Microsoft is ramping up efforts to forcibly remove Flash from Windows with KB4577586 update

The software blight and security nightmare that is Flash has all but died. In theory it is dead already, with support for Adobe Flash Player having drawn to an end last year and Microsoft having pushed out an update to carve it out of Windows.

But the company has realized that there are a lot of systems out there that still have the cancerous software installed, and starting next month it will ramp up its effort to kill it off once and for all. This means that more people will be receiving the KB4577586 update.

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Until now, KB4577586 has been an optional update, but this is going to change very soon. Starting next month, people running Windows 10 1809 and later will find that it is included in Preview updates, while from July it will be a mandatory update for anyone running Windows 10 1809 and above, as well as Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 and Windows Embedded 8 Standard.

In a recent update to a blog post about the end of support for Flash, Microsoft says:

To help keep our customers secure, Microsoft will remove the Flash component from Windows through the KB4577586 "Update for Removal of Adobe Flash Player". 

- Starting in June 2021, the KB4577586 "Update for Removal of Adobe Flash Player" will be included in the Preview Update for Windows 10, version 1809 and above platforms. It will also be included in every subsequent Latest Cumulative Update.

- As of July 2021, the KB4577586 "Update for Removal of Adobe Flash Player” will be included in the Latest Cumulative Update for Windows 10, versions 1607 and Windows 10, version 1507. The KB will also be included in the Monthly Rollup and the Security Only Update for Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Embedded 8 Standard. 

Additionally, please note that when you update to Windows 10, version 21H1 or later, Flash will be removed. More information on Windows 10, version 21H1 is available here.

You can also remove Flash anytime by deploying KB4577586, which is available on the Catalog.

Image credit: Primakov / Shutterstock