Microsoft is discontinuing the Autofill extension in the Chrome browser as of Dec. 14, 2024. The company says it wants to offer its end users simpler options. End users will not lose their stored information, except for payment information.
The Autofill extension for the Chrome browser allowed end users with a Microsoft account to store passwords, addresses, and payment information. This data, in turn, could be automatically filled in on web pages they frequently visited.
Think of it as a sort of password manager that could also be used in a browser other than Microsoft Edge. In addition, the Autofill feature also works on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS.
Discontinuation Dec. 14
The tech giant announced that as of Dec. 14, the Microsoft Autofill extension for the Chrome browser will cease to work. As of Nov. 14, saving or modifying new frequently used data in the Chrome extension is no longer possible.
Microsoft says it will stop the Autofill Chrome extension because it regularly evaluates the effectiveness of its solutions. From this, it concluded that regarding the Autofill extension, it would be more convenient to simplify the offering and stop offering the extension for the Chrome browser.
Still accessing data and functionality
Users do not lose their data, as it is stored in their Microsoft account and, therefore, accessible and usable through the Edge browser. In addition, they can export the data in CSV mode and upload it into another browser. All the data can be loaded into Google Password Manager, and the user can continue to autofill web pages as normal.
Only payment information is not saved, as it was stored locally in the Chrome Autofill extension used. When end users want to have their payment information auto-filled again, they will first have to add this data manually.
According to experts, Microsoft’s measure affects more than 100,000 end users. As a result, there has been criticism of the short deadline for removing the operation of the specific Chrome extension. Experts argue it would have been better to give end users longer to get their affairs in order.