If you are anything like me, then when you need to find your Flash Shared Object (SOL) files, you can never find them on your computer. Well, just as a reminder, they can be found here on a Windows XP PC …
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Macromedia\
Flash Player\#SharedObjects\<random string>\<domain>\
<path from webserver>\<filename>.sol
on a Windows 7 PC they are stored here …
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Macromedia\Flash Player\
#SharedObjects\<random string>\<domain>\<path from webserver>\
<filename>.sol
and on a Mac they can be found here …
Macintosh HD:Users:<username>:Library:Preferences:Macromedia:
Flash Player:#SharedObjects:<random string>:<domain>:
<path from webserver>\<filename>.sol
I also recently noticed that the path to data saved from Adobe AIR apps is stored here on a PC …
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\
<AIR App Reverse Domain Name>\Local Store\#SharedObjects\
<flashname>.swf\<filename>.sol
and on a Mac they can be found here …
Macintosh HD:Users:<username>:Library:Preferences:
<AIR App Reverse Domain Name>:Local Store:#SharedObjects:
<flashname>.swf\<filename>.sol
NOTE: On Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) and above (Mountain Lion etc) the Library folder is hidden. To make it visible you need to go to Finder, select the ‘Go’ menu from the top and then hold down the Option (alt) key. The ‘Library’ item will then appear so you can click on it. The Library folder will then open and you can then click into the ‘Preferences’ folder. Also note that Shared Objects from AIR apps are stored directly in this ‘Preferences’ folder using their reverse domain app ID. Shared Objects from a browser based SWF are stored in …
Macintosh HD:Users:<username>:Library:Preferences:Macromedia:
Flash Player:#SharedObjects:<random string>:<domain>:
<path from webserver>\<filename>.sol
Hope this is of some help, and will save you a bit of time trying to find them.
There are also a few useful tools out there that will allow you to check (and modify) the contents of SOL files. Try ASV SOL Viewer and Editor, SolVE: Local Shared Object Viewer/Editor or SOLReader.
October 29th, 2012 by 
Adrian Parr 
1 Comment »
