Chrome Web Store Drops All Manifest V2 Extensions, uBlock Origin Included

Google has completed its long-running Manifest V2 phase-out by pulling every remaining MV2 extension from the Chrome Web Store, uBlock Origin among them. Copies already installed on Chrome 138 or earlier keep working, but they can no longer receive updates and cannot be reinstalled from the store once removed. Google says the newer MV3 platform tightens security, privacy, performance, and control over what extensions can do — genuine concerns given how deeply extensions can see into a user’s browsing.

The fallout reaches past Chrome itself. Because the Chrome Web Store is the default marketplace for most Chromium-based browsers, users of alternatives like Brave also lose the ability to discover or install these extensions there, even when their browser still technically supports MV2. Brave has responded by hosting four popular blockers on its own backend and letting users enable them directly: AdGuard, uBlock Origin, uMatrix, and NoScript.

The move marks the practical end of the classic content-blocking model on mainstream Chromium browsers, where MV3’s more restrictive filtering APIs limit what blockers can do. It also underscores how much control the store operator holds over the broader Chromium ecosystem, leaving competing browsers to build their own distribution workarounds to preserve tools their users depend on.