Google Chrome has started notifying users that as part of the move to Manifest v3, all Manifest v2 extensions will be disabled. This update is supposed to make the browser more secure, private, and faster. However, it will cause older extensions to stop working, including many popular ad blockers.
Manifest V2 and V3 are rule sets that define how extensions for Google Chrome can interact with the browser and the system. In Manifest V2, the rules allow extensions to block ads, modify pages, and manage tabs, but its support was disabled in experimental channels (Canary, Dev, and Beta) in January 2024, and in the stable version of the browser in June 2024.
Google claims that 85% of actively supported extensions, including popular ad blockers like AdBlock, Adblock Plus, uBlock Origin, and AdGuard have already migrated to Manifest V3. However, they will not work as effectively as before.
How to postpone migration to Manifest V3
To temporarily keep ad blockers and other Manifest V2 extensions usable, you can delay the upgrade until June 2025 by changing your browser settings as follows:
For macOS:
- Open Terminal.
- Type the following command:
defaults write com.google.Chrome.plist ExtensionManifestV2Availability -int 2 - Click Enter.
For Windows:
- Open PowerShell as administrator.
- Enter the following command:
$path = "registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome"; New-Item $path -Force; Set-ItemProperty $path -Name ExtensionManifestV2Availability -Value 2
- Click “Enter.”
After completing these steps, open Chrome, type chrome://policy/ in the search bar, and click “Reload Rules”.
A rule should be added to the “Chrome Policies” tab.
These commands change Chrome settings to temporarily allow Manifest V2-compatible extensions and prevent an upgrade to Manifest V3, which will disable those extensions.
