Chrome's Manifest V2 deadline is a database cleanup, not a kill switch

Google's August 31 deadline to remove Manifest V2 extensions from the Chrome Web Store is not the dramatic event headlines suggest. The real shutdown happened in July 2025 with Chrome 138, which disabled all MV2 extensions and removed the manual re-enable toggle. By then, most users had already migrated to Manifest V3. The article explains the full timeline, why Google forced the migration (banning remotely-hosted code and blocking webRequest in favor of declarativeNetRequest), and addresses the legitimate complaints of ad-blocker users. It also clarifies that August 31 only removes leftover listings, affecting only those on outdated browsers.