Last October, Google began phasing out uBlock Origin, the popular content-filtering and ad-blocking extension, because it doesn’t adhere to Manifest V3, the search giant’s new extensions platform. Now, Reddit and X users report that their instances of Chrome have started removing extensions that don’t adhere to the new specification. In another Reddit thread, users report that the uBlock Origin extension has already been automatically disabled.
The removal of uBlock Origin as a Chrome extension is upon us.
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Once such unsupported extensions are identified, a notification window will appear with a message encouraging users to remove the extensions. Bleeping Computer reports that uBlock Origin has been automatically disabled on certain devices.
I did a quick test on Chrome (a browser I only use for writing and testing) by installing uBlock Origin; I ran it past adblock-tester.com and found the extension still worked as expected. However, I noticed that other extensions (such as Search YouTube) state that they may no longer be supported. I imagine uBlock Origin will soon join that list.
The Search YouTube extension will soon no longer be supported by Chrome.
uBlock Origin has been one of the most popular Chrome extensions for privacy and security because it does a fantastic job of blocking ads, cookies, warnings, and overlays. The extension has been around for over a decade and is available for most browsers.
Extension removal doesn’t end at uBlock Origin (which has over 40 million downloads to date). Google plans to disable all Manifest V2 extensions. According to Google, however, the Manifest V3 framework will still allow developers to create ad blockers for Chrome but they must follow the Manifest V3 guidelines.
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Note that uBlock Origin will continue to work on other browsers, such as Firefox, and browsers not based on Chromium.
For Chrome users, there is some good news: Chrome allows you to search for an alternative extension. The other good news: the uBlock Origin Lite version is a Manifest V3-supported extension, so you can make the switch now before you run out of an ad blocker. The only caveat: The lite version is a mere shadow of the full version and is less effective at dealing with websites that use anti-content blockers.
Meanwhile, a group has been formed — called the WebExtensions Community Group — with the goal of specifying a model, permissions, and a common core of APIs for web browser extensions.
According to uBlock Origin developer Raymond Hill, there is no plan to transition uBlock Origin to uBlock Origin Lite in the Chrome Web Store. On that front, Hill said, “I consider uBO Lite to be too different from uBO to be an automatic replacement. You will have to explicitly find a replacement to uBO according to what you expect from a content blocker. uBO Lite may or may not fulfill your expectations.”
If you depend on uBlock Origin, you have two options:
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The problem with switching to another Chromium-based browser — such as Arc or Opera — is there’s no telling if the V2 extensions will continue functioning. Your remaining option would be to switch to a non-Chromium-based browser such as Firefox, Zen Browser, Safari, Pale Moon, or LibreWolf.