Microsoft Autofill Chrome Extension will be retired next month

Microsoft Autofill allows users to automatically fill in passwords, addresses, and payment information on sites they visit. Microsoft Autofill is built into the Microsoft Edge browser, allowing users to easily fill in commonly repeated items on websites.

To bring the same experience to Google Chrome users, Microsoft released its Autofill extension in the Chrome Web Store. Similar to the Autofill experience on the Edge browser, the Microsoft Autofill extension allowed Chrome users to save their passwords, addresses, and payment information and automatically fill them on sites they visit. Since Microsoft Autofill uses a Microsoft Account, the saved details can be used on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS.

Recently, Microsoft announced that it will be retiring the Microsoft Autofill extension for Chrome on December 14th. Also, Microsoft has disabled saving new information or editing existing information as of November 14, 2024.

Since the data is stored in a Microsoft Account, after this date, affected users can use the same Microsoft Account in the Edge browser and start using their data for autofill. They can also export their data from Microsoft Edge and import it into another browser if required.

To continue using the Chrome web browser with this data, users can export their data using Microsoft Edge and import the exported CSV file into Google Password Manager in Chrome. Microsoft noted that payment information saved on the Autofill Chrome Extension will not be available in the Microsoft Account as it is stored locally on the extension.

Here's the reason Microsoft mentioned for retiring the Autofill Chrome Extension:

"We regularly review our offerings to ensure we're delivering the highest value experiences for our users. As part of this review process, we are retiring this extension to better simplify our offerings."

This change will affect over 100,000 users. Microsoft should have provided a more relaxed timeline for users to migrate to alternative solutions. Instead of crippling the extension's functionality with just 30 days' notice, a more gradual retirement plan would have been preferable.