Chrome moves to fully block MV2 extensions, effectively killing uBlock Origin workarounds

Google Chrome is now officially entering the final phase of removing Manifest V2 extension support, effectively wiping out the remaining uBlock Origin workarounds that kept the original MV2 version of the ad blocker running.

Chromium contributor Andrey Bershanskiy reported that recent Chromium changes removed the kExtensionManifestV2Disabled flag, which previously controlled MV2 availability and allowed Chrome to remain in a warning phase. Google says MV2 extensions are no longer allowed in any supported Chrome version, and the remaining compatibility code is being removed due to technical debt, complexity, and security risks. Registry tweaks used to extend MV2 support are expected to stop working after Chromium 151, and Google will not keep MV2 support behind compilation flags for other Chromium browsers to reuse.

Microsoft Edge has also already started disabling uBlock Origin, while other Chromium browsers such as Opera have previously said they will continue supporting MV2 extensions for now, even as they prepare a broader move to Manifest V3 and future MV3 only extension store, while promoting their own built-in ad blocker as the best alternative to uBlock Origin. or users who still want the popular extension, Brave is probably one of the clearest Chromium-based holdouts, as it has named uBlock Origin among the MV2 extensions it plans to support. Of course, Chrome users can also switch to the more popular MV3-based alternative, uBlock Origin Lite, although that comes with a more limited feature set.

For non-Chromium options the grass looks a little greener, since Mozilla has previously stated that it still plans to support both MV2 and MV3, making Firefox and other popular Firefox-based alternatives like LibreWolf, Waterfox or Zen Browser probably the safest path forward. Personally, I’d also throw the new WebKit-based Orion Browser into the mix as an interesting option, since it supports both Chrome and Firefox extensions.