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Google Chrome automatically disables uBlock Origin

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In particular:
  1. It needs up-to-date information of the current state of Manifest V3, and how it currently impact users still that are still using Google Chrome.
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On 4 March 2025, Google Chrome automatically disabled uBlock Origin, the most popular content blocker to date,[1][2] for all users as part of shift to the Manifest V3 version of Chrome.[3]

Background

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µBlock, first published on 23 June 2014, was forked into uBlock Origin and released on 23 June 2018.[4] It is a wide-spectrum content blocker[5] that users may install as an extension to block unwanted content while browsing the web, including advertisements, scripts, pop-ups, malware, crypto-miners, trackers, remote fonts, and more. It provides many benefits for users including lowered CPU usage, lowered memory usage, lowered network bandwidth usage, improved privacy, and improved security. uBlock Origin empowers users to take control of what is loaded and ran in their computer's web browser, providing users with a faster, safer, and less obtrusive web browsing experience.

Introduction of Manifest V3

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In 2018, Google announced that it would begin a shift to a new version of Google Chrome extension manifest called Manifest V3, or MV3 for short, "to create stronger security, privacy, and performance guarantees."[6] In 2020, Google released a beta version of MV3,[7] and by early 2022, Google Chrome disallowed users to release extensions on the Chrome Web Store that were incompatible with MV3.[8]

Due to the changes introduced in MV3, only uBlock Origin Lite — an incomplete version of the extension — is available to users of Google Chrome.[9]

Google's response

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This section is incomplete. This notice can be deleted once all the placeholder text has been replaced.

Consumer response

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There are doubts that MV3 does much for the security, since according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, "when a malicious extension sneaks through the security review process, it is usually interested in simply observing the conversation between your browser and whatever websites you visit".[10] And to quote Firefox’s Add-On Operations Manager: "they can still do that with the current webRequest API that is not blocking".[10]

Users can still browse the web without ads and with reduced tracking by switching to a browser which continues to support Manifest V2 and the full version of uBlock Origin, such as Mozilla Firefox or the Chromium-based Brave browser.

References

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  1. ↑ "Privacy & Security". Google. Archived from the original on 27 Jan 2026. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
  2. ↑ "9,288 extensions found in Privacy & Security". Mozilla. Archived from the original on 26 Jan 2026. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
  3. ↑ "Extensions / Manifest V3 | Chrome for Developers". Chrome. 2023. Archived from the original on 25 Dec 2023. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
  4. ↑ gorhill (23 Jun 2018). "uBlock Release 0.1.0.2". GitHub. Archived from the original on 4 Nov 2025. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
  5. ↑ gorhill. "Blocking mode". GitHub. Archived from the original on 16 Jan 2026. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
  6. ↑ "Trustworthy Chrome Extensions, by default". Chromium. 1 Oct 2018. Archived from the original on 22 Feb 2026. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
  7. ↑ "Manifest V3 now available on M88 Beta". Chromium. 9 Dec 2020. Archived from the original on 12 Jan 2026. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
  8. ↑ "Manifest V2 support timeline". Chrome. 9 Oct 2024. Archived from the original on 22 Feb 2026. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
  9. ↑ "uBlock Origin". ublockorigin.com. Archived from the original on 23 May 2026. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Barnett, Daly (9 Dec 2021). "Chrome Users Beware: Manifest V3 is Deceitful and Threatening". Electronic Frontier Foundation. Archived from the original on 27 Jul 2025. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
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