Manifest V3 migration checklist

Keep track of your migration progress

The checklists below are here to help you keep track of your migration work. They define tasks that must be completed with links to instructions. Migration work is broadly divided into five categories as described in the Migration summary.

Update the manifest

The manifest.json file requires a slightly different format for Manifest V3 than for Manifest V2. This page describes changes that only affect the manifest.json file. But many of the changes to scripts and pages also require changes to the manifest. Those changes are covered with the migration tasks that require them.

Migrate to a service worker

A service worker replaces the extension's background or event page to ensure that background code stays off the main thread. This enables extensions to run only when needed, saving resources.

Before beginning, read about the differences between background scripts and extension service workers.

Update API calls

Some features need to be replaced with Manifest V3 equivalents. Others need to be removed entirely.

Replace blocking web request listeners

Instead of programmatically reading network requests and altering them (as you did in Manifest V2), your extension specifies rules that describe actions to perform when a given set of conditions is met.

After completing the items above, you may want to review a few common use cases:

Improve extension security

Changes are required to improve the security of extensions. This includes removing remotely hosted code, which is no longer supported.

Publish your Manifest V3 extension

After converting to Manifest Version 3, it's time to release your extension on the Chrome Web Store. Depending on the changes made, consider a step-wise roll out. This approach allows you to ensure your extension works as expected with a limited audience first, before releasing it to the entire user base.