How To Uninstall Adobe AIR (Windows)

Situation: You use an app that requires Adobe AIR but decide you don’t want it anymore and uninstall it. The app was easily removed by going to Add/Remove Programs, but AIR is still installed and there appears to be no way to uninstall it.

Update: The latest version of AIR does have an Add/Remove entry after installation but older versions do not. If you’re running an older version, read below for how to uninstall AIR.

Can you uninstall Adobe AIR completely?

Yes.

Perform the following steps.

1. Uninstall all AIR apps first.

Being that you’re not going to use AIR anymore, uninstall any app that uses it. You most likely know which apps these are, and they can all be uninstalled via Add/Remove.

2. Download the AIR intstaller executable file.

Available here: http://get.adobe.com/air/

The file downloaded will be AdobeAIRInstaller.exe. Download this direct to the desktop. You’ll understand why in a moment.

Note: If you run this file by double-clicking it, all it will do is update your existing AIR installation but not uninstall it.

3. Launch a Command Prompt.

Click Start, then Run, type cmd and click OK.

You get something that will look similar to this.

4. Type cd Desktop and press Enter.

It looks like this:

5. Type the following command exactly as shown:

AdobeAirInstaller.exe -uninstall

It looks like this:

You must type it exactly as shown, then press Enter.

Adobe AIR will then be uninstalled from your computer.

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24 thoughts on “How To Uninstall Adobe AIR (Windows)”

Jason says:

March 16, 2016 at 4:34 am

One other tip to try; If you’re logging in using PIN or something other than a password to Windows 8 or Windows 10, try reverting back to the good old password. Using a PIN seems to do something strange to UAC which then affects the permissions of the uninstaller, whereas if you use a Password it works fine!

Michael says:

April 11, 2015 at 11:30 am

To remove AdobeAIR from an elevated prompt (type CMD then Shift+Ctrl+Enter) FIRST move the installer to C:\. from your desktop.Then run the command “AdobeAIRInstaller.exe -uninstall”. Gone!

RANDOMPOST says:

March 20, 2014 at 9:08 pm

Personally, what worked for me was to:
1. Search Windows for ADOBE AIR
2. Manually delete the ADOBE AIR folder which for me was located in a folder called “COMMON FILES”
3. I then used a program called REVO UNINSTALLER http://www.revouninstaller.com to clean up the Registry entries and all other left over data related to ADOBE AIR———>This can be done by locating ADOBE AIR on the list then clicking the UNINSTALL button at the top REVO’s window.
4. Select the Advanced Uninstall
5. When a bunch of different Registry Entries show up during the uninstall, select all enries listed. Click delete entries then click NEXT.
When the next set of entries appear, select all entries and Delete them. Click NEXT.
IF AN ERROR POPS UP, JUST CLICK OK, THEN THE UNINSTALLER WILL FINNISH IT’S JOB.

IF ALL WEN’T WELL, ADOBE AIR AND ALL OF IT’S COMPONENTS WILL NO LONGER HAUNT YOUR COMPUTER.

maxlimbu says:

June 22, 2013 at 10:16 am

hello I followed your advice and i get a message saying:
C:\ Users\max\Desktop> Uninstalling Adobe AIR failed

can you help me please

Max H says:

June 2, 2013 at 8:24 pm

Try using an elevated prompt – when you type cmd, press Ctrl-Shift-Enter and you get an elevated (Administrator) prompt. Then it should work.

CHERRYTOP says:

October 7, 2010 at 7:41 pm

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

Lafuelgara says:

September 22, 2010 at 9:13 am

Thanks!!

Daniel says:

August 26, 2010 at 12:25 pm

This link will take let you download a Settings Manager for Adobe AIR… Then you can turn off auto-update…

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/403/kb403175.html

Robert says:

June 28, 2010 at 9:00 pm

Worked perfectly. If you're getting the 'not recognized…' error, it's because the AdobeAirInstaller.exe file is not located in the directory as displayed in the command prompt.I was getting an error trying to remove Adobe air via the Add or Remove Programs interface, but downloading the file, then running the uninstall command (as listed) worked perfectly, and I had a newer version of Adobe Air installed, too.

David says:

June 5, 2010 at 1:45 pm

after it says uninstalling Adobe AIR it says failed what do i do

Chris says:

May 21, 2010 at 2:10 pm

I get the same problem Mike had. I received the message “is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file. This seems to be impossible to unistall for me. Someone please help.

Leon says:

May 4, 2010 at 4:50 am

@ Mike you missed the spaces mate should be :

AdobeAirInstaller.exe -uninstall

Mike says:

April 28, 2010 at 6:52 am

I did everything you suggested I Typed in AdobeAirInstaller.exe-uninstall and received the message “is not recognised as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file”
What did I do wrong? any advice?
Lambert

BIGBEN says:

April 14, 2010 at 1:52 pm

It worked for me. The advice to download the AIR to Desktop is the greatest advice for someone who finds difficulty in typing in the paths using c prompt.

Another thing, Adobe gets the thumbs down from me for insisting we leave AIR in our drive by making it difficult to uninstall. I used Add and Remove Program and Revo Uninstaller, yet it stubbornly refuse to be thrashed. With such a thug, Adobe has proven once again, it is a thug. Now, I only use its Flash, which I have no choice. Everything else from Adobe is bloatware and a pesk!

Jeff says:

January 10, 2010 at 2:17 pm

Didn’t work. After rebooting I still see Adobe Air in Control Panel. I had an Adobe update yesterday and now both Firefox and Thunderbird won’t open, just generating error messages without logging the problem. I hate bloatware that takes over a computer. Enough of Adobe – if I get this fixed I’ll use Foxit for PDF files and get rid of Adobe completely.

Jeff says:

January 10, 2010 at 1:40 pm

I’m trying this in Windows 2000. When I hit “enter” it just goes to the command line, but I do see hard drive activity. However, I still see Adobe Air listed in the Control Panel “Add or Remove Programs” after activity has died down.

Posby says:

October 29, 2009 at 11:22 am

On XP, this fails with the error as described above, and no indication of where any log is. Simply running the installer and trying to install the latest version also fails. None of the suggested workarounds work.

EC says:

September 20, 2009 at 5:42 pm

I used this in Xp and found that nothing happened if I just waited and eventually closed the DOS window with the mouse. However, if I typed exit in the DOS window and then hit the enter key, that seemed to trigger the uninstall. Thanks for the tip!

deniz says:

August 26, 2009 at 6:35 am

Thank you very much. it works!

Affiliate Marketing for Dummies says:

February 24, 2009 at 5:34 pm

Arnie, I had this same problem but I tried it with the windows Vista “User Account Control” set to OFF and it worked first time.

Hope this helps
Neil

Arnie W says:

February 11, 2009 at 4:10 pm

I found another way. Since I already downloaded the installer to the desktop. I just installed the latest version and then used the control panel to uninstall the program. its gone for me.

Arnie W says:

February 11, 2009 at 4:03 pm

this is what I got, still can’t get rid of it. I don’t know where to look for a log.

C:\Documents and Settings\Jan\Desktop>AdobeAirInstaller.exe -uninstall

C:\Documents and Settings\Jan\Desktop>Uninstalling Adobe AIR (all versions)
failed (consult log)

Rod York says:

January 14, 2009 at 4:00 pm

Hello,

I have a problem where Adobe air doesn’t uninstall through Program Features -Vista. I tried your fix through the command prompt. I get a short return when it loads but fininshes with
C:\users\Rod York\Desktop>Uninstalling Adobe Air failed

I’m not sure where the log is to give you that info. I’ve looked in system 32 but no text logs under log files
can you help please?

Kind Regards
Rod York

Rod York says:

January 14, 2009 at 4:09 pm

Hello again,
I found that after following your advice above -the uninstall through Program Features was now live and it uninstalled in 5 seconds.

Thanks for the info
Regards

Drew says:

November 20, 2008 at 4:06 am

5. Type the following command exactly as shown:
AdobeAirInstaller.exe -uninstall
It looks like this: *screenshot*

The “air” in “AdobeAirInstaller” in the screenshot is capitalized, yet the command to be typed in isn’t. As the screenshot isn’t exactly the same as what’s meant to be typed in, will this make a difference?

I’m guessing not, but figured I’d check to be sure, as this is a really cool tip (one I’ll be making use of actually)