Google Chrome is killing more extensions than you think – is your old favorite on the list?

Google has officially implemented a new platform for Chrome extensions, and it brings both good and bad news. On the positive side, Manifest V3 promises greater safety and security within Chrome. On the negative side, extensions that are unsupported are now being actively disabled or blocked.

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In development for the past several years, Google’s Manifest V3 extension platform replaces version 2 with tighter controls over the behavior of extensions. Malicious or suspicious extensions are a problem for any browser, including Chrome. To address this issue, Google claims the new platform will better ensure that extensions offered in the Chrome Web Store are safe and reliable.

If you’ve ever installed a buggy or even malicious extension in Chrome, Manifest V3 sounds like a positive step. We all want safe and secure extensions that run properly in the browser. But because many extensions can’t or won’t support the new platform, the burden is now on Chrome users to figure out what to do.

uBlock Origin’s Chrome warning

Let’s start with uBlock Origin, a popular ad blocker that’s been available as a Chrome extension for years. Head to its page at the Chrome Web Store, and you’ll now be blocked from installing it with a message that reads: “This extension is no longer available because it doesn’t follow best practices for Chrome extensions.”

If you had previously installed uBlock Origin, the next time you open Chrome, you’ll be informed that the extension has been turned off. Check out the Manage Extensions screen, and Google will tell you that the extension was turned off because it’s no longer supported.

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“Starting with Google Chrome 127, there will be a warning for uBlock Origin (uBO) in your Chrome extensions page,” the developer said last November on GitHub. “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.”

For people who want to keep using uBlock Origin, the only option in Chrome is to use uBO Lite (uBOL), a pared-down version that’s compliant with Manifest V3 but lacks all the unsupported features found in the full program.

More extensions disabled

Of course, this clean sweep affects many more extensions than just uBlock Origin. ZDNET editor Aly Windsor discovered that three of her Chrome extensions — Image Downloader, Publisher Extension, and Word Counter Plus — have been disabled and will no longer work. On my end, I relied on an extension called XBrowserSync for syncing bookmarks across different browsers. That’s been disabled and is no longer accessible in the Chrome Web Store.

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Scouring the Web Store, I found a host of other disabled extensions, including the following:

• 360 Ads Blocker
• Adblock Fast
• Awesome Bookmarks Button
• Block Ads
• Bookmark All
• Bookmark It
• Bookmark Lock
• Bookmark Manager Speed Dial
• Bookmark My Tabs
• Comodo Ad Blocker
• Comodo Online Security Pro
• Content Blocker
• Delicious Bookmark Bar Sync
• Domain Blocker
• Ethical AdBlock — Ad Blocker
• Fast Bookmark
• Ghostery Private Search for Chrome
• Google Ad Blocker
• Google Privacy Shade
• Hover Zoom+
• Little Bookmark Box
• Location Guard
• MalwareAI Browser Security
• Pinboard Bookmark Bar Sync
• Popup Fixer
• Privacy Cleaner
• Privacy Extension
• Private Bookmarker
• Private Bookmarks
• Simple Site Blocker
• Touch VPN
• Trump Blocker
• TunnelBear Blocker
• Website Blocker
• Wikipedia Popup
• YouTube Anywhere Remote

Some of these extensions may be legitimately unsafe. In that case, Google is doing Chrome users a favor by blocking or disabling them. But I’d wager that many are still safe and usable; they just don’t fit the guidelines that Google has dictated with Manifest V3.

Is Google stifling ad blockers?

With the rollout of the new platform, critics have complained that Manifest V3 is a way for Google to stifle ad blockers. This is because certain extensions depend on remotely hosted code that wouldn’t be supported in V3. Both the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Mozilla have charged that Google’s move to Manifest V3 helps advertisers more than users.

But ad blockers are only a small part of the picture. Many other types of extensions are now blocked because they don’t work with the new platform. Like some ad blockers, most of these use remotely hosted code, which Google has forbidden because such code is unreviewed and presents a potential security risk.

Bypassing Google’s restrictions

So, what do you do if your favorite extension no longer works with Chrome? Well, you have a few options, though none of them are ideal.

If you installed one of the banned extensions in the past, you can bypass Google’s restrictions, at least for now. Head to the Manage Extensions page to see all the extensions that have been turned off. Instead of removing them, as Google suggests, just turn on their switches to enable them again. Chrome won’t stop you. However, I think this is just delaying the inevitable. I’d bet that a future version of Chrome will completely disable or even remove any unsupported extensions that are still present.

Also: Once uBlock Origin stops working on Chrome, you have 2 options

If you’d rather be safe and secure, you can take Google’s advice and find an alternative program. Browse to the Chrome Web Store and search for the category name of your blocked extension. Look for ones that have earned a large number of high ratings and positive reviews.

With many categories, you should find an ample supply of alternative extensions. Some categories, however, are likely to prove more challenging. On my end, xBrowserSync is no longer supported, so I had to find a different bookmark syncing program. That eventually led me to an extension called EverSync, which works in Chrome as well as Firefox and Edge.

If you can’t find an alternative option and still want to use a specific extension, consider a different browser. Microsoft Edge is one possibility. Like Chrome, Edge is Chromium-based, supports Manifest V3, and relies on extensions from the Chrome Web Store. But it also offers its own Add-ons page in which extensions like uBlock Origin are not blocked, at least not at this point. Edge’s Add-ons page doesn’t offer the wealth of extensions found at the Chrome Web Store, but it’s still worth checking out.

Otherwise, Firefox is always a viable alternative as it’s home to a vast variety of extensions. Plus, Mozilla plans to continue to support Manifest V2 in Firefox. Other browser makers, including Opera, Brave, and Vivaldi, also still allow extensions that are persona non grata with Google.

Also: Forget Chrome: Why Firefox’s new vertical tabs are such a productivity game-changer

Google has long made it clear that it would be moving to Manifest V3, so we’ve had plenty of advance warning that our favorite extensions might lose support. But with such extensions now actively being disabled, each Chrome user must find the best way to carry on.

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