Chrome.
First, open up a new Google Chrome window. Then, in the address bar, type “chrome://plugins/”.
This will bring up a list of all the plug-ins that Chrome uses. Look for one the section that says “Flash.” Mine was at the very top of the page.
Notice how it says Flash (2 files). That shows that we have both the Adobe and PepperFlash installed. If it says Flash (1 file), then only PepperFlash is installed, but that could still cause crashes. We’re going to disable it altogether.
At the top right of the plug-ins window, click in the + Details link. This will expand the plug-ins list so you can see all of the plug-ins that are installed.
When I view the details, I can see both Flash plug-ins listed.
Look for the one that has “PepperFlash” in the Location destination and click the Disable link just underneath it.
Once it’s disabled, that plug-in will be grayed out. Make sure that the other Shockwave Flash plugin is not grayed out and that it is still enabled. If it is disabled, you can click on the Enable link to re-enable it.
Finally, open a new Chrome window and visit the Adobe Flash test page to make sure that Flash is still installed and working properly.
If only the PepperFlash version is listed in your plug-ins list, you’ll still want to follow the above steps to disable it, but you’ll also want to ensure that the Adobe Flash Player is installed. You can download the latest Flash Player directly from Adobe.
That’s it! Once you disable the PepperFlash player, then you should stop seeing the Shockwave Flash errors.
You’re the best. I used to have this problem and, until I figured out how to fix it (as you demonstrated above), I thought I was gonna lose it. It was happening pretty much every day.
Pinned it so a) I can find it easily and b) others can fix this problem! 🙂
Thanks I was having this problem everyday! A friend sent me to this site.
I keep disabling and it keeps coming back. What can I do to prevent this?? Sometimes I have to disable 3-4 times a day.
I tried all of that stuff and it keeps coming back for me as well. I finally hit on a rather brute force way to permanently disable it, and it seems to work.
Basically the idea is to not only blow away the pepperflash.dll file, but put a read-only dummy file in its place. I used a zero length file, but any short text-only file should work.
For noobs, here are the steps:
1. in the Chrome Browser, type in Chrome://Plugins
2. Look at the listing for pepperflash to note the full path to pepperflash.dll and record it.
3. CLOSE CHROME (to avoid “file in use” error)
4. Type CMD in the start menu
5. drill down to the directory where pepperflash.dll lives using the CD command
6. Delete pepperflash.dll
Note: if you stop here, it will still come back. Chrome will reinstall it. Perhaps not that day, perhaps not the next day, but within two days tops it will grow back like a weed.
7. type in the following command lines:
echo dummyfile > pepperflash.dll
attrib +r pepperflash.dll
——————————
By creating a read only dummy file named pepperflash.dll, Chrome is unable to reanimate pepperflash because it can’t replace a read-only file. It’s like pouring salt on the vampire’s grave.
i learned 2 things from your post. i didn’t know about salt on a vampire’s grave. this is really helpful. thanks. although i always thought it best to cremate a vampire anyway. hey, does it matter what kind of salt (potassium chloride, sea salt, kosher, etc)?
Seriously, the dummy file is brilliant!
I LOVE YOU!! thanks so much for this!! I love Chrome and am so happy I can use it w/o the constant crashes!! Woo Hoo!
You rock! Thanks for this! 🙂
Thanks a lot!
I love playing flash games and I keep getting this error.
Hmmm…I don’t have Pepperflash, but still get a lot of Shockwave crashes in Chrome – but it’s still WAY better than ie!
Yes, I don’t have pepperflash plugin either! I just removed all my adobe flash crap, and am about to re-install the latest version of it. I don’t know why I show no pepperflash. ALSO, when I click on “Start” “All Programs” and find “Start Menu” I have NOTHING in it either…confuses the crap out of me.
Yes, I don’t have pepperflash plugin either! I just removed all my adobe flash crap, and am about to re-install the latest version of it. I don’t know why I show no pepperflash. ALSO, when I click on “Start” “All Programs” and find “Start Menu” I have NOTHING in it either…confuses the crap out of me.
Thanks you so very much! It would be frustrating when I’m in the middle of something and it crashes!
Thank you so much! You just saved my sanity 🙂 I switched to Chrome because I was having so much trouble with firefox and loved Chrome but those crashes were starting to get on my last nerve!
Did this and hope it helps. Thanks for the information.
Seems easy enough. I hope it works now. I despised those constant crashes!
Thank you love! I also shared this information!
I think my comment went poof again.
Thank you so much for this! I have shared it.
It was pretty easy to do!
Actually, it doesn’t always work… and trust me, over time, I’ve googled and researched this plenty. However, it does seem like since the last update that I know of (really hate automatic updates of anything), it’s happened vastly less. Wonder if they finally got around to figuring out what the heck the problem really was or something.
And with that, I imagine mine will start crashing with more regularity again… perhaps as soon as I click post… 😉
Lois
Thanks! I’ve had this problem and just chocked it up to annoying computer crap.
Thank you soooooo much! Shockwave flash has been crashing at least 3 times per day and I didn’t know what the heck to do! You posted this just in time to save my sanity!
Thank you SO much! I have been having this problem daily and haven’t had time to research what to do about it. I’ll give this a try.
This happens to me all the time so TY TY for this info!
I just did this. I hope it helps!!!
I am so stinking excited that I found this post. I am going to try this right now, my fingers are crossed b/c that sad puzzle is my worst enemy!!
I am so stinking excited that I found this post. I am going to try this right now, my fingers are crossed b/c that sad puzzle is my worst enemy!!
I am SO tired of when mine crashes!!! I hoe this is a way to fix that issue!!!
Thank you so much for telling me how to do this! It helps so much! I will also be doing it to my mom’s computer. 🙂
I also only have one instance of Flash, but have many, many crashes a day. What are your -if any- suggestions for those of us who cannot find a second instance of flash installed? I have Windows 8, if that matters any.
I have disabled one of them a while ago, but the errors are happening again 🙁
Not sure what to do now..
Disabled pepper flash but shockwave crashed within 5 minutes after doing it.
Ah! Chrome is a different monster to me. Thanks for such great advise. Maybe I’ll give Chrome a chance then. 😉
Still having constant crash issues with your prescribed crash. At wits end….
Thank you so much..I was about to pull my hair out..you are the best…big hugs.. 🙂
Thank you!
So it “crashed” again. And pepperflash is still disabled.
Trouble is, it only works for a few minutes.
I have only one Adobe Flash player installed – I even unistalled it, and reinstalled it. It says for the Plugin: Adobe Flash, but it is in the pepperflash. The description under Adobe Flash is: Shockwave flash, the description adds 11.5.31r31. I also have a separate plug-in for Shockwave v11.6.8r638. It still crashes.
Hi-I tried this, but I have only one Shockwave listed with the pepperflash address. I have Windows 7. Is that different somehow?
Thanks a lot!!
I have done everything above NUMEROUS times and as soon as I leave and go back shockwave for Google has enabled itself again.
Hi Donna, That’s weird that it re-enables itself. Have you tried uninstalling and then reinstalling Chrome? (A little more work, but it might get it to stay off.)
Hey, thank you soooo much! This really helped me. I was going nuts and this was the best website with the clearest directions! Thanks a million!
mine is done this way, and I crash every day all day, and I do not know what else to try to do, any other suggestions? I can’t play my games due to this, do I need to switch browser off of chrome and back to firefox?
Thanks for the post,it helped a lot.
Nice try but no go. There is only one version operating in Chrome and it crashes 2-3 times per day. Any other ideas?
same goes to my pc, it still doesn’t work even if i never install the flash player from adobe or any other.
I have been getting the plugins has become unresponsive for unknown reason and asking me to stop it yes and no . What can I do about this problem. The pepper flash dll has been disable and I have still have one from adobe Macromedia adobe flash player
You are a PURE genius!!! Seriously, that always drove me batty when Chrome did that, and now I am good to go!! BRAVO..take a bow!!
Thank you so much!!You guys rock!!I will let others know about this site!!
Done this more times then I want to talk about, still does not stop the issues with Chrome, and Facebook games constantly crashing.
Thank you so much!!! You resolved my issue. Your instruction were easy to follow 😀
Hi….I have disabled pepperflash in chrome, but I have a hek of a lot of other things listed there….and i’m wondering if that could be why I am still and constantly crashing yet? I have widevine content decryption module, native client, google update, chrome pdf viewer, chrome remote desktop viewer, adobe reader, and photo gallery.
If you are looking for reliable solution to fixing shockwave flash crash, do the following:
1- Clear browser history and cahce
2- Uninstall your system’s flash player and reinstall again
If these two do not work, please go for some reliable registry cleaner. There are many shockwave flash crash fixing tools. You can go to shockwaveflashcrash.com to learn more tips and advices.
Thanks
This does not help me unfortunately. 🙁 I only have one flash program come up, and it is adobe. Hopefully I can fix this! Thanks for the post though, it crossed one problem off the list!
Like others, I’ve tried the recommendations at the top.
“Shockwave Flash has crashed” messages still coming.
Like others, I’ve tried the recommendations at the top.
“Shockwave Flash has crashed” messages still coming.
I see where another person has asked the same thing i need to ask without receiving an answer and that is, I have the same problem with Shockwave Flash crashing however there are not 2 files showing when i look at about:plugins. Do you have any idea what may be causing the problem for those of us who do not have 2 flash installations?
For Any browser Tech Support Contact at: +1-844-833-8353
http://gth.us.com/
the instructions are out of date for 2019 to access chrome://extensions and chrome://plugins so I will quit getting the crash face and shock wave isn’t responding. How do I get rid of that error?