Google has pulled uBlock Origin from the Chrome Web Store: what changed, and your best ad-blocker options now

If you have used Chrome with uBlock Origin for years, the extension is now gone from the store, and this time it is not coming back. On 31 August 2026 Google finished a long-signposted transition by pulling the last Manifest V2 extensions from the Chrome Web Store. The move has been described in places as Google "killing" the best ad blocker, which is half right and half misleading. Here is the careful version: what actually happened, when the earlier steps really occurred, and what your options are now.

What actually changed on 31 August

The new event is narrow and specific: classic uBlock Origin, and every other extension still built on the old Manifest V2 platform, was removed from the Chrome Web Store. Google's own Manifest V2 support timeline lists it plainly: "All remaining Manifest V2 extensions are removed from the Chrome Web Store."

In practical terms, that means the extension can no longer be found, installed, or reinstalled through the store, and any copies still on a machine will receive no further updates. It is the store delisting, the last administrative step, that happened this week.

This was a slow phase-out, not a sudden ban

A lot of the coverage compresses several separate milestones into one dramatic switch-off. It is worth keeping them apart, because it changes how you read the story.

• Manifest V2 extensions stopped working for ordinary users across 2024 and 2025. Google began disabling them in October 2024, made them off by default on all channels in March 2025, and, with Chrome 138 in July 2025, removed the toggle that let regular users turn them back on. So for most people, uBlock Origin actually went quiet more than a year ago.
• The enterprise escape hatch closed next. A managed-device policy that let organisations keep Manifest V2 alive was removed around Chrome 139 in mid-2025.
• The last developer flags were deleted in mid-2026. Command-line and developer-mode overrides survived a while longer, until Chrome 150 (June 2026) and 151 (July 2026) stripped the final flags out of the Chromium source, per a community PSA in the W3C WebExtensions issue tracker.
• The store removal, 31 August 2026, is the finale. With the extension delisted, there is no longer any supported path to install or run classic uBO on Chrome.

So "uBlock Origin is dead" is true only in a specific sense: the classic, Manifest V2 version is dead on Chrome. That is a real loss for a great many people, but it is not the whole map.

Why Google says it did this

Google frames Manifest V3 as a security and privacy upgrade. In the company's announcement of the phase-out, Chrome extensions product manager David Li wrote that "the goal of Manifest V3 is to protect existing functionality while improving the security, privacy, performance and trustworthiness of the extension ecosystem as a whole." Google also notes that the major content blockers, uBlock Origin, AdBlock, Adblock Plus and AdGuard, already have Manifest V3 versions, and that it raised the ceilings for the new blocking system to 330,000 static rules and 30,000 dynamic rules to address complaints that the format was too limited.

The technical heart of the change is that Manifest V2 let extensions use a powerful API called webRequest, which can inspect and modify network traffic as it happens. Manifest V3 replaces that with declarativeNetRequest, where an extension hands the browser a fixed set of rules and the browser does the filtering. Google argues that is safer, because an extension no longer sees the full stream of your browsing.

Why critics disagree

The counterargument is just as pointed, and it is not new. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has argued for years that Manifest V3 is "outright harmful to privacy efforts", that it is "doubtful" the change does much for security, and, citing a 2020 Princeton and University of Chicago study, that privacy extensions can actually improve browser performance rather than harm it. The EFF called the new limitations "paternalistic and downright creepy" given that Google is also the largest online advertising company, which the EFF argues makes it the party with the most to gain if ad blocking becomes less capable.

That perceived conflict of interest is why critics say this change lands so hard. It is entirely reasonable for a browser maker to tighten what extensions can do. It is also reasonable for users to notice that the tightening happens to weaken the tools that block the maker's core business.

Does uBlock Origin still work anywhere?

Yes, and this is the part the "it's dead" headlines skip.

• Firefox keeps full uBlock Origin. Mozilla adopted Manifest V3 but chose to keep supporting the blocking webRequest API alongside it, so the complete version of uBO runs there unchanged. uBlock Origin's own site now points Chrome users toward Firefox for this reason.
• Brave keeps it too. Brave self-hosts four Manifest V2 extensions, uBlock Origin, AdGuard, NoScript and uMatrix, on its own servers "for as long as we're able," and its built-in Shields blocker is baked into the browser and does not depend on the extension platform at all.
• Opera has said it is keeping Manifest V2 for now, with no end date announced, though that is a statement of intent rather than a guarantee.
• Edge is following Chrome. Microsoft has said it will begin turning Manifest V2 off for consumers in August 2026 and finish the consumer transition by the end of the year, with enterprise deprecation in early 2027.

For scale, uBlock Origin was one of the most-installed extensions in Chrome, with an estimated 40 million or so users based on the store's own install counter. That figure is an approximation, and because the listing has now been removed it cannot be re-checked against a live dashboard, so treat it as a ballpark rather than a precise number.

Is uBlock Origin Lite a real replacement?

There is a Manifest V3 version, uBlock Origin Lite (uBO Lite), from the same maintainer, and it remains available on Chrome. But its own author is careful not to call it a drop-in replacement. In his own notice to Chrome users, the maintainer writes that uBO Lite "is too different from uBO for it to silently replace" it, and that "whether uBOL is an acceptable alternative to uBO is up to you."

The concrete differences matter for power users. Because Manifest V3 uses the browser's own rule engine rather than live request interception, uBO Lite drops the dynamic filtering matrix, the per-site switches (no-scripting, no-remote-fonts, no-large-media), and, crucially, its filter lists update only when the extension itself is updated, not on their own schedule. For most people running the default lists, it is a capable blocker. For anyone who relied on uBO's fine-grained controls, it is a step down by design.

What are your best options now

If you are on Chrome and want to keep blocking ads and trackers effectively, the practical choices are: install uBlock Origin Lite and accept the reduced control; use AdGuard, which ships a Manifest V3 extension as well as standalone apps; or switch to a browser that keeps the full toolset, Firefox (recommended by uBO's own maintainer) or Brave, which self-hosts full uBO and also has native Shields built in. Which is right depends on how much manual control you want. The broader backdrop here is the steady tightening of the browser as a platform, the same theme running through Europe's rules on Apple and Google and the wider fight over how your browsing is tracked and monetised. For more, browse our full software coverage.

Frequently asked questions

Does uBlock Origin still work in Chrome in 2026?

No. The classic Manifest V2 version of uBlock Origin was removed from the Chrome Web Store on 31 August 2026 and can no longer be installed there, and it stopped working for ordinary Chrome users during 2025 when Google disabled Manifest V2 by default. Only the reduced Manifest V3 build, uBlock Origin Lite, still works on Chrome.

What is the best ad blocker for Chrome now?

The main options are uBlock Origin Lite (from uBO's own maintainer, Manifest V3, less powerful but effective for most people), AdGuard (which has a Manifest V3 extension plus standalone apps), or switching browser. Brave has a capable ad and tracker blocker, Shields, built directly into the browser with no extension required.

Is uBlock Origin Lite as good as uBlock Origin?

Not for advanced use, according to its own author. uBO Lite lacks dynamic filtering, per-site switches, and on-demand filter-list updates, because Manifest V3 replaces live request interception with a fixed browser-run rule set. It is fine for typical browsing with default lists; power users lose meaningful control.

Which browsers still support full uBlock Origin?

Firefox (Mozilla kept the blocking webRequest API), Brave (which self-hosts uBlock Origin and has native Shields), and Opera (which has said it is keeping Manifest V2 for now). Chrome and Edge do not.

Why did Google remove Manifest V2 extensions?

Google says Manifest V3 improves the security, privacy and performance of extensions by replacing the powerful webRequest API with a rule-based system the browser runs itself. Critics, including the EFF, argue the change does little for security and weakens privacy and ad-blocking tools, and note that Google is also the largest online advertising company.

Did Google single out uBlock Origin?

No. The 31 August removal applied to all remaining Manifest V2 extensions, not one product. uBlock Origin drew the most attention because it was among the most installed and because its classic version depends on a Manifest V2 capability that Manifest V3 does not offer in the same form.