The browser does not open swf. SWF format: features of use

Videos can be created in various formats for different purposes. SWF video format is very common. Videos in this format are relatively “easier” and for this reason they are often used to record various lessons and post them on the Internet for downloading.

Videos with the SWF extension can be opened using Adobe Flash Player or almost any web browser that supports Flash. In order for your browser to play swf files, it must have the Adobe Flash plug-in installed. In some browsers it is included in the installation package. If not, you can install it separately.

But recently, Adobe Flash Player simply “does not see” video files in swf format and the video does not play on the screen in the browser at all, or a black screen appears with non-functional player controls. How to avoid this? You need to set the path to the video in the Adobe Flash Player settings and everything works fine.

Solution for Mozilla FireFox browser:

Solution for Google Chrome browser:
After which the video in swf format is viewed correctly.

P.S. In general, a strange situation... A week ago everything was losing brilliantly... Will you have to slowly forget about the swf format? What do you think? Haven't encountered it yet?

This article is for those users who do not know what and how to open a swf file. There are several programs for working with files of this type, let's look at some of them.

swf is an Adobe Flash format for multimedia applications, vector graphics, and ActionScript. Files with the swf extension can contain animations or applets of varying degrees of interactivity and functionality.

Now directly about how to open a swf file. Take your time to download codecs for various types of media files, but first read our instructions. We offer the most effective and common methods.

1. How to open swf through a browser

The easiest way to open files of this kind is to use browsers. Just download a browser from the developers' website (for example, Opera, Chrome, Internet Explorer...) and try to open the swf file with it.

All popular browsers are free and have the ShikWave Flash plugin and Adobe Flash Player. Downloading and installing such an add-on occurs automatically, so the user needs to wait a little when opening the swf file for the first time.

2. How to open swf using the player

Another great and free way to open a swf file is to use a special player. The most suitable option for the average user is the Media Player Classik, which is part of the K-Lite Codec Pack.

Download this codec package and install it on your computer. Next, right-click on the file with the swf extension and open it using Media Player Classik.

3. How to edit swf file

In addition to opening the swf file, you can also edit (change) it. The Adobe (Macromedia) Flash program will help you with this.

Using this tool, you can create Flash videos and games, as well as view the results of your work.

There are several more options for how to open a swf file. The simplest of them are given in this article. If you know other methods that we forgot to write about, describe them in the comments.

The SWF format stands for ShockWave Flash and is pronounced "Swiff". It is used for most animations and videos on websites. Intended for publication on the Internet, this format, despite its small file size, can contain animation of varying degrees of interactivity and functionality. SWF video can also be used for programs, usually games, using Actionscript. Websites use it to deliver data quickly. Ultimately, anyone can save videos on their hard drive using the SWF format for easier access and saving space.

SWF, otherwise known as Small Web Format, was developed by Macromedia. It then came under the control of Adobe, which waived licensing restrictions on its specifications on May 1, 2008, and released code that allowed Google and Yahoo search engines to crawl and index SWF files on July 1, 2008. Adobe claims the files are available on more than 98% of personal computers and more than 800 million mobile or portable devices.

The SWF format was designed to serve a variety of purposes. It is primarily designed to display an OSD menu. SWF supports anti-aliasing, fast rendering in any color, animation and interactive buttons. The tags contained in the format help develop new capabilities while maintaining consistency with older programs. Another purpose of SWF is file transfer. Any content in this format may be delivered over a network with limited bandwidth and unpredictable connections. SWF files are compressed and support sequential image generation when streamed. Macromedia uses various techniques to help minimize file size (such as bit packing).

The SWF format is so simple that the player that plays it is small and easily portable. In addition, its operation depends on a very limited set of operating system functionality. Additionally, files can be rendered independently of external resources such as fonts.

The creators of the format also took into account the fact that monitors have different resolutions and bit depths. SWF files display well even on limited, not to mention more expensive, hardware.

Videos in this format can be played using Adobe Flash Player, which works either as a browser plugin or as a standalone program. In addition, the SWF format can be played on the player

Macromedia Flash. Adobe makes plugins available for playing SWF in web browsers on many operating systems, including Microsoft Windows, Apple MacOSX, and Linux.

However, some portable media devices do not support Flash, so you may need to convert the SWF to a video file format. This can be done using any video file converter.

SWF Alternative

Because these types of files are considered part of Adobe programs, users must download or purchase the software and adhere to its license agreement, which prohibits programmers from modifying the software or performing other experiments. To get around this limitation, many users have switched to other formats. However, there are two SWF programs that are supported by most web browsers: SMIL and

Before the WEB began to adapt to HTML5 technology, browsers used special plugins to play videos, music, elaborate animations, complex interactive applications (for example, games), etc. In particular, Adobe's Flash Player was used for these purposes. It is still used on quite a large number of sites. Many applications and media files created using Flash technology have the extension SWF. They, in turn, can be saved locally on your computer. But many, having received the relevant data, have no idea how to open a SWF file. This will be discussed later in the article.

Although some web browsers are now removing Flash support from their products to encourage web developers to use the standard, more secure, stable and performant HTML5 technology, it still works in many browsers. But even if it does not function, its support can be enabled.

To enable Flash support in your browser you will need:

  1. Go to the Adobe website;
  2. Follow the simple instructions indicated on the page;
  3. Download and install the application;
  4. Restart your web browser.

After Flash has been installed, you can proceed directly to launching the file. In order to open the SWF extension you will need to do the following:

  1. Open the browser and simultaneously launch the file manager;
  2. In the file manager, go to the directory in which the file is located;
  3. Select the desired SWF file and drag it into the address bar of your web browser;
  4. After the path to the file appears in the browser line, press Enter.
  5. That's it, the file is running. In this case, it does not matter at all what content it contains (video, vector animation, sound, game, etc.).

It should be noted that sometimes Flash support is disabled in the browser itself. Therefore, playback will not occur even if you install the latest version of the plugin. To enable Flash in your browser, refer to the instructions for setting up your browser (there are plenty of them on the Internet).

Method 2: Playing the SWF file in an audio-video player that supports reading this format

In most cases, SWF files store video and audio (such as clips and music). They, in turn, can be freely run in any player that supports the appropriate format.

How to open SWF? To play and open a SWF file, you will need to download a third-party application, since standard WMP cannot handle this format. Perfect for running SWF files Media Player Classic– a player familiar to many. You can download it from this link. After the program is downloaded and installed, you will need:

  1. Launch MPC;
  2. Go to the directory where the desired SWF file is stored;
  3. Drag the file of interest into the player window;
  4. This will open the SWF file.

After the appropriate actions, the information contained in the container will begin to play, just like any other multimedia file (for example, AVI or MP3). However, do not try to reproduce an application developed in Flash in MPC. Of course, if you do this, nothing bad will happen, but the file is also guaranteed not to run.