Google has been slowly phasing out Manifest V2, the older framework that powers many Chrome extensions, since October 2024. For most users, ad blockers like uBlock Origin stopped working by default well over a year ago. Power users found technical workarounds that kept them alive a little longer, but Chrome’s next update removes the last of those loopholes for good.
The last flag falls
A recent Chromium code commit, spotted by CyberNews (via 9to5Google), removes the kExtensionManifestV2Disabled flag, which developers had been using as a backdoor to keep Manifest V2-based extensions running in Chrome. Google describes the flag as “dead code,” since Chrome no longer officially supports Manifest V2. With it gone, Manifest V2-based ad blockers will stop working entirely.
A Google engineer explained the reasoning behind the removal, saying that maintaining legacy Manifest V2 support has become a technical burden and security liability, with multiple MV2-specific bugs surfacing recently. In short, Google is done keeping the old system on life support.
What changes and when
Chrome 150, expected to roll out on June 30, will remove the primary flag, while Chrome 151, due sometime in July, will clean up the remaining Manifest V2 references. After that, there will be no supported workarounds left.
For users still running uBlock Origin through a workaround, there are two options. The easiest is switching to uBlock Origin Lite, the MV3-compatible version of the extension. uBlock Origin Lite works within Chrome’s new framework but offers less powerful filtering, since Manifest V3 restricts how extensions interact with web traffic.
If you want full ad blocking without the trade-offs, switching to a different browser is the other option. Firefox still supports the full version of uBlock Origin, and Brave’s built-in Shields blocker sidesteps the Manifest V3 problem entirely by operating at the browser engine level rather than as an extension. Switching to Edge or Opera won’t help, as both are expected to follow Chrome’s lead.
