Google is completing Chrome’s move to the new Manifest V3 extension platform, a change that will effectively end support for many popular ad blockers. The most affected tool is the original version of uBlock Origin, whose support began being phased out in 2024, while many users have already switched to newer blockers built for the new limits or moved to rival browsers.
For now, some users have still been able to bypass Chrome’s restrictions with technical flags and internal browser settings. That workaround relied on a specific setting that allowed older extensions to keep functioning, but Google engineers now consider those components “dead code” and are removing them completely.
According to 9to5Google, Chrome version 150, expected at the end of June 2026, will disable the main bypass mechanism. Version 151, due in July, will then strip out the remaining code and flags from the browser.
Google says the move is needed to reduce technical debt, simplify the codebase, and address real security risks. A company engineer said several bugs were recently found that affected only the old platform, and that the company cannot keep maintaining those mechanisms indefinitely. The change also affects browsers built on Chromium, and industry expectations are that Microsoft Edge and Opera will likely follow Google’s policy, though each browser maker can decide separately whether to keep supporting older extensions.
