Fill in forms in your browser
Let a bot fill in a web form in your own Chrome, where you're already signed in, and take the browser back when it's done.
In this guide a bot fills in a form on a website for you, in your own Chrome, where you're already signed in. You add the Machine extension once, open the page, and ask the bot to "use my browser". You check its work before anything is submitted.
What you'll end up with: a filled-in form, ready for you to check and submit.
Time needed: about 15 minutes the first time, including adding the extension.
What you need first:
- Machine Desktop installed, signed in, and running.
- Chrome 125 or later. The extension also works in Edge, Brave, and other Chromium browsers.
- A thread switched to This PC, with a folder shared. If you haven't done that before, follow the first steps of Organize files on your PC.
Why your own browser?
On This PC, a bot normally uses the Machine browser: a separate browser window with its own history and sign-ins. It never sees your own browser, saved passwords, or other tabs. That also means it isn't signed in to your accounts. When the form is behind a sign-in you already have, use your own Chrome instead.
Add the extension
- In your This PC thread, click the folder chip above the message box to open the folder menu.
- Find Your Chrome and click Add to Chrome.
- Add it from the Chrome Web Store.
If that doesn't work, click Install manually. Machine Desktop shows a
folder. Then in Chrome, go to chrome://extensions, turn on Developer
mode (top right), click Load unpacked, and choose that folder.
Check it's connected
Keep Chrome open. The extension connects to Machine Desktop by itself. Click its icon in Chrome's toolbar. It should say Connected to Machine Desktop.
| Extension says | Means |
|---|---|
| Connected to Machine Desktop | Ready. |
| Machine Desktop is not running | Open Machine Desktop, then click Try again. |
| Machine Desktop not set up | Open a This PC thread in Machine Desktop once, then click Try again. |
Open the form yourself
In Chrome, go to the page with the form. Sign in yourself if the site needs it. Leave that tab in front: the bot works in the tab in front.
Don't give the bot your passwords. Bots don't type a password unless you gave them that exact password, and you don't need to.
Ask the bot to use your browser
Say "use my browser", "use my Chrome", or "use my tabs" in your message, and give it the details to fill in. Ask it to stop before submitting, so you can check. For example:
Use my browser. Fill in the contact form in the open tab with: name Jane Smith, company Rise Bakery, phone 555-0100, and in the message box ask for a quote for 200 boxes. Don't press Submit. Stop and tell me when it's ready for me to check.
Use my Chrome. On the open page, fill in the delivery address form with the address from the file address.txt in my shared folder. Leave the payment section empty.
Use my browser to download last month's invoices from the supplier portal into this folder.
Watch it work
While the bot works in your browser:
- Chrome shows a bar saying it started debugging this browser. This is normal: it's how the extension controls the tab.
- The extension icon shows ON, and says Machine is working in N tab(s).
Bots treat text on web pages as information, not instructions, so a web page can't tell them what to do. They also don't pay, send, post, or delete anything unless you clearly asked.
Check the form and take your browser back
When the bot says it's done, look over every field yourself. Fix anything that's wrong, then submit it yourself.
To take your browser back, do either:
- click Cancel on Chrome's bar, or
- click the extension icon and choose Stop — release all tabs.
The bot only closes tabs it opened itself. Your own tabs are just released.
Fast mode for long forms
Normally the bot decides every single click itself, which is careful but can be slow for long web jobs. Fast mode hands a whole job, like filling in a long form, to a small, fast browser-driving AI that does it in one go.
Fast mode uses your own OpenRouter account (a service for paying for AI models). It costs about $0.0002 a step, paid to OpenRouter.
- In a This PC thread, click the Fast chip above the message box.
- No OpenRouter key yet? Click Get a key, sign up, and create one.
- Paste your key (it starts with
sk-or-) and click Save. Machine Desktop checks it works first. - Turn Use fast mode on or off any time.
Good to know:
- Your key is encrypted on your computer and only ever sent to OpenRouter.
- The text of the page being worked on is sent to OpenRouter. Password fields never are.
- Fast mode stops before any click that can't be undone, like paying, ordering, booking, sending, posting, or deleting, unless you asked for exactly that.
Tips
- The bot only uses your Chrome when you ask. Say "use my browser" each time you want it to work there.
- Stop everything at once with Ctrl+Alt+Esc (Windows) or ⌘⇧Esc (Mac), from any app.
- Want to approve every step? Turn on Ask before each action in the folder menu. The bot then asks before every file change, command, and click.
- Give the details in the message, or in a file in your shared folder, rather than making the bot guess.
- The extension only talks to Machine Desktop on your computer, not to the internet.