Google Chrome is killing all uBlock Origin bypasses, Edge, Opera to follow

Just remember that Google is essentially an advertising company and that they were always going to squeeze this opening closed as soon as they could get away with it.

I do fear for a future were even Firefox ends up caving in. Ladybird browser might be our only hope until something legal comes along to block functionality.

Look, we're having a good time on Firefox since November 9, 2004. Come join us!

Surprised they still have this page on their site:

> https://about.google/company-info/philosophy/

> 1. Focus on the user and all else will follow.

> 6. You can make money without doing evil.

uBo is the only reason I find browsing the web at all tolerable anymore. As a test I turned it off to view this article and almost crashed my browser with a dozen auto play video ads This would mean I would find the energy to get over anything that is holding me on chrome, like haves passwords etc.

>from our experience, uBO Lite does not seem to be as good as the original non-Lite version

In what way? I've never noticed a difference.

Why are people on HN still using Chrome? (or Edge, or Opera…)

I wonder what will Vivaldi do. They say that their built-in content blocker is "good enough" that you supposedly don't need uBO (I very much disagree) but they also keep MV2 extensions working to this day.

Finally Firefox will get a 30% usage share!

The only reason I use Chrome is because its dev tools are better, and for whatever reason, webgl wigs out on Ubuntu 26.04 in Firefox. It's mostly the lag issue though...

AdGuard MV3 works fine. Still switch to FF if you can, more diversity in the ecosystem benefits everyone.

I have been using UBlock Origin Lite on Chrome for a while, and while it's not perfect and needs a bit of manual tweaking here and there, it's been mostly good for me

People still using that POS? :)

Does Brave track or does Brave fork on this?

IMHO it's quite brave that a Google employee working in that area would let his real name be published, and an illuminating view of how they (don't) think.

uBlock Origin lite exists. And in couple years usage I see no difference from non lite version.

Yet another reason to also perform ad blocking at the network level (e.g. DNS). I’ve found AdGuard Home very easy to maintain. Using Firefox and Orion browsers too.

Boycott evil companies.

This feels more like a gradual tightening of extension APIs under Manifest V3 than a sudden “kill switch.” uBlock isn’t going away, but its capabilities are definitely being reshaped...

AdGuard MV3 works fine. Still switch to FF if you can, more diversity in the ecosystem benefits everyone.

>from our experience, uBO Lite does not seem to be as good as the original non-Lite version

In what way? I've never noticed a difference.

The only reason I use Chrome is because its dev tools are better, and for whatever reason, webgl wigs out on Ubuntu 26.04 in Firefox. It's mostly the lag issue though...

I have been using UBlock Origin Lite on Chrome for a while, and while it's not perfect and needs a bit of manual tweaking here and there, it's been mostly good for me

People still using that POS? :)

IMHO it's quite brave that a Google employee working in that area would let his real name be published, and an illuminating view of how they (don't) think.

Yet another reason to also perform ad blocking at the network level (e.g. DNS). I’ve found AdGuard Home very easy to maintain. Using Firefox and Orion browsers too.

Boycott evil companies.

Just remember that Google is essentially an advertising company and that they were always going to squeeze this opening closed as soon as they could get away with it.

I do fear for a future were even Firefox ends up caving in. Ladybird browser might be our only hope until something legal comes along to block functionality.

It's giving Sony. Similar situation where you have a media business and also make some of the distribution channels including engineering of devices used to consume the content.

Firefox haven't caved in so far. Why do u think it might in future?

Good news is there are many viable Firefox forks currently and I’m sure some of them could take the wheel. It is open source, after all.

It would be a shame to lose the Mozilla foundation/Firefox but it wouldn’t be the end of the browser.

Look, we're having a good time on Firefox since November 9, 2004. Come join us!

Was that the year they fired the Rust team to focus on paying their executives?

Surprised they still have this page on their site:

> https://about.google/company-info/philosophy/

> 1. Focus on the user and all else will follow.

> 6. You can make money without doing evil.

Hah

> 6. You can make money without doing evil

implies that they're doing it for fun then I guess?

Google only moves fast and breaks things that matter.

Their sunsetting of manifest v2 appears fast to me and updating some corporate philosophy has apparently no business impact.

Archive it before they memoryhole it.

It's quite possible that we're just not meant to view the web. Those companies that even maintain websites might intend for us to really view things on their phone app. The garbage you see on the website is then not just some parasitic draining of your spiritual health, but a disincentive designed to convince you to stop using the web altogether.

Why are people on HN still using Chrome? (or Edge, or Opera…)

Finally Firefox will get a 30% usage share!

I'm confident that Mozilla corporate will find some way to self-sabotage before that happens.

Does Brave track or does Brave fork on this?

It seems as if they will track it (https://brave.com/blog/brave-shields-manifest-v3/), with an exception for a selected few extensions (AdGuard AdBlocker, NoScript, uBlock Origin, and uMatrix).

uBlock Origin lite exists. And in couple years usage I see no difference from non lite version.

This feels more like a gradual tightening of extension APIs under Manifest V3 than a sudden “kill switch.” uBlock isn’t going away, but its capabilities are definitely being reshaped...

Some pages do not work in Firefox, so I keep a copy of Chrome around.

It’s a bit like with Internet Explorer which back in its day was also needed for some stubborn sites.

Work forces me to on the work laptop. But Ublock Origin Lite is good enough for that use-case. I use firefox everywhere else.

For me the two reasons I can't live without are

1. Firefox's ctrl-f search doesn't highlight all instances of a found item on the right hand side. It sounds petty, but its a gigantic timesaver for looking through research documents

2. Firefox's tab crash recovery isn't as solid. I use chrome with fully persistent tabs, and its a gigantic pain if I can't re-open them

If I could find a way to fix these I'd swap in a heartbeat

Don't know, but I have uninstalled it a few minutes ago.

Is that a rhetorical question suggesting those people are wrong, or are you asking for, e.g., the technical reasons some software only works with Chrome in the mix?

Locked down computers that still let you install extension.

Firefox will also disable V2 sooner or later. BUT. Chrome then will still have uBlock Origin lite. Firefox won't, because mozilla banned that extension from store.

I'm a Firefox user for about 20yrs (since Firefox 3);

but too often I have to use Chrome, as so many sites only work properly on it; Firefox is really buggy or laggy on those websites;

For a time, all those AI chat web pages were just very slow on Firefox even with very little context, whereas Chrome only gets laggy when there is a lot of context.

That's pretty irrelevant isn't it? Shouldn't all users demand privacy, especially from ads?

Ex-bosses used it so had to test shit on them.

It's giving Sony. Similar situation where you have a media business and also make some of the distribution channels including engineering of devices used to consume the content.

Good news is there are many viable Firefox forks currently and I’m sure some of them could take the wheel. It is open source, after all.

It would be a shame to lose the Mozilla foundation/Firefox but it wouldn’t be the end of the browser.

Google only moves fast and breaks things that matter.

Their sunsetting of manifest v2 appears fast to me and updating some corporate philosophy has apparently no business impact.

Archive it before they memoryhole it.

Some pages do not work in Firefox, so I keep a copy of Chrome around.

It’s a bit like with Internet Explorer which back in its day was also needed for some stubborn sites.

Work forces me to on the work laptop. But Ublock Origin Lite is good enough for that use-case. I use firefox everywhere else.

It seems as if they will track it (https://brave.com/blog/brave-shields-manifest-v3/), with an exception for a selected few extensions (AdGuard AdBlocker, NoScript, uBlock Origin, and uMatrix).

The author of both appears to disagree.

It's all an excuse to try to neuter adblockers. The push for killing MV2 was suspiciously accelerated at the same time that youtube started implementing much more invasive anti-adblock techniques that really needed a full content blocker support (at least until people found new clever workarounds).

Especially since they put no effort into removing even extensions they know are malicious (and who work very well within the MV3 restrictions): https://palant.info/2025/01/20/malicious-extensions-circumve...

It is a "kill switch" - uBlock Origin will no longer work in Chrome 151 (July 28, 2026).

Firefox haven't caved in so far. Why do u think it might in future?

> Firefox haven't caved in so far. Why do u think it might in future?

Because pretty much all their revenue comes from Google.

Was that the year they fired the Rust team to focus on paying their executives?

Let's not exchange crap behaviour. I think google would win hands down. Firefox at least has adblocking.

Hah

> 6. You can make money without doing evil

implies that they're doing it for fun then I guess?

Ex-bosses used it so had to test shit on them.

The author of both appears to disagree.

> Firefox haven't caved in so far. Why do u think it might in future?

Because pretty much all their revenue comes from Google.

Let's not exchange crap behaviour. I think google would win hands down. Firefox at least has adblocking.

Don't know, but I have uninstalled it a few minutes ago.

Locked down computers that still let you install extension.

Ok but if you use it only for testing, and not for your ‘real’ browsing, then probably the fact that they track what you are doing is not that important, even if it’s still a nuisance. Or not?

The few exceptions being the ones we want. So.. a good outcome.

It is a "kill switch" - uBlock Origin will no longer work in Chrome 151 (July 28, 2026).

I'm far more faithful to Ublock Origin than I am any specific browser.

Sadly I don't think that's the general case, I've been on FF for decades but there isn't a universe where I use a browser without UBO at this point.

For me the two reasons I can't live without are

1. Firefox's ctrl-f search doesn't highlight all instances of a found item on the right hand side. It sounds petty, but its a gigantic timesaver for looking through research documents

2. Firefox's tab crash recovery isn't as solid. I use chrome with fully persistent tabs, and its a gigantic pain if I can't re-open them

If I could find a way to fix these I'd swap in a heartbeat

Firefox has added highlighting of search terms in the page's scroll bar quite a few versions ago, if you want to give it another spin for that.

Is that a rhetorical question suggesting those people are wrong, or are you asking for, e.g., the technical reasons some software only works with Chrome in the mix?

I'm betting there are a lot of people here using Chrome as their "daily driver".

Firefox will also disable V2 sooner or later. BUT. Chrome then will still have uBlock Origin lite. Firefox won't, because mozilla banned that extension from store.

> Firefox will also disable V2 sooner or later.

Source?

> Firefox won't, because mozilla banned that extension from store.

It's unbanned; the author chose to not put it back. https://www.ghacks.net/2024/10/01/mozillas-massive-lapse-in-...

There is currently no plan to deprecate V2 manifest in Firefox.

And Firefox version of V3 supports browser.webRequest blocking (the part that adblockers need to work properly)

> Firefox will also disable V2 sooner or later.

Got a source for that, or is that just unfounded speculation?

Why wouldn't someone anyone cobble together a v3 version between the uncertain future date in which v2 was deprecated and when it became unavailable. There appears to be no possible future in which google has better adblocking.

I'm a Firefox user for about 20yrs (since Firefox 3);

but too often I have to use Chrome, as so many sites only work properly on it; Firefox is really buggy or laggy on those websites;

For a time, all those AI chat web pages were just very slow on Firefox even with very little context, whereas Chrome only gets laggy when there is a lot of context.

That's pretty irrelevant isn't it? Shouldn't all users demand privacy, especially from ads?

I'm confident that Mozilla corporate will find some way to self-sabotage before that happens.

Ok but if you use it only for testing, and not for your ‘real’ browsing, then probably the fact that they track what you are doing is not that important, even if it’s still a nuisance. Or not?

Firefox has added highlighting of search terms in the page's scroll bar quite a few versions ago, if you want to give it another spin for that.

I'm betting there are a lot of people here using Chrome as their "daily driver".

> Firefox will also disable V2 sooner or later.

Source?

> Firefox won't, because mozilla banned that extension from store.

It's unbanned; the author chose to not put it back. https://www.ghacks.net/2024/10/01/mozillas-massive-lapse-in-...

There is currently no plan to deprecate V2 manifest in Firefox.

And Firefox version of V3 supports browser.webRequest blocking (the part that adblockers need to work properly)

> Firefox will also disable V2 sooner or later.

Got a source for that, or is that just unfounded speculation?

How many extensions do you use on laggy FF?

All users should demand privacy, but they don’t.

Take a look at Firefox’s market share, or Brave’s etc.

That is my fear. Or get distracted on some ancillary product that takes resources away from FF development.

Just keep making a browser that isn’t shit. That’s your only job!

The few exceptions being the ones we want. So.. a good outcome.

We want forks or better extensions impossible?

I'm far more faithful to Ublock Origin than I am any specific browser.

Sadly I don't think that's the general case, I've been on FF for decades but there isn't a universe where I use a browser without UBO at this point.

>but there isn't a universe where I use a browser without UBO at this point.

One wouldn't need to be loyal to UBO... a simple with-and-without comparison would be enough for anyone with a functioning brainstem.

We want forks or better extensions impossible?

>but there isn't a universe where I use a browser without UBO at this point.

One wouldn't need to be loyal to UBO... a simple with-and-without comparison would be enough for anyone with a functioning brainstem.

To people who like Chrome, or some of its features (I love their bookmarks), I say: try Helium. Or Iridium. Or even Brave.

How many extensions do you use on laggy FF?

That is my fear. Or get distracted on some ancillary product that takes resources away from FF development.

Just keep making a browser that isn’t shit. That’s your only job!

All users should demand privacy, but they don’t.

Take a look at Firefox’s market share, or Brave’s etc.

Won’t Brave follow Google’s lead on this?

Gecko, WebKit and—hopefully—Ladybird are the true alternatives. I used to think this was too extreme. But the ad vendor dragging ad blockers out of the engine flipped my view.

To people who like Chrome, or some of its features (I love their bookmarks), I say: try Helium. Or Iridium. Or even Brave.

Which one isnt going to get unmaintained first.

Won’t Brave follow Google’s lead on this?

Gecko, WebKit and—hopefully—Ladybird are the true alternatives. I used to think this was too extreme. But the ad vendor dragging ad blockers out of the engine flipped my view.

> Won’t Brave follow Google’s lead on this?

They said they could offer limited MV2 support even after it’s fully removed from the upstream Chromium codebase.[1]

[1] https://brave.com/blog/brave-shields-manifest-v3/

Brave, like Vivaldi, I think, have developed their own ad blocker.

No idea if they will fight to keep UBlock Origin accessible or not.

I think and certainly hope that Helium will fight the good fight.

> Won’t Brave follow Google’s lead on this?

They said they could offer limited MV2 support even after it’s fully removed from the upstream Chromium codebase.[1]

[1] https://brave.com/blog/brave-shields-manifest-v3/

Brave, like Vivaldi, I think, have developed their own ad blocker.

No idea if they will fight to keep UBlock Origin accessible or not.

I think and certainly hope that Helium will fight the good fight.

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Chrome is looking to permanently drop MV2 extensions and its bypasses, thus ending most uBlock Origin workarounds.

Sayan Sen Neowin @ssc_combater007 · Jun 9, 2026 06:28 EDT · Hot!

Chrome Logo next to uBlock Origin

For a while now the transition away from Manifest V2 (MV2) to MV3 has been on-going and it looks like it is entering its final phase of deprecation, at least, in the case of Google Chrome. A recent discussion thread in the w3c WebExtensions Community Group GitHub repo has highlighted how the latest and upcoming versions of the most popular browser are expected to be its final releases with support for MV2 extensions.

Chromium contributor Andrey Bershanskiy shared details about recent Chromium changes and according to comments from Google engineer Devlin Cronin, Chrome has now started removing the flags that previously controlled MV2 availability. kExtensionManifestV2Disabled, the Chromium feature flag that allowed controlled disabling of MV2 add-ons, is now completely removed, which means you will likely no longer find uBlock Origin in your browser extensions list.

He wrote: "The kExtensionManifestV2Disabled feature has been default-enabled for
over a year. Remove the feature and the effectively-dead code. ... Any tests that relied on being in the "warning" phase (i.e., with the kExtensionManifestV2Disabled) for their sole behavior testing are
removed, since this stage is no longer reachable."

Cronin further explained why MV2 extensions are no longer allowed in supported Chrome versions as maintaining the associated functionality indefinitely is no longer possible. He cited growing technical difficulties and implementation complexities as well as security concerns.

He wrote: "MV2 extensions are no longer allowed in any supported version of Chrome, and we are removing support for them and the associated functionality. We won't be able to provide / maintain this functionality indefinitely due to the complexity and tech debt, as well as the security risks it entails (we've actually found a number of bugs that are specific to MV2 lately). Of course, other browsers can continue supporting these if they so desire.

Unfortunately, we won't be putting code behind a compilation flag ... We won't be removing all the MV2 code wholesale right away, so many of these things will continue working for awhile (but they will go away eventually, and some may go away sooner than others)."

What this essentially means is that the tricks and bypasses that were used to keep MV2 extensions like uBlock Origin and others alive will not work any more on Chrome, or at least not for very long. For example the Windows Registry mod that could extend MV2 availability will cease to function after Chromium version 151.

Here is a rundown of the changes coming in the final such releases of Chromium releases:

Chromium 150 lost ExtensionManifestV2Disabled option
Chromium 151 will loose ExtensionManifestV2Unsupported option
Chromium 151 will loose ExtensionManifestV2Availability option
Chromium 151 will likely loose AllowLegacyMV2Extensions option

Other Chromium-based browsers like Opera and Microsoft Edge could soon follow suit too. Although it is not specified, Edge began disabling uBlock Origin back in February, and Opera could also stop the functioning of MV2 add-ons, even though it had committed to support MV2 for longer in October 2024.

uBlock Origin developer Raymond Hill (gorhill) apparently stated the following: "For Opera I did submit 1.70.0 rather late, but this was weeks ago. A while ago I received an email from Opera that they plan to abandon MV2-based extension so maybe they are no longer allocating resources for reviewing such extensions."

The email which developers like Gorhill mentions was received from Opera last year. Here is what it seemingly said:

Dear Developers,

This message is to inform you of important upcoming changes regarding Opera extension support.

Chromium, which powers Opera, is completely removing support for Manifest Version 2. If your extension currently uses Manifest Version 2, it is crucial that you update it to Manifest Version 3 as soon as possible to ensure continued compatibility.

We strongly advise taking action to update your extensions to Manifest Version 3 to avoid any disruption of service and to ensure a smooth transition.

--
Sincerely,
Opera Extensions Team

Hence for now the only Chromium browser that seems to be on-board fully with MV2 support is Brave, and perhaps Vivaldi as well. Meanwhile if you want to ditch Chromium browsers entirely then Mozilla Firefox is an excellent alternative as MV3 and MV2 are both supported.

Of course the easiest solution is to switch to uBlock Origin Lite if you want to remain on Chrome, as it is MV3-based, but from our experience, uBO Lite does not seem to be as good as the original non-Lite version.

Source: w3C (GitHub repo)

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Google Chrome is killing all uBlock Origin bypasses, Edge, Opera to follow

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Chrome is looking to permanently drop MV2 extensions and its bypasses, thus ending most uBlock Origin workarounds.