.FLV File Extension

An FLV file is a video saved in the Adobe Flash Video (FLV) container format. It stores a short header, synchronized audio and video data streams (encoded the same way as streams in the standard Flash .SWF format), and metadata packets.

The FLV format was introduced with the release of Adobe Flash Player 7 in 2003. It is primarily utilized by Adobe Flash Player for delivering video content, such as movies and TV shows, online. However, FLV is an open format that is also supported by various non-Adobe/Macromedia programs.

Users may create Flash Video content and export it as FLV files with the Flash Video Exporter plug-in (included with Adobe Animate) or another program with FLV file support. Users can also encode other video formats, such as QuickTime or Windows Media with Adobe Media Encoder.

As web technologies improved in the 2010s, Flash became increasingly criticized for its shortcomings, which included performance and security issues. Eventually, the use of Flash Player and the FLV format declined, and Adobe and many web browser developers officially ended support for Flash on December 31, 2020.

NOTE: Animate was formerly known as Flash, which was originally developed by Macromedia but then merged with Adobe in 2005. Flash became Animate in 2016.

You can open FLV files with Adobe Flash Player (multiplatform). However, Adobe no longer develops the software and recommends that you uninstall it for security reasons. Some other options for opening and playing FLV files include Adobe Animate (multiplatform), Media Player Classic (Windows), and VideoLAN VLC media player (multiplatform).