Official Windows Registry hack extends uBlock Origin support on Google Chrome, Edge

While the general user may be unaware of it, browser wars continue to wage on as each of them tries to secure and keep as much of the user base as they can, often seemingly venturing into controversial territories.

Besides waging war against rivals, search giant Google is also currently trying to kill off ad blocking on YouTube with server-side-injected ads inside videos that may be impossible to jam off.

In the ad blocking extension space, another ongoing change is the move from Manifest V2 to V3. For those unfamiliar, the Manifest API essentially deals with how extensions and add-ons work on browsers, and V3 aims to improve the privacy, security and performance of such extensions.

Recently, uBlock Origin developer recommended users switch to uBlock Lite as Chrome Web Store currently flags the former with a message that says the extension may not be supported for longer following the commencement of the Manifest V2 phase-out at the start of June.

The message (warning) is also present on the "About Manifest V2" page on Google's official site. It notifies extension developers that V2 extensions are no longer accepted on Chrome Web Store with the message "Warning: The Chrome Web Store no longer accepts Manifest V2 extensions. Follow the Manifest V3 Migration guide to convert your extension to Manifest V3."

Microsoft Edge, which is Chromium-based as well, is going a similar route, although no such notification about the Edge Add-ons Store seems to have been planted on its site. However, updates to existing MV2 add-ons are still allowed on Edge, which is not possible on Chrome.

For those who want to keep using Manifest V2 extensions like uBlock Origin in the foreseeable future, one way to do so is to migrate to Mozilla's Firefox, which has no plans to drop MV2 support any time soon. The Gecko-based browser recently said that it wants to extend the support for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 further.

If you want to stick to Chromium, an official Registry hack exists that allows extending the support for MV2 add-ons with the help of the "ExtensionManifestV2Availability" policy that is designed for enterprises. Enabling the policy allows an extended year of support for MV2 add-ons till June 2025. The policy works on Windows, as well as macOS, and Linux. Chrome version 110 or newer is needed, while for Edge, it is version 123 or later.

Reddit user TeamDJ brought attention to the policy that can be added inside the Windows Registry using the Registry Editor app (Regedit) as a DWORD. They wrote:

1. Open up the “Registry Editor” Program
2. Navigate to: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome
3. With the Chrome folder on the left highlighted, select Edit/New/DWORD (32-Bit Value)
   or, if you prefer, on the right side of the screen in a BLANK SPOT, you can RIGHT CLICK New/DWORD (32-Bit Value).
4. Name it ExtensionManifestV2Availability and hit enter.
5. Right click what you just created (ExtensionManifestV2Availability) and click Modify. Set the Hexadecimal value to 2, and click OK.
6. You’re done, but check your work by opening Chrome, and pasting chrome://policy in the URL Address bar and hit enter. You should see the ExtensionManifestV2Availability policy, and the value should be set to 2. If you don’t see it, click “Reload Policies” and/or review your work.

If you are savvy enough, you can also go about the above steps on your own using this official Chrome guide. As always, though, make sure to be careful when tweaking the Windows Registry.

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