Swapping Chrome for Brave on Windows

Unfortunately, Google phased out Manifest V2 in Chrome, so the full version of uBlock Origin is no longer available:

In late 2024, Google completed its transition to Manifest V3 in Chrome, which fundamentally changed how browser extensions work. As a result, the full version of uBlock Origin is no longer available for Chrome users. Here's what happened and what your options are now.

Let's switch to Brave, a more privacy-focused browser.

Installation

We can install it from the command-line:

winget install Brave.Brave

Disable Brave features

I don't need Leo, Wallet, or the built-in VPN. We can disable these features with a registry policy. Run the following in an elevated terminal:

& {
    if (!(whoami /groups | findstr S-1-16-12288)) {
        throw 'Run PowerShell as Administrator.'
    }

    $policyPath = 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\BraveSoftware\Brave'

    New-Item -Path $policyPath -Force | Out-Null

    $policies = @{
        BraveAIChatEnabled  = 0
        BraveWalletDisabled = 1
        BraveVPNDisabled    = 1
    }

    foreach ($policy in $policies.GetEnumerator()) {
        New-ItemProperty `
            -Path $policyPath `
            -Name $policy.Key `
            -PropertyType DWord `
            -Value $policy.Value `
            -Force | Out-Null
    }

    Write-Host 'Brave policies applied successfully.'
    Write-Host 'Restart Brave for the changes to take effect.'
}

Restart Brave and check brave://policy to verify that the policies are active.

"Help" my muscle memory

I'm quick to do ctrl+v and type chrome. But if you want to run Brave (and you still have Chrome due to company policy), you have to patch it in the registry:

& {
  $brave = @(
    "$env:ProgramFiles\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe"
    "${env:ProgramFiles(x86)}\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe"
    "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe"
  ) | Where-Object { $_ -and (Test-Path $_) } | Select-Object -First 1

  if (-not $brave) {
    throw 'Brave niet gevonden.'
  }

  $key = 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\chrome.exe'

  New-Item $key -Force | Out-Null
  Set-Item $key -Value $brave
  Set-ItemProperty $key -Name 'Path' -Value (Split-Path $brave)

  $item = Get-Item $key

  Write-Host 'Registry patch gezet:'
  Write-Host "  chrome.exe -> $($item.GetValue(''))"
  Write-Host "  Path       -> $($item.GetValue('Path'))"
}

Fix the profile icons

I'm using 2 profiles on my browser, one for business, one for private. In Chrome one can load custom profile pictures, but Brave does not have this much wanted feature. Fortunately, there is a workaround: just copy the two pictures to %LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Avatars and give them these file names:

avatar_edgy_brave.png (second on the top row)
avatar_edgy_ocean.png (third on the top row)

So now my how screen looks like this: