Is uBlock Origin Removed from Chrome? 2026 MV3 Truth

Key takeaways

• uBlock Origin was disabled, not removed — Chrome 138’s MV2 sunset silently disabled existing installs in mid-2025.
• It returned (v1.70.0) on March 11, 2026, at the same Chrome Web Store URL — still MV2, the more powerful build.
• uBlock Origin Lite is a separate, lighter extension (MV3 native) that cannot block YouTube video ads.

As of May 2026, uBlock Origin is on the Chrome Web Store. It was not banned, not taken down, and not removed by Google. Chrome disabled existing MV2 installs in mid-2025. It looked like removal, but it wasn’t. Raymond Hill (gorhill) resubmitted it to CWS and v1.70.0 returned on March 11, 2026 — still MV2. If your install still shows as disabled, a reinstall from CWS fixes it.

The Short Answer: No, uBlock Origin Is Not Removed

uBlock Origin v1.70.0 is live on the Chrome Web Store as of March 11, 2026 (source: GitHub releases, verified May 2026). v1.71.0 shipped May 2026: same URL, same extension, same author. Nothing changed hands. The “removed” perception came entirely from Chrome 138’s MV2 sunset disabling existing installs without explanation.

If your copy shows a disabled badge: open the Chrome Web Store listing, uninstall the old version, and install fresh. It installs cleanly.

Why People Think It Was Removed

Chrome 138 did something that looked like removal but wasn’t. When Google enforced the Manifest V2 deprecation, Chrome silently disabled every MV2 extension already installed. No popup, no error message. Just a grey disabled badge in the toolbar.

uBlock Origin had been MV2 since its original release — and it still is. Users who had it installed for years woke up to a disabled extension and assumed the worst: that Chrome had banned it, that Google had forced it off the store, or that gorhill had abandoned the project.

None of that happened. The timeline shows what actually did:

The months-long gap between Chrome 138 and the v1.70.0 return is where the confusion took root. Users who searched “uBlock Origin removed” during that window found panic threads, not a clear timeline. Most of those threads are still indexed.

What Actually Changed in the Return to CWS

Full uBlock Origin is still MV2 — gorhill did not port it to MV3. What changed between the 2025 disruption and the March 2026 return was the CWS submission process, not the extension’s architecture. The core blocking capabilities are unchanged:

The structural Chrome disadvantage for full uBO vs Firefox: on Firefox, uBO has webRequest network interception plus scriptlets. On Chrome, Chrome’s MV3 framework disallows this for new extensions — uBO avoids the limitation by remaining MV2. If Chrome eventually hard-enforces MV3 for all extensions, full uBO’s fate on Chrome would change. As of May 2026, it is live.

For a side-by-side comparison of uBlock Origin (full) versus uBlock Origin Lite, see uBlock Origin Lite vs uBlock Origin.

uBlock Origin vs uBlock Origin Lite

These are two different extensions by the same author. Confusing them is the second-most common mistake after assuming uBO was deleted.

uBlock Origin Lite was released as a native MV3 extension from day one, before the MV2 sunset. It has more users than the full version (~17M vs ~14M as of May 2026) partly because people installed it thinking it was the main uBlock Origin.

uBOL works well for general website ad blocking. On YouTube specifically, it cannot intercept video ads — the declarative rule model has no mechanism to modify YouTube’s player API responses. This is a structural limit, not a bug that will be patched.

YouTube Ad Blocking Status

As of May 2026, uBlock Origin (full) blocks the majority of YouTube pre-roll and mid-roll ads on Chrome. The mechanism: scriptlets injected into the YouTube tab intercept the player’s configuration data and strip ad metadata before the player reads it.

YouTube pushes counter-measures regularly. The biggest wave since 2023 was June 2025 (11 months before this article’s May 2026 publication). That wave restructured how YouTube packages ad metadata in its player API, breaking scriptlet-based blockers across the board. gorhill patched it within weeks for Chrome; the Firefox version recovered faster because Firefox has an additional network-interception layer Chrome’s MV3 does not allow.

As of May 2026, no comparable DOM-level wave has followed since June 2025. YouTube has shifted to testing Server-Side Ad Insertion (SSAI) — ads stitched into the video stream before delivery — which would be a structural change no browser extension can address. That’s still in limited testing; it’s a future risk, not a current break.

The arms-race reality: uBO on Chrome blocks YouTube ads most of the time. During wave windows (typically 1-4 weeks per major YouTube update), ads get through with no badge warning. Keeping auto-update enabled minimizes the gap.

If You Don’t Want to Wait During Patch Windows

Some users find the intermittent gaps unacceptable, especially during long wave windows. The options that reduce gap duration are ad blockers using a preventive API-proxy approach rather than reactive scriptlets. When the proxy strips ad metadata before the player ever reads it, YouTube’s counter-measure detection finds nothing to detect.

AdBlock for YouTube (v7.2.1, 11 million users) uses this approach as its core method — typically patching within 24-48 hours of YouTube changes. SuperchargePerformance takes the same API-proxy engine as a base layer and adds three additional proprietary layers: 14 DNR network rules evaluated before any page script runs, a fallback skip-button clicker and interstitial hider for ads the proxy misses, and cosmetic CSS targeting YouTube’s feed and masthead.

Neither approach is immune to YouTube’s long-term SSAI plans. For general website ad blocking beyond YouTube, uBlock Origin (full) is still the strongest option — 300K+ rules including procedural cosmetic and scriptlet coverage that DNR alone cannot match.

Which Setup Fits Your Situation

• uBlock Origin shows disabled and you want it back: reinstall from the Chrome Web Store — it’s live (MV2), same URL
• You installed uBlock Origin Lite thinking it was the full version: install uBlock Origin (full) for YouTube ad blocking
• You need YouTube ads blocked with the shortest possible patch window: AdBlock for YouTube or SuperchargePerformance (API-proxy approach)
• You want the deepest general web ad blocking on Chrome: uBlock Origin (full), v1.71.0+
• You’re on a low-RAM device and don’t need YouTube ad blocking: uBlock Origin Lite (MV3) covers you with near-zero overhead
• Chrome-vs-Firefox decision: uBO on Firefox has a structural advantage for YouTube — full uBO on Chrome is MV2 (not limited by Chrome’s MV3 framework today), but Firefox adds an additional network-interception layer Chrome doesn’t permit at all