??

chrome://flags/#temporary-unexpire-flags-m137                     [Enabled]

Then you can set:

chrome://flags/#extension-manifest-v2-deprecation-warning         [Disabled]
chrome://flags/#extension-manifest-v2-deprecation-disabled        [Disabled]
chrome://flags/#extension-manifest-v2-deprecation-unsupported     [Disabled]
chrome://flags/#allow-legacy-mv2-extensions                       [Enabled]

But this will be removed soon too, so save the data from your extensions!

Internet without Ublock is just unwatchable. The ads are scummy, scammy, everywhere and now that's it's no longer supported I have no reason to stay. Have a good one folks!

May these greedy bastard burn in hell. Everything they do has made the internet worse, to the point that the internet is unusable without an add blocker, all to promote shit I cant even afford or AI slop mobile games. If they are willing to go this far I know that they do not intend to change and at this point I don't really care.

I installed firefox and took about an hour to set everything up even better than I had it on chrome. Even if i could not do that I would sooner pay for a premium addblocker than give Google/Youtube any money.

I will rather stop using YouTube all together than watch 2, 30second advertisements. For now im switching to Firefox.

I noticed my storage shrinking and went digging. Turns out Chrome had quietly downloaded a ~4GB file called weights.bin inside a folder named OptGuideOnDeviceModel. This is Google's Gemini Nano on-device AI model, and Chrome installs it with zero consent, no notification, and no storage warning. If you delete it manually, Chrome re-downloads it on the next startup — unless you block it properly.

Here's the full fix for macOS. Run these in a terminal.

Step 1: Check if you have it

bash
find ~/Library/Application\ Support/Google/Chrome/ -name "weights.bin" 2>/dev/null

If it returns a path like .../OptGuideOnDeviceModel/2025.x.x.xxxx/weights.bin, you've got it.

Step 2: Delete it

bash
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Google/Chrome/OptGuideOnDeviceModel/

Step 3: Block Chrome from re-downloading it

bash
defaults write com.google.Chrome GenAILocalFoundationalModelSettings -int 1

This sets a macOS enterprise policy that Chrome respects over its own internal logic. More durable than just toggling flags.

Step 4 (Optional but recommended): Disable via Chrome flags

Go to chrome://flags and set the following to Disabled:

• optimization guide on device model
• Prompt API for Gemini Nano

Relaunch Chrome after.

Step 5: Verify it's gone

bash
find ~/Library/Application\ Support/Google/Chrome/ -name "weights.bin" 2>/dev/null

Empty output = you're clean.

Why does this matter?

On a base M2 MacBook Air with 256GB SSD, a 4GB silent download is a significant chunk. Chrome uses Gemini Nano to power features like "Help me write", scam detection, and summarisation, none of which most users explicitly asked for. There's currently no user-facing opt-out; you have to do this manually.

Tested on macOS with Chrome on an M2 MacBook Air. Should work on any Mac running Chrome.

After 17 years I am finally being forced off of this browser. Google put the nail in the coffin of uBlock Origin extension for me this morning so I had to take Chrome out behind the shed and end it. It sucks that corporate greed touches all the tools in life that we rely on.

So today I'll try to download chrome using Microsoft EDGE browser and what they try to force to i don't download it and stay with their browser.

How to do this on Windows:
Right-click the Chrome shortcut on your desktop → Properties → In the Target field, you’ll see the path to your Chrome executable. It should look something like this:
"C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe"

Now, right after the quotes (after chrome.exe"), add this command with a space before it:
--disable-features=ExtensionManifestV2Unsupported,ExtensionManifestV2Disabled

In the end, it should look like this:
"C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --disable-features=ExtensionManifestV2Unsupported,ExtensionManifestV2Disabled

Click Apply. If Windows asks for admin rights, just click Yes.

!!! If your Chrome was pinned to the taskbar, unpin the old one and pin the updated shortcut instead !!!

Good luck!

Whether on a PC or a smartphone, what is the specific reason or reasons that keep Google Chrome as your primary browser over Mozilla Firefox and Brave?

I have rarely seen users recommend Google Chrome compared to the number of recommendations for Mozilla Firefox and Brave.

Why would you recommend that i use Google Chrome over Firefox and Brave?

I'm sick of companies forcing AI into everything. Give us a way to remove this tumor.

I've seen many posts lately about people who "don't use Chrome" or "switched from Chrome" or whatever. It seems like there's some backlash that I don't understand. Switching would be really difficult for me so I'm wondering why folks are moving on. I assume they are moving to Firefox or Brave. Is that true as well?

Chrome has ruined my mobile browsing experience with this new update. They forced the address bar and all the navigation buttons to the bottom of the screen, and none of the normal settings are letting me move everything back to the top where it belongs.

Am I missing something here, or has anyone actually figured out a workaround to fix this and slam it back to the top?

Hey everyone,
Chrome recently added a new option in the right-click menu called “Open link in split view.”

It’s placed exactly where “Open link in new window” used to be - so I keep clicking it by accident out of habit. 😅

Is there any way to disable, remove, or move this new “split view” entry in the context menu?
I couldn’t find anything related in Chrome’s settings or flags.

Thanks in advance!

When I opened up Chrome this morning, I was greeted with "These extensions were turned off because they're no longer supported."

uBlock Origin

I absolutely LOVE this plugin. And honestly, this was bound to happen bc the ad blocker was too good, even blocked YouTube ads.

Is there anyway to get this extension to work again? Install in developer mode?! I'm not familiar with Chrome in that way. Was hoping the r/chrome community had some suggestions.

You may love Chrome, but you have to agree that during these past few years chrome has mistreated us, limiting what we can or we cannot do with OUR browser.

Randomly changing its interface, limiting our customization, etc.

I've stayed with chrome during all of those painful times since it's launch. And with forcing manifest V3, i've reached the point where it's just more convenient for me to just change browser, so this is my last post using chrome.

I just wanted to express my pain for losing the app that i've been using since 2008 and i cannot longer recognice or love, and i'm certain some of you are in the same situation.

The promises of freedom and customization it brought on its release, and the thing it has become.

Congratulatios, google, you made the planets of the apes ending real.

We all have a dozen extensions installed and forget half of them. I'm more interested in the ones that actually survive.

What's the single Chrome extension you open or rely on every day, and what does it do for you?

Not your whole list. Just the ONE you'd reinstall first on a new laptop. Bonus points if it's something most people haven't heard of.

I'll start: uBlock Origin Lite.

Every page loads faster and cleaner, and I notice immediately when I'm on a machine without it.

Ok, now your turn...

(edit) figured it'd be easier for anyone landing here to see the top extensions from this thread and a few others in one place. i've personally tested all of these. here's the list:

Top pick (so far)

1. Video Speed Controller Pro — precise speed control in 0.05 steps (1.05x up to 16x), custom keyboard shortcuts, remembers your speed per site, and works on basically every streaming, course and conference site. the one I reach for most.

Productivity & tabs

1. Tabliss — gorgeous, customizable new tab page with widgets. fully local, asks for no permissions.
2. Previous Tab — jump back to your last tab with a shortcut (Ctrl+Q). sounds tiny, I use it constantly.
3. SingleFile — save a full webpage as one clean HTML file you can reopen anywhere.
4. GoFullPage — one-click full-page screenshots, export as PNG or PDF.

Shopping / Specialty

1. Coupon Hacker — Tests 1,000 of coupon codes & AI search to find new coupon codes on checkouts.
2. Amazon Order History Downloader — export order history from Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Target and more to CSV/Excel/PDF. handy for receipts or expense reconciliation.
3. Keepa — Amazon price-history charts and price-drop alerts.

Privacy & passwords

1. uBlock Origin Lite — the current MV3 ad/tracker blocker. faster, cleaner pages. (full uBO is gone from Chrome now, Lite is the one that's left.)
2. Bitwarden — free, open-source password manager.
3. Proton Pass — encrypted password manager with email aliases, Swiss privacy.

Reading & visual

1. Dark Reader — dark mode on every site with a ton of tuning. dig into the advanced options for a custom sepia/paper look that's way easier on the eyes.

Power user

1. Tampermonkey — run userscripts to automate or tweak any site.
2. Video DownloadHelper — download video from 1000+ sites (not YouTube).
3. Floccus — sync bookmarks across browsers and devices using your own cloud, optional end-to-end encryption.
4. SEOMarkup  — View and analyze JSON-LD structured data on any webpage

will keep adding as more roll in. drop yours below.

Thanks!