Google is about to delete some of your favorite Chrome extensions forever, and there's no going back

For a few years now, Google has been waging a campaign against old Chrome extensions that use the now-deprecated Manifest V2, which has been replaced by newer, more secure Manifest V3. The new protocol also refines how extensions run on Chrome, thereby reducing resource utilization. But there are some casualties of this transition, including popular ad blocker extensions, such as uBlock Origin.

Previous steps from the Chromium team have already crippled older extensions to an extent. Their actions include automatically disabling older extensions and making it more difficult for users to enable them. Now, it’s pushing harder and getting ready to remove every footprint of these older extensions from the Chrome Web Store.

The step comes after Google’s move in July 2025, when it permanently disabled Manifest V2 extensions and made it almost impossible for users to turn them on again. Until, in June this year, when Google removed the Chrome flag that allowed users to bypass these restrictions.

The only ones who escaped this decree were also running older versions (138 or earlier) of the Chrome browser. These users are still spared, but only until they update Chrome to a newer version.

The most recent update notes,

Manifest V2 extensions installed on Chrome 138 or earlier will remain installed, but will be unable to receive any updates and cannot be reinstalled from the Chrome Web Store once removed from Chrome.

The deadline is set for August 31, 2026, after which all Manifest V2 extensions will cease to exist in the Chrome Web Store, and users will supposedly not be able to reinstall them. Chrome is also likely to block you from installing them again, even if you have the package downloaded to your desktop.

How to keep using older Manifest V2 extensions?

The first, slightly complicated way is to use Developer Tools in Chrome.

There is, however, a simple workaround, and that is to use an alternate browser. Among the ones that still support Manifest V2 extensions is Mozilla Firefox. You could also try some lesser-known options, such as Thorium or Ghost, but expect some friction while getting used to them.

There’s still a possibility you might not be able to find those extensions anywhere to download, which is why you should download a copy of the ones dear to you.