What changed
On August 31, 2026, Google removes all remaining Manifest V2 extensions from the Chrome Web Store. Google’s migration timeline says a Manifest V2 extension installed on Chrome 138 or earlier can remain installed on that old browser, but once the listing is removed it cannot receive further Chrome Web Store updates and cannot be reinstalled from the Store. This is not a new runtime shutdown for current Chrome: Manifest V2 had already been disabled for ordinary users, and the enterprise policy that prolonged its use was removed with Chrome 139. The material change now is the loss of the final Store distribution and update path.
Why it matters
The deadline matters most to extension maintainers, enterprise teams and users who have kept an old browser or legacy extension environment alive. A pinned Manifest V2 install is no longer merely unsupported; after the Store removal it also loses the normal channel for recovering a deleted install or delivering a security or compatibility update. Developers who still have users on a legacy build need a Manifest V3 successor or an explicitly managed alternative distribution plan rather than assuming the old Store listing can remain as a fallback.
This is the Store cutoff, not the first Manifest V2 shutdown
Chrome’s runtime transition happened earlier. Google says Manifest V2 was disabled everywhere for ordinary users with Chrome 138, and the enterprise ExtensionManifestV2Availability policy disappeared with Chrome 139. August 31 completes a different layer of the retirement: the remaining Manifest V2 listings themselves leave the Chrome Web Store.
Legacy installs become frozen
Google explicitly says Manifest V2 extensions installed on Chrome 138 or earlier can remain installed on those old browser builds, but they cannot receive updates and cannot be reinstalled from the Chrome Web Store after removal. That turns an old-but-installed extension into a fragile artifact: uninstalling it, replacing a machine or needing to ship a security fix can end the usable path.
Maintainers should preserve migration and support routes now
Teams with a Manifest V3 replacement should ensure the replacement listing, documentation and user migration path are current. If an organization deliberately pins an old Chrome build, it should treat the extension package and deployment process as separately managed software rather than relying on the public Store. The Web Store’s removal does not create a supported loophole for continuing Manifest V2 indefinitely.
The wider extension-store changes are separate
Chrome Web Store publisher limits, Featured-badge retirement and review-process changes are a different 2026 development already tracked by BTN. The Manifest V2 removal concerns legacy extension availability and updateability, not the newer account-level publishing rules.