Microsoft blocks Flash, Shockwave, and Silverlight in Office 365

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Ngày cập nhật gần nhất: 15/4/2026

In a recent initiative announced by the company, Microsoft is blocking Flash, Shockwave, and Silverlight in Office 365, but not applying it to other Office distributions.

The company stated that the blocking of Flash, Shockwave, and Silverlight only applies to Office 365 subscribers and does not affect other Office distributions such as Office 2016, Office 2013, or Office 2010.

Microsoft blocks Flash, Shockwave, and Silverlight in Office 365

Office 365 will block all Flash, Shockwave, or Silverlight content in Office documents, rather than just disabling them in the traditional way.

The changes will take effect from January 2019

The changes will begin to take effect from January 2019, with the specific process as follows:

- Content blocked in the Office 365 Monthly channel starts from June 2018.
- Content blocked in the Office 365 Semi Annual Targeted (SAT) channel starts from September 2018.
- Content blocked in the Office 365 Semi Annual (SA) channel starts from January 2019.

Only Flash, Shockwave, and Silverlight content embedded using the Insert Object feature are now blocked, not content embedded via Insert Online Video.

The biggest difference is that previously Microsoft utilized the OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) technology to embed content, whereas now the content will be embedded through Internet Explorer browser frames.

Security concerns and Flash EOL

Microsoft also provides various reasons to explain its decision. According to the software giant, malicious software creators abuse this mechanism to exploit campaigns, and Office users rarely use these features as well.

Furthermore, Microsoft has announced this decision after Adobe declared the end of Flash Player in 2020. Microsoft ceased support for Silverlight in 2016, with anticipated support for enterprise customers ending in 2021.

In some cases, certain companies still require embedding or viewing Flash or Silverlight content within Office 365. Microsoft has also published guidance on its support page on how to re-enable Flash, Silverlight, and Shockwave.

'We believe these changes will not affect the majority of Office users,' Microsoft emphasized.

The number of Flash users has also significantly declined in recent years. Google reported that the percentage of Chrome users loading at least one page containing Flash content dropped from 80% in 2014 to 8% earlier this year.

According to web analytics service W3Techs, the market share of Flash is now just 5%, marking a 28.5% decrease compared to 2011.

Frequently Asked Questions

What specific Office versions are affected by Microsoft blocking Flash, Shockwave, and Silverlight?

Microsoft's initiative to block Flash, Shockwave, and Silverlight specifically targets Office 365 subscribers. This change does not impact users of older Office versions, including Office 2010, Office 2013, and Office 2016, which will continue to function normally.

When will the blocking of Flash, Shockwave, and Silverlight in Office 365 take effect?

The blocking of Flash, Shockwave, and Silverlight content in Office 365 began rolling out in phases, starting with the Monthly channel in June 2018 and culminating in January 2019 for the Semi Annual (SA) channel.

How does Microsoft’s blocking of Flash content differ from traditional disabling methods?

Unlike traditional disabling methods, Microsoft is completely blocking Flash, Shockwave, and Silverlight content embedded in Office documents. This means that any content inserted via the Insert Object feature will be inaccessible in Office 365.

What reasons did Microsoft provide for blocking Flash, Shockwave, and Silverlight in Office 365?

Microsoft cited security concerns and the declining usage of Flash as primary reasons for this decision. They indicated that these technologies have been exploited by malicious software, and noted that Adobe's end of life for Flash Player further necessitated this change.

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