Google removes uBlock Origin from Chrome: what happened and what alternatives remain

On August 31, 2026, Google completed a process it had been announcing for years: the Manifest V2 extensions still remaining in the Chrome Web Store were removed.

One of them was uBlock Origin.

And it's worth clarifying this from the start because some headlines can give the wrong impression: uBlock Origin didn't die and its development didn't end either. What ended was its distribution and normal operation within Google Chrome due to the abandonment of Manifest V2.

For those of us who have spent years installing uBlock Origin almost automatically after setting up a browser, the change does matter.

What exactly Google did

Google has been migrating Chrome's extension system from Manifest V2 to Manifest V3 for several years.

The company argues that Manifest V3 improves aspects related to security, privacy, permissions, and extension performance.

The process was gradual.

Chrome 138 ended up disabling Manifest V2 for regular users during 2025. After that, another step remained pending: permanently removing from the Chrome Web Store the extensions that still used that architecture.

The final date was August 31, 2026.

Google states this directly in its official Manifest V2 timeline.

This means that uBlock Origin can no longer be installed from the Chrome store. Copies that remained installed on Chrome 138 or earlier may still appear there, but they no longer receive updates from the Chrome Web Store and cannot be reinstalled from it.

In later versions of Chrome, Manifest V2 simply stopped being a functional option.

The specific problem with uBlock Origin

This is where the story gets more interesting.

uBlock Origin took advantage of Manifest V2 capabilities that allowed it to intervene very powerfully over requests made by a page.

Manifest V3 changed that model.

Raymond Hill, creator of uBlock Origin, decided not to simply convert uBO into a Manifest V3 version pretending that both models could offer exactly the same thing.

In his documentation, he explains that uBlock Origin Lite is a reduced version designed specifically around the possibilities of Manifest V3.

That means uBO Lite is still a legitimate alternative developed by the same author, but it doesn't automatically replace traditional uBlock Origin.

In fact, the project itself explains that some features had to be sacrificed due to the Manifest V3 model.

uBlock Origin is still quite alive

While Chrome ends its relationship with Manifest V2, Firefox tells a different story.

At the time of writing this, Mozilla continues to officially distribute uBlock Origin.

And we're not talking about an abandoned extension that survived forgotten inside a store.

Version 1.74.0 was published on August 25, 2026.

That is, six days before Google carried out the definitive removal of Manifest V2 extensions from its store.

The official listing for uBlock Origin for Firefox also shows more than ten million users.

That's why Firefox became, for me, the simplest recommendation if the specific goal is to keep using full uBlock Origin.

So, which browser should you use?

It depends more on the context than it seems.

Firefox + uBlock Origin

It's my first choice when the priority is uBlock Origin.

Firefox allows you to keep using the full extension and Raymond Hill continues to publish updates for this platform.

There's also another point I find healthy: having real alternatives for browser engines.

Most current browsers use Chromium. Firefox remains one of the important exceptions.

For a regular user that may be invisible. For those of us who work with the Web every day, I prefer that more than one relevant browser implementation exists.

Brave if you want to stay on Chromium

I find Brave especially interesting for someone who is used to Chrome and doesn't want to change their workflow too much.

It's built on Chromium, so the experience and compatibility feel familiar.

The important difference is in Brave Shields.

Its system for blocking ads and trackers is built directly into the browser. For that reason it doesn't depend on Manifest V2 or Manifest V3 the same way an extension does.

Brave has also stated that it maintains limited support for certain Manifest V2 extensions, including uBlock Origin. The company itself describes it as best effort support, so I wouldn't base a long-term migration solely on that compatibility.

The strong argument for Brave is Shields.

The company explains its strategy around Manifest V3 in its documentation on Brave Shields and Manifest V3.

Chrome + uBlock Origin Lite

We also have to be practical.

There are people and companies that need Chrome. Corporate applications, internal policies, development testing, or simply an environment that already works around Google's browser.

In that scenario, I would install uBlock Origin Lite.

It's still developed by Raymond Hill, uses Manifest V3, and remains officially available on the Chrome Web Store.

Its operation is more declarative: the browser processes a good portion of the rules instead of allowing the extension to have the same level of intervention that uBO had.

For many people, it will be enough.

For those who used advanced uBlock Origin features, the differences will probably be more noticeable.

Something I don't recommend

Looking for an old copy of uBlock Origin on some random page and loading it manually into Chrome seems like a bad solution to me.

We're talking about an extension with significant permissions over our browsing.

Swapping a version maintained and distributed from a trusted source for a file found on some random site just to recover certain features is exactly the kind of trade-off I would avoid when it comes to privacy.

If a tool stops being compatible with my browser, I'd rather change tools or change browsers.

Google has technical arguments

It would be too easy to reduce this to "Google makes money from advertising, so that's why they killed ad blockers."

The technical situation has more nuances.

Manifest V3 introduces restrictions and permission changes that can reduce certain risks caused by overly powerful extensions. Google has spent years defending precisely security, privacy, and performance as reasons for the migration.

The problem is the cost of that decision.

An extension like uBlock Origin could perform certain operations under Manifest V2 that no longer fit the same way within the new model.

A platform's security improvements and the loss of capabilities for ad blockers can exist at the same time.

And there, each user will have to decide what weighs more.

My takeaways

After reviewing the current state of things, my decision is fairly simple.

Firefox + uBlock Origin when I want the full uBO experience.

Brave when I need or prefer Chromium and want strong blocking built directly into the browser.

Chrome + uBlock Origin Lite when Chrome is a requirement and switching browsers doesn't make sense.

The important thing is to understand that uBlock Origin Lite and uBlock Origin are not exactly the same product.

Conclusion

uBlock Origin didn't disappear on August 31.

Google definitively closed the Manifest V2 era within the Chrome Web Store and, as a result, the traditional version of uBlock Origin left the store.

Meanwhile, Firefox received an update to uBO just a few days earlier. Brave continues developing its built-in blocking and uBlock Origin Lite remains active for the Manifest V3 ecosystem.

After so many years of taking for granted that any major extension would be available in any browser, this case leaves something quite concrete: browser architecture matters again when choosing our tools.

I would keep Firefox and Brave installed before trying to force an old extension into Chrome.