How to fix
“Flash Player Auto Update Daemon” Mac pop-up
on Windows

Hello. Since I updated to my Mac to Mojave, I started to receive a strange pop-up message that reads "Flash Player Auto Update Daemon" is not optimized for your Mac and needs to be updated." The problem is I do not have the plugin installed, so what is this all about? Can you please help me, as these messages are really starting to annoy me. Many thanks.

"Flash Player Auto Update Daemon" is a pop-up message that Mac users might encounter after applying recent system updates. While some LaunchDaemons might be connected to suspicious activity related to adware[ref en-1] and other potentially unwanted programs that redirect Safari browser to fake update, tech support scam,[ref en-2] and similar sites, "Flash Player Auto Update Daemon" is not one of them. The issue is more connected to an incompatibility between an outdated Adobe software and the new macOS version.

The "Flash Player Auto Update Daemon" message states the following:

"Flash Player Auto Update Daemon" is not optimized for your Mac and needs to be updated.
This software will not work with future versions of macOS and needs to be updated to improve compatibility. Contact the developer for more information.

LaunchDaemon is a part of a scheme used by the Mac operating system, and it comes from "launchd" process[ref en-3] (it can be viewed via the Activity Monitor). It is a parent process that launches other operations or jobs when demanded by applications or the system. Third-party apps use /Library/LaunchDaemons locations while native processes are located in System/Library/LaunchDaemons.

"Flash Player Auto Update Daemon" is triggered by a .plist file that is related to Adobe products, usually Flash Player. This happens even if you removed the Flash player a long time ago - the traces remain, hence the pop-up message. To fix "Flash Player Auto Update Daemon," you need to stop the com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Daemon from being loaded completely.

To do that, please follow our instructions below.

How to fix "Flash Player Auto Update Daemon" pop-up message on macOS?

Before you start, we would suggest you download and install [d1]. This application is capable of fixing various issues related to the Mac operating system and might prevent pop-ups like "Flash Player Auto Update Daemon"  from launching entirely. Additionally, Reimage is also capable of deleting any type of virus damage and ensure that the computer is running smoothly.

Now, what can you do to stop the annoying "Flash Player Auto Update Daemon" pop-ups from showing up? Start from the following steps:

• Open Finder and, on the top of the screen, press Go
• Select Computer

  

• Click on Macintosh HD > Library > LaunchDaemons
• Click on LaunchDaemons once and press Command + I

  

• In the LaunchDaemons Info window, expand the Sharing & Permissions (located at the very bottom)
• You will see a lock icon at the bottom-right corner, click on it
• Enter your username and password
• Click on Everyone, pick Read & Write and close down the LaunchDaemons Info window

  

• Select com.adoble.fpsaud.plist under LaunchDaemons and do the same thing - set its privileges to Read and Write
• Once done, open the com.adoble.fpsaud.plist file by double clicking on it
• Under <string> you will see a <key> parameter. You need to replace ProgramArguments with Disabled

  

• Save changes and reset the permissions to normal on both LaunchDaemons folder and com.adoble.fpsaud.plist

WARNING: this action will disable automatic updates for all Adobe products.