Google Chrome: How to extend ad blocker support for another year

Google Chrome will discontinue support for uBlock Origin and other ad blockers, as well as extensions, with the transition to Manifest V3. A Windows registry tweak will allow the use of old extensions for another year.

The developer of the popular ad blocker has already released uBlock Origin Lite for Manifest V3. However, this version will not block everything that its predecessor could, due to new permission restrictions. To keep using ad blockers, one could switch to Mozilla Firefox or follow a Reddit suggestion to modify the registry.

User TeamDJ in the r/chrome subreddit states that it's possible to extend the support for Manifest V2 extensions using the Windows policy registry key ExtensionManifestV2Availability, which is aimed at enterprise users. Google plans to immediately end MV2 support for home users, but enterprise users will have the ability to extend support for the framework for an additional year. Fortunately, this hack can be utilized on any PC to extend support.

Here's what you need to do:

• Open the Registry Editor
• Navigate to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome
• Select the Chrome folder on the left, choose Edit/New/DWORD (32-Bit Value), or right-click in an empty space on the right and select New/DWORD (32-Bit Value)
• Name the new parameter ExtensionManifestV2Availability and press Enter
• Right-click on the newly created parameter and select "Modify"
• Set the hexadecimal (Hexadecimal) value to 2 and press OK

All set, but you can check if it works. To do this, type the URL chrome://policy in Chrome and press Enter. The policy ExtensionManifestV2Availability should appear, with a value of 2. If it doesn’t show up, click "Reload policies" and check again.

You will also need to restart your computer to apply the changes. Now the classic extensions will work in Chrome until June 2025.

Source: Windows Central