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.BraveDisable Brave features
I don't need Leo, Wallet, or the built-in VPN. We can disable these features with a registry policy for the current Windows user:
& {
$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
if (!(whoami /groups | findstr S-1-16-12288)) {
throw 'Run PowerShell as Administrator.'
}
$policyPath = 'HKCU:\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.
Create the profiles
I want two profiles: Personal and Company. This script lets Brave initialize any missing profiles, then configures their names and avatar slots. It leaves the avatar image files alone; we'll replace those manually in the next section.
& {
$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
function Wait-BraveClosed {
while (Get-Process brave -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) {
Read-Host 'Close Brave, then press Enter to continue'
}
}
Wait-BraveClosed
$brave = @($env:ProgramFiles, ${env:ProgramFiles(x86)}, $env:LOCALAPPDATA) |
ForEach-Object { "$_\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe" } |
Where-Object { Test-Path $_ } | Select-Object -First 1
if (-not $brave) { throw 'Brave could not be found.' }
$userData = "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data"
$profiles = @(
@{ Name = 'Personal'; Directory = 'Default'; Index = 57 }
@{ Name = 'Company'; Directory = 'Profile 1'; Index = 56 }
)
foreach ($profile in $profiles) {
$name = Read-Host "Profile name [$($profile.Name)]"
if (-not [string]::IsNullOrWhiteSpace($name)) { $profile.Name = $name }
}
function Wait-ForFile($Path, $Seconds = 15) {
$timeout = [DateTime]::UtcNow.AddSeconds($Seconds)
while (-not (Test-Path $Path) -and [DateTime]::UtcNow -lt $timeout) {
Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 500
}
if (-not (Test-Path $Path)) { throw "File creation timed out: $Path" }
}
function Set-JsonProperty($Object, $Name, $Value) {
if ($Object.PSObject.Properties.Name -contains $Name) {
$Object.$Name = $Value
}
else {
$Object | Add-Member NoteProperty $Name $Value
}
}
function New-BraveProfile($Profile) {
$preferences = "$userData\$($Profile.Directory)\Preferences"
if (Test-Path $preferences) { return }
Write-Host "Creating profile: $($Profile.Name)"
$arguments = "--headless --dump-dom --user-data-dir=`"$userData`" --profile-directory=`"$($Profile.Directory)`" --no-first-run --no-default-browser-check about:blank"
Start-Process $brave -ArgumentList $arguments -Wait | Out-Null
Wait-ForFile $preferences
}
foreach ($profile in $profiles) { New-BraveProfile $profile }
$statePath = "$userData\Local State"
$state = Get-Content $statePath -Raw | ConvertFrom-Json
if (-not $state.profile) { Set-JsonProperty $state 'profile' ([pscustomobject]@{}) }
if (-not $state.profile.info_cache) {
Set-JsonProperty $state.profile 'info_cache' ([pscustomobject]@{})
}
foreach ($profile in $profiles) {
$preferences = "$userData\$($profile.Directory)\Preferences"
Write-Host "Updating profile: $($profile.Name)"
$prefs = Get-Content $preferences -Raw | ConvertFrom-Json
Set-JsonProperty $prefs.profile 'name' $profile.Name
Set-JsonProperty $prefs.profile 'avatar_index' $profile.Index
Set-JsonProperty $prefs.profile 'using_default_name' $false
Set-JsonProperty $prefs.profile 'using_default_avatar' $false
Set-JsonProperty $prefs.profile 'using_gaia_avatar' $false
if (-not $prefs.browser) { Set-JsonProperty $prefs 'browser' ([pscustomobject]@{}) }
if (-not $prefs.browser.theme) { Set-JsonProperty $prefs.browser 'theme' ([pscustomobject]@{}) }
Set-JsonProperty $prefs.browser.theme 'color_scheme2' 2
if (-not $prefs.NewTabPage) { Set-JsonProperty $prefs 'NewTabPage' ([pscustomobject]@{}) }
Set-JsonProperty $prefs.NewTabPage 'FooterVisible' $false
Copy-Item $preferences "$preferences.bak" -Force
Set-Content $preferences ($prefs | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 100) -Encoding UTF8
if (-not $state.profile.info_cache.($profile.Directory)) {
Set-JsonProperty $state.profile.info_cache $profile.Directory ([pscustomobject]@{})
}
$info = $state.profile.info_cache.($profile.Directory)
Set-JsonProperty $info 'name' $profile.Name
Set-JsonProperty $info 'avatar_icon' "chrome://theme/IDR_PROFILE_AVATAR_$($profile.Index)"
Set-JsonProperty $info 'is_using_default_name' $false
Set-JsonProperty $info 'is_using_default_avatar' $false
Write-Host "Configured profile: $($profile.Name)"
}
Copy-Item $statePath "$statePath.bak" -Force
Set-Content $statePath ($state | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 100) -Encoding UTF8
}Fix the profile icons
I'm using 2 profiles on my browser: Company for business and Personal for private browsing. In Chrome I had custom profile pictures, but Brave does not have this much wanted feature.
Fortunately, there is a workaround. This script reads the current profile names and avatar slots, then prompts for an image URL for each profile. Leave a prompt empty to skip that profile. It will download the image and put it in the local avatar directory under the known avatar name, thereby overriding the image contents.
& {
$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
function Save-Avatar($Name, $Profile) {
$Prompt = "$($Profile.name) avatar URL (leave empty to skip)"
$url = Read-Host $Prompt
if ([string]::IsNullOrWhiteSpace($url)) { return }
Invoke-WebRequest $url -OutFile "$avatarDirectory\$Name" -UseBasicParsing
}
$userData = "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data"
$state = Get-Content "$userData\Local State" -Raw | ConvertFrom-Json
$source = Invoke-WebRequest `
'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/brave/brave-core/master/chromium_src/chrome/browser/profiles/profile_avatar_icon_util.cc' `
-UseBasicParsing
$avatars = @{}
[regex]::Matches($source.Content, 'IDR_PROFILE_AVATAR_(\d+),\s*"([^"]+\.png)"') |
ForEach-Object { $avatars["IDR_PROFILE_AVATAR_$($_.Groups[1].Value)"] = $_.Groups[2].Value }
if (-not $avatars.Count) { throw 'Brave avatar mapping could not be read.' }
$avatarDirectory = "$userData\Avatars"
New-Item $avatarDirectory -ItemType Directory -Force | Out-Null
foreach ($entry in $state.profile.info_cache.PSObject.Properties) {
$info = $entry.Value
$icon = $info.avatar_icon -replace '^chrome://theme/', ''
if (-not $avatars.ContainsKey($icon)) {
throw "No avatar file mapping for profile '$($info.name)' ($($info.avatar_icon))."
}
Save-Avatar $avatars[$icon] $info
}
Write-Host 'Profile images configured. Restart Brave to load them.'
}And now you're greeted by:
Install the extensions
Finally, I want the same extensions in both profiles. Brave does not have a supported command-line switch for installing Web Store extensions, so this script uses a per-user normal_installed policy. The extensions are installed automatically in every Brave profile, but you can still disable them.
& {
$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
if (!(whoami /groups | findstr S-1-16-12288)) {
throw 'Run PowerShell as Administrator.'
}
$policyPath = 'HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Policies\BraveSoftware\Brave'
$extensions = [ordered]@{
Bitwarden = 'nngceckbapebfimnlniiiahkandclblb'
ColorZilla = 'bhlhnicpbhignbdhedgjhgdocnmhomnp'
MagicCSS = 'ifhikkcafabcgolfjegfcgloomalapol'
MarkdownViewer = 'ckkdlimhmcjmikdlpkmbgfkaikojcbjk'
MinusUnsplash = 'ancgmphhglnbebohehppcfjfdpakkcca'
Momentum = 'laookkfknpbbblfpciffpaejjkokdgca'
SponsorBlock = 'mnjggcdmjocbbbhaepdhchncahnbgone'
WAVE = 'jbbplnpkjmmeebjpijfedlgcdilocofh'
}
$settings = @{}
foreach ($extension in $extensions.Values) {
$settings[$extension] = @{
installation_mode = 'normal_installed'
update_url = 'https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx'
}
}
New-Item $policyPath -Force | Out-Null
New-ItemProperty $policyPath ExtensionSettings -PropertyType String `
-Value ($settings | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 3 -Compress) -Force | Out-Null
Write-Host 'Brave extension policy configured. Restart Brave to install the extensions.'
}Restart Brave and check brave://policy to verify that the extension policy is 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:
& {
$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
$brave = @(
"$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'))"
}