About Chrome's "These extensions may soon no longer be supported" message

Martin Brinkmann
Jul 29, 2024
Google Chrome
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38

When you update Google Chrome to the latest version, you may notice a new section when you manage installed extensions in the browser.

Google now displays extensions that may soon no longer work in Chrome. Called These extensions may soon no longer be supported, you find these listed at the top of the Extensions page of the browser.

These two extensions are outdated according to Google and will stop working in the future

Tip: you can load chrome://extensions/ in the browser's address bar to check it out.

If you do not have any extensions installed in Chrome, you do not have to worry about anything. If you do, there is a chance that some of them may stop working later this year.

Here are the details:

  • Google is changing the capabilities of browser extensions in Chrome.
  • Old extensions that do not get upgraded to the new system will stop working once Google drops support for the classic extensions system.
  • Not all extensions can be or will be migrated to the new system.

The change impacts content blocking extensions more than most other types of extensions. While content blockers remain available for Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers, they may not offer all the functionality of the current generation of content blockers.

Extensions that are no longer in active development may stop working, as they won't be compatible. Some may be forked and updated, others will be gone forever.

Google changing the technology that extensions may use

Google started to implement the changes, called Manifest V3, in Chrome Canary 80 in 2019. Since then, it has added them to all versions of Chrome, but has not enabled them strictly in the latest Chrome Stable releases.

In other words, Chrome Stable supports both systems right now, but this changes later this year. Google suggests to remove or replace the extensions that are not compatible, but there is no need to rush.

For now, it is a good idea to keep an eye on these extensions. Some may be upgraded so that they are compatible with the new extensions system. Others may not, but you still have options to replace them when that happens.

Another option is to switch to a browser that continues to support these extensions. Since all Chromium-based browsers are affected by the change, it is mostly Firefox or a Firefox fork that is the go-to browser.

Firefox will support the classic extensions system and the new extensions system, giving users and extension developers the best of both worlds.

If you want full uBlock Origin functionality, for instance, you will get that only with Firefox in the future. You can switch to uBlock Origin Lite, but it lacks some of the features of the full uBlock Origin.

Other browsers based on Chromium will -- likely -- introduce similar warnings soon. Browsers like Microsoft Edge, Opera, Vivaldi, or Brave, are all based on Chromium.

Closing Words

Google is pushing the change and all others that base their browsers on Chromium will follow. It will be interesting to see if the change will convince some Chrome users to switch to a different browser. If their favorite extensions stop working, and if there is no suitable alternative, it is possible that this is going to happen.

All in all, it seems unlikely that even such a move is denting Google's almost monopolistic hold on the browser market.

Are you affected by the change? Do you have found suitable alternatives for extensions that will no longer run in Chromium-based browsers? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Summary
Article Name
About Chrome's "These extensions may soon no longer be supported" message
Description
Google Chrome warns users about extensions now that will stop being supported by the web browser in the near future.
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Ghacks Technology News
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Comments

  1. Pierre said on August 2, 2024 at 5:09 pm
    Reply

    It’s done. Non-compatible extensions eliminated in Chrome and derivated and replaced when possible.
    Ublock Origin replaced by Adblock but I’ll try Adblock Plus
    I passed mainly to Firefox

  2. Lizard said on July 30, 2024 at 5:41 pm
    Reply

    It’s ok for me. The less Extension the better and faster your browser works. I do DNS ad-blocking witch works great. It blocks most of the annoying ads…Extensions do more harm than good. You basically giving too much trust to all of your extensions to not violate your privacy. Most of them collect a lot more data than they say they do. I do not trust any of them. There for I do not use any.

    1. Seeprime said on July 31, 2024 at 10:24 pm
      Reply

      I disagree. With uBlock Origin pages load noticably faster when no ads are presented and tracking scripts are blocked. It’s something I show my shops customers. Only banking sites are exempted from being blocked to avoid having to call them every time you try to log in.

  3. CaptainJack said on July 29, 2024 at 11:11 pm
    Reply

    Get lost Google! I already switched back to Firefox, no issues here.

  4. Vítor I said on July 29, 2024 at 9:30 pm
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    uBO: replace with similar extensions -> Adblock Plus. ROFL!

  5. banita said on July 29, 2024 at 7:58 pm
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    I don’t trust the Brave browser for many obvious reasons, including the fact that there is no portable version, and only an installer version – for me this is disqualifying. Of course, for a dozen or so years only firefox

  6. Me said on July 29, 2024 at 5:26 pm
    Reply
    1. Mulligan O'Hare said on August 1, 2024 at 6:46 pm
      Reply

      Summary?

      I’m not clicking on a link to X.

      1. Borg said on August 3, 2024 at 1:19 pm
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        We’ve seen the headlines about Google killing ad blockers.

        Two important points:
        1. Google’s changes will not stop Brave from blocking ads.
        2. We will support uBlock Origin and uMatrix even after Chrome stops doing so.
        1:11 PM · Nov 17, 2023
        ·
        198.4K
        Views

      2. Anonymous said on August 3, 2024 at 11:47 am
        Reply

        @Mulligan O’Hare
        this is what’s posted under that X link.

        We’ve seen the headlines about Google killing ad blockers.

        Two important points:
        1. Google’s changes will not stop Brave from blocking ads.
        2. We will support uBlock Origin and uMatrix even after Chrome stops doing so.
        11:11 PM · Nov 17, 2023
        ·
        198.4K
        Views

  7. Tachy said on July 29, 2024 at 4:51 pm
    Reply

    History repeating itself.

    Apparently people forgot they are too stupid to know what they want and Google has to tell them, again.

    No, I am not affected by this as I stopped using chrome the first time they pulled this sheet, many years ago.

  8. Bobo said on July 29, 2024 at 3:13 pm
    Reply

    I believe Brave have made the smart businessmove to keep at least uBlock Origin around. Shame they don’t do the same with I still don’t care about cookies. Those two extensions together get rid of most of the things that make the internet suck. Still, a viable option if you don’t like Firefox for some reason.

    1. Anonymous said on July 30, 2024 at 6:38 pm
      Reply

      You don’t need “I still don’t care about cookies”. Check out the cookie notices filters inside uBO

    2. traeh nori said on July 30, 2024 at 5:37 am
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      How is Brave keeping uBlock Origin around? Brave uses the same Chrome Web Store that Google Chrome uses.

      If Brave manages to keep Manifest V2 going, which I have serious doubts they will do for the long term, how will they distribute uBlock Origin without their own extension store?

      1. Bobo said on July 30, 2024 at 4:52 pm
        Reply

        @traeh nori

        Install it and see that they have a section where there’s a small list of Manifest v2 addons they still support.

      2. traeh nori said on August 1, 2024 at 3:02 am
        Reply

        @Bobo

        Tried it, still links to Chrome web store. I guess it would still work if you install Ublock before Google pulls it, but if you do a clean install, or if you want any updates, you’re SOL.

      3. Bobo said on August 1, 2024 at 9:17 am
        Reply

        @traeh nori

        You missed the section I was talking about. Try again.

      4. Anonymous said on October 12, 2024 at 5:34 pm
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        @Bobo

        I also tried it. Links to Chrome Web Store. You either have no idea what you are talking about, or you have become so indoctrinated with Google propaganda, you simply can’t understand.

    3. John G. said on July 29, 2024 at 11:30 pm
      Reply

      I wonder why Firefox doesn’t launch with UblockOrigin merged inside it by default to provide more protection. If it’s so good, it should be like I said, right? I think that the browsers that have built-in adblockers are the upcoming future of browsing. Firefox should move in such way imho.

      1. Bobo said on July 30, 2024 at 4:58 pm
        Reply

        @ John G.

        Firefox can’t do that because most of their revenue comes from the default search engine deal they have with Google. Linux distros on the other hand are not kissing Googles ass so they could possibly ship Firefox with a few great addons preinstalled. Some probably already do. Imagine that, firing up Firefox for the first time and the good stuff is already in place..in a perfect world all the settings would also be changed from ultra-stupid to nice and privacy respecting.

  9. Anonymous said on July 29, 2024 at 2:51 pm
    Reply

    “If you do not have any extensions installed in Chrome, you do not have to worry about anything.”
    Are you sure about that? :P

  10. Tony said on July 29, 2024 at 2:34 pm
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    Heads up Google: Your browser is not supported on my computer, as it doesn’t meet system requirements.

    1. Mulligan O'Hare said on August 1, 2024 at 6:39 pm
      Reply

      This is the way.

  11. Anonymous said on July 29, 2024 at 2:30 pm
    Reply

    Not all Chromium Browsers will be impacted by this, Vivaldi already announced way back that they would keep support for Manifest V2 even if/when Google disables it.

    1. Rick said on July 29, 2024 at 8:53 pm
      Reply

      That’s further than what they said they would do. They never said that v2 will be supported indefinitely, which would require something like a fork. Beyond the next year (which is available to any Chromium browser using a simple reg trick) it won’t be supported in favor of their anemic built-in adblock.
      https://vivaldi.com/blog/manifest-v3-update-vivaldi-is-future-proofed-with-its-built-in-functionality/

    2. Peter said on July 29, 2024 at 5:31 pm
      Reply

      That is NOT true. V3 comes and old V2 extensions stop working in Vivaldi.

  12. 8-bit Supremacy said on July 29, 2024 at 2:07 pm
    Reply

    I imported all the default and manually added lists from uBo into Brave, then everything from My Filters as well.
    I just wanna know what file(s) in Brave is storing those so I can back it up just in case.

    On a side note though, I noticed something interesting:
    Same video on YT:
    FF + uBo is trying to block the ads but it’s struggling – it shows frames from the ads for several seconds.
    Brave is masking the ads with a fade in effect and thus not showing anything. Much smoother and tiny bit faster.

  13. Paul(us) said on July 29, 2024 at 2:02 pm
    Reply

    No substitutes were found for these addons, yet hopefully? I am open to all sugestions. Anybody, please.

    Alternate tab order
    Cookie notification preventer (CNP)
    cookie remover
    Copy all URLs
    free download manager
    Keyboard privacy
    NoScript
    Remove cookie banners
    Ublock Origin ( Thanks Martin for the link to uBO Lite (uBOL) which is a *permission-less* MV3-based content blocker.)
    Wayback machine

  14. Tom Hawack said on July 29, 2024 at 1:06 pm
    Reply

    I am definitely not affected by Chrome’s changes regarding extensions given I do not and will never use a Chromium-based browser. Firefox presently, the only alternative I’d consider, right now, would be the Brave browser. Still running Windows 7, otherwise Edge would be of course avoided if disabling it be impossible (no idea, I ignore most of latest Windows environments.)

    1. Anon said on August 1, 2024 at 11:49 am
      Reply

      Take a look to R3dfox a Firefox fork for old Windows versions: https://github.com/Eclipse-Community/r3dfox/

      1. Tom Hawack said on August 1, 2024 at 4:41 pm
        Reply

        @Anon, thanks. ‘Eclipse r3dfox web browser’ and its GitHub page have been bookmarked here for some time.
        To be frank I’m likely to start searching for a Firefox alternative the moment Firefox 115 ESR will no longer be updated (given post-115 do not run on Windows 7).
        Martin posted “Mozilla extends Firefox support on Windows 7 and 8 devices” [https://chipp.in/software/windows/mozilla-extends-firefox-support-on-windows-7-and-8-devices/] which should mean 115 ESR branch valid (updated) beyond September 2024.
        Once Firefox 115 ESR definitely out, and if by then I’m still running Win7, I’ll remember the ‘Eclipse r3dfox web browser’.

    2. Bobo said on July 30, 2024 at 5:04 pm
      Reply

      @Tom Hawack

      Check out this guy. He provides a highly modified Chromium browser for Windows 7, among a bunch of other stuff. https://thorium.rocks/win7

      1. Tom Hawack said on July 30, 2024 at 11:55 pm
        Reply

        @Bobo, thanks for the idea, the links. But I’ll avoid anything built on the Chromium architecture. Moreover, generally speaking, I’m awfully cautious when it comes to applications rebuilt by outsiders.

    3. Allwynd said on July 30, 2024 at 5:49 am
      Reply

      In the pas, I was a big fan of Firefox, but not anymore. I remeber the last time I was excited about it was in 2011 when version 4 was going to be released. I found out it’s slow, bloated and it copied Chrome’s UI instead of keeping the previous Firefox UI with tabs below the address bar.

      It was slow and it took them about a decade to fix this or maybe PCs got faster and wasn’t noticeable. On my old 2005 PC, Firefox 3 was fine, Firefox 4 struggled, bit Chrome was lightning fast, so I kept that while occasionally checking Firefox and only increasing my disappointment with it.

      Now Firefox keeps depreciating features, reducing customization, keeps yapping some BS about privacy, sells all its data to Google and changes its UI every 2 years to appear new while it keeps getting worse and left behind.

      I’ve been using Chromium browsers and forks since then and I can’t imagine putting myself through the torture of using Firefox again or any of its forks. If Firefox is the last browser, I will just stop using the internet.

      1. Anonymous said on July 30, 2024 at 10:49 am
        Reply

        @Allwynd
        Yeah I am sure all of this really happened. Seethe more I will continue to use Firefox and to disgust Brave.

      2. Allwynd said on August 4, 2024 at 5:53 am
        Reply

        @anonymous
        It just pisses you that not everyone is illiterate enough to cling to Firefox like a losr.

    4. bruh said on July 29, 2024 at 2:10 pm
      Reply

      WIndows 7, 115 ESR with Echelon theme here.

      The obvious question is, what are we doing commenting on a chrome news story?

      1. Tom Hawack said on July 29, 2024 at 3:44 pm
        Reply

        @bruh, you’re darn right :) Point is I sort of legitimated posting on this article by interpreting literally the question “Are you affected by the change?”. To be honest I guess I rather bounced on that question to repeat to the world : “Hey, people, daddy Hawack doesn’t like Chromium-based browsers!”.

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