# Chrome removes the last Manifest V2 extensions from the Web Store, ending updates and reinstalls Chrome’s long Manifest V2 transition reaches its final distribution cutoff on August 31: every remaining Manifest V2 listing leaves the Chrome Web Store, so legacy installs can no longer receive Store updates or be reinstalled from the Store even on old Chrome builds. Manifest V2 was already disabled for modern Chrome users. The August 31 change closes the remaining Web Store path, turning any still-pinned legacy install into an effectively frozen artifact with no Store update or reinstall route. - Status: Active - Published: 2026-08-31T17:43:43+12:00 - Updated: 2026-08-31T17:43:43+12:00 - Categories: Web Development, Marketing & Distribution, Browsers & Web Standards, Developer Tools, Marketplaces & Platforms - Tags: browser extensions, Chrome, Chrome Web Store, extension publishing, Manifest V2 - Canonical HTML: https://beyondthe.news/dossiers/chrome-manifest-v2-web-store-removal-updates-reinstall-august-2026 ## 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. ## Key details - All remaining Manifest V2 extensions are removed from the Chrome Web Store on August 31, 2026. - Manifest V2 extensions installed on Chrome 138 or earlier may remain installed on those old builds, but cannot receive Chrome Web Store updates after removal. - Removed Manifest V2 extensions cannot be reinstalled from the Chrome Web Store. - Manifest V2 had already been disabled for ordinary Chrome users before this Store deadline. - The enterprise policy extending Manifest V2 availability was removed with Chrome 139. - The August 31 event therefore closes the remaining Store distribution/update path rather than newly disabling Manifest V2 in current Chrome. ## Builder takeaways - Check whether any maintained extension, enterprise dependency or customer workflow still depends on a Manifest V2 listing. - Move users to a Manifest V3 successor and verify the replacement listing and migration documentation before treating the legacy listing as gone. - Do not rely on the Chrome Web Store as a recovery path for old Manifest V2 installs after August 31. - If an organization intentionally maintains a legacy browser environment, archive and govern its deployment artifacts internally and treat the setup as unsupported legacy software. - Separate this deadline from Chrome Web Store publisher-slot and badge changes; they have different operational consequences. ## What to watch - Whether Google removes or redirects legacy listing URLs in ways that affect documentation and migration links. - Any enterprise guidance for organizations still holding pinned Chrome 138-era environments. - Security incidents in abandoned extensions whose remaining users can no longer receive Store-delivered fixes. - Whether other Chromium-based stores or browsers impose matching final distribution cutoffs. ## Uncertainties - Google’s timeline defines the Web Store behavior clearly but does not make a legacy Chrome installation a supported long-term deployment model. - Third-party Chromium browsers can apply their own Manifest V2 policies and timelines, so Chrome’s Store deadline should not be generalized to every Chromium-based browser. ## Sources - [Manifest V2 support timeline](https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/develop/migrate/mv2-deprecation-timeline) — Chrome for Developers · primary documentation · 2026-07-08T00:00:00+12:00. Primary timeline defining the August 31 Web Store removal, no-update and no-reinstall consequences, plus the earlier runtime/enterprise-policy shutdown. - [Google Chrome will remove older Manifest V2 extensions from the Web Store in August](https://9to5google.com/2026/07/08/google-chrome-will-remove-older-manifest-v2-extensions-in-august/) — 9to5Google · specialist reporting · 2026-07-08T00:00:00+12:00. Independent coverage of the final Web Store removal and distinction from the earlier runtime deprecation.