You can still enable uBlock Origin in Chrome 140

Last week, Google released Chrome 140 to the public channel, and at the same time the company has made it harder to launch browser extensions based on Manifest V2. Opportunity restore MV2 extensions due to a few experimental checkboxes is no longer available, as Google has removed the corresponding options. However, those who want to continue using uBlock Origin can still install this extension (as well as other projects on Manifest V2). Here’s how to do it.

Previously, the installation of uBlock Origin in Chrome relied on the M137 or M138 checkboxes with no expiration date. After enabling them, Chrome allowed the Manifest V2 extension to run through a set of other checkboxes. Now, Chrome no longer allows these checkboxes to be enabled. Thus, the only way to get uBlock Origin to work is to change the browser shortcut.

How to launch uBlock Origin in Chrome 140:

1. Create a Chrome shortcut on your desktop or in the Start menu.
2. Right-click the shortcut and select Properties.
3. In the Object field, put a space and add the following command: –disable-features=ExtensionManifestV2Unsupported,ExtensionManifestV2Disabled
4. Save your changes and launch the browser.

You can now re-enable uBlock Origin or download it from the Chrome Web Store.

The “Load Unpacked” installation method still works, but you need to activate the “Temporarily unexpire M139 flags” checkbox in Chrome 140 or “Temporarily unexpire M140 flags” in Chrome 141 before you can do so.

Please note that all of these solutions are only temporary workarounds. Future updates to Chrome will continue to make Manifest V2 extensions more difficult to use until they become completely impossible. Therefore, even if you have workarounds now, you should consider the following plan of action: either switch to a browser that still supports MV2 (e.g, Firefox or Opera), or choose a content blocker based on Manifest V3, such as uBlock Origin Lite.

Source: neowin