Effect of Adobe Flash Player end of life on Lightning Tools SharePoint Chart web part

As you may be aware, Adobe Flash Player has reached end-of-life, and no longer functions as of January 12, 2021. Adobe recommends that the Flash Player be uninstalled immediately from any devices for security reasons.

If you are using the Lightning Tools SharePoint Chart web part for SharePoint on premises, and you either are using an older browser such as IE11, or you have Adobe Flash Player installed on your machine, then this message is for you. The SharePoint Chart web part is designed in such a way that it supports Flash if it’s present, but if Flash is not present, then the charts render in HTML. This means that if your machine and/or browser include Flash, then your Chart web part will no longer render charts.

The solution to this is to switch to a more modern browser, such as Chrome, Firefox, or the newer Microsoft Edge browser, none of which include/support Flash. This will probably be in your best interest in any case, as many applications will no longer be supporting IE in the not-too-distant future.

Please note, though, that even if you’re using a modern browser, if you have the Adobe Flash Player actually installed on your computer, this will also prevent the SharePoint Chart from rendering. In that case, you’ll want to uninstall Flash, following Adobe’s instructions.

If you have any questions or issues regarding this topic as it relates to the Lightning Tools SharePoint Chart web part, please contact our Support Team.

If you’re currently using our Chart web part in SharePoint 2019, you may wish to switch to our modern Data Viewer client-side web part, which isn’t affected one way or the other by Adobe Flash. If you have current Software Assurance, we can switch you over at no additional charge. If this is of interest, please let us know!

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