# 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.

Canonical page: https://themachine.myapps.ai/docs/desktop/guides/fill-forms-in-your-browser

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](/docs/desktop/guides/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

1. In your This PC thread, click the folder chip above the message box to
open the folder menu.
2. Find **Your Chrome** and click **Add to Chrome**.
3. 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.

1. In a This PC thread, click the **Fast** chip above the message box.
2. No OpenRouter key yet? Click **Get a key**, sign up, and create one.
3. Paste your key (it starts with `sk-or-`) and click **Save**. Machine
   Desktop checks it works first.
4. 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.

![The Machine extension connected to Machine Desktop](/images/docs/desktop/chrome-extension-popup.webp)

## 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.

## Next steps

- [Use your own Chrome](/docs/desktop/this-pc/chrome-extension)
- [Fast mode](/docs/desktop/this-pc/fast-mode)
- [Safety and stopping](/docs/desktop/this-pc/safety-and-stop)
- [Organize files on your PC](/docs/desktop/guides/organize-files-on-your-pc)