uBlock Origin Will Stop Working In Google Chrome

Popular adblocker uBlock Origin will soon stop working in Google Chrome, with users seeing a warning starting in Chrome 127.

Google has been moving from Manifest v2 of Chrome’s extension platform to Manifest v3. Google says the change is “to improve the privacy, security, and performance of extensions.” Unfortunately, as many critics and privacy advocates have pointed out, Manifest v3 will cripple some of the most effective adblockers that are currently available—a convenient result for a company that makes its fortune from online ads.

uBlock Origin is one of the most popular, and certainly most capable, ad blocking extension, for both Firefox and Chrome-based browsers. The developer has alerted users that Chrome will begin notifying them that uBlock Origin will no longer work, beginning with Chrome 127.

This is the result of Manifest v2 support being deprecated in favor of Manifest v3.

uBO is a Manifest v2 extension, hence the warning in your Google Chrome browser. There is no Manifest v3 version of uBO, hence the browser will suggest alternative extensions as a replacement for uBO:

uBO Lite (uBOL) is a pared-down version of uBO with a best effort at converting filter lists used by uBO into a Manifest v3-compliant approach, with a focus on reliability and efficiency as has been the case with uBO since first published in June 2014.

However the focus on reliability and efficiency in a Manifest v3 environment meant having to sacrifice many features beyond those not possible within a Manifest v3 framework.

The developer says Manifast v3 uBOL will not replace the original, as there are still other browsers that rely on it, such as Firefox. Nonetheless, in an effort to support Chrome users, uBOL will continue to be offered as an alternative.

Manifest v2 uBO will not be automatically replaced by Manifest v3 uBOL. uBOL is too different from uBO for it to silently replace uBO — you will have to explicitly make a choice as to which extension should replace uBO according to your own prerogatives.

Ultimately whether uBOL is an acceptable alternative to uBO is up to you, it’s not a choice that will be made for you.

The developer has authored a FAQ page outlining the differences between the two versions to help users understand and decide what is right for them.

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