Despite warnings, you can keep using uBlock Origin on Chrome… for now

Over the past several months, Google has been taking greater action against adblock extensions in Chrome. With the introduction of Manifest V3, an update of the Chromium browser on which Chrome is built, more adblockers are apparently being killed off.

Users of uBlock Origin, one of the most popular adblockers for Chrome, have started receiving warnings upon opening Chrome that the extension is no longer supported, with a prompt to remove it. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean the extension is now unusable.

Joel Lee / Foundry

As some users noted on Reddit, Chrome offers two options in the prompt: you can either remove the extension or manage it. The former results in uBlock Origin being uninstalled, which is presumably the desired response for Google now that the extension hasn’t been available to download in the Chrome Web Store for some time.

The developer has provided uBlock Origin Lite as an alternative, which uses the same basic filters as uBlock Origin but with some missing features for power users. This one is still compatible with Chrome.

How to continue using uBlock Origin

When Chrome warns you that uBlock Origin is no longer supported, you can simply go to extension settings in Chrome via the “Manage extension” option. There, reactivate uBlock Origin and confirm in the subsequent pop-up that you want to continue using it.

This method should work in the latest version of Chrome. However, it’s unclear how much longer Google will allow this option. In the long term, Google wants to discontinue use of all extensions still based on Manifest V2, which aren’t compatible with Chrome’s current standards.

Once the adblocker is forcibly removed for all users, you’ll have to switch to uBlock Origin Lite or one of these other Chrome adblockers. For example, there’s Opera, which is also based on Chromium, but the developers have committed to supporting uBlock Origin.

Further reading: Yes, I block every ad on YouTube and I don’t care