The uBlock Origin ad blocker is gradually being phased out by Google. (Image source: Google / uBO)
Around three years ago, Google set a schedule for the Introducing “Manifest v3” presented. This is a new browser extension interface. At that time, the launch was scheduled for early 2023, but Google pushed the start back – and is now putting its foot on the accelerator.
This step is likely to hit users of “uBlock Origin” particularly hard, which is generally considered one of the most popular browser extensions (around 39 million downloads) for blocking advertising.
The crux: Due to the “Declarative Net Request”, such ad blockers will no longer work under Manifest v3 as usual under Manifest v2 Google competitor Mozilla explained at the time. This makes uBlock Origin unusable under Chrome and sometimes also on Chromium-based browsers.
On the Chrome Web Store Google now warns that uBlock Origin “may soon no longer be supported because it does not follow best practices for Chrome extensions.”
- Google provides further information with a support document that points out that extensions must meet new requirements to “better protect user privacy and security.”
- These new requirements are the mentioned Manifest v3.
uBlock Origin will soon no longer be available on Chrome: what can you do?
On the “AfterVanced” subreddit, the associated community – which is of course not exactly happy about the change – has put together a few ways in which you can use the usual ad blockers despite the switch to manifest v3.
Link to Reddit content
In this case, one option for you is to extend the availability of the Manifest v2 extensions yourself. This can be done in Windows using the registry editor in a few steps:
- Press the keyboard shortcut [Windows-Taste] + [R] and enter “regedit” in the text field. Confirms your entry with Enter. This is how you open the registry editor.
- Look for the path “HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Policies\” in the folder hierarchy on the left side of the window.
- Right-click on the “Policies” folder to open the context menu and select “New > Key”. Name this folder “Google”.
- Open the context menu by right-clicking on the “Google” folder and select “New > Key” again. Name this folder “Chrome”. (Note: If this folder already exists, you obviously don’t need to do the last two steps.)
- Right-click to open the context menu of the “Chrome” folder and select “New > DWORD value (32-bit)”. Names this value as “ExtensionManifestV2Availability”.
- Opens the newly created DWORD value by double-clicking. Enter the number “2” under Value.
- Close Registry Editor and restart Chrome.
This extends the compatibility of your extensions with Manifest v2 – but only under Google Chrome and only until June 2025 at the latest. By then at the latest, Google will finally pull the plug.
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Google Chrome – How to turn websites into apps
By the way, uBlock Origin itself has one »Lite«-Version published, which is compatible with the new manifesto, but also omits some functions and is therefore only recommended to a limited extent. You have to live with the following restrictions, among others:
- Filter lists are only updated when the extension is also updated
- No creation or import of third-party filters
- No dynamic filtering
The on the one hand extreme, but in a sense also the easiest step is to switch to a browser that will either continue to support Manifest v2 (Brave, Thormium) or will not switch to v3 at all (Mozilla Firefox). Will you be moving away from Chrome browsers with the arrival of Manifest v3 or have you never used it anyway?
