How to Use AutoFill in the Safari Browser

Save time filling out web forms

by
Scott Orgera
Scott Orgera
Writer
Scott Orgera is a former writer who covering tech since 2007. He has 25+ years experience as a programmer and QA leader, and holds several Microsoft certifications.
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Scott Orgera
Updated on June 17, 2020

Entering information into web forms can be a tedious exercise, especially if you do much online shopping. It is even more frustrating when you type the same information over and over again, such as your address and credit card details. Safari provides an AutoFill feature that stores this data on your device and populates it whenever the browser detects a form.

Information in this article applies to Macs with macOS Catalina (10.15) through OS X Yosemite (10.10).

How to Use AutoFill in Safari

AutoFill information is potentially sensitive, so it is essential that you understand how to manage it. You can turn on specific types of information to be used in AutoFill or turn off all the options completely. Safari provides an easy-to-use interface to manage your AutoFill information.

  1. Open Safari, go to the Safari menu, and select Preferences.

    The keyboard shortcut to open Safari preferences is Command + , (comma).

    A screenshot of Safari with the Preferences menu item highlighted

  2. In the General preferences screen, select the AutoFill tab.

    A screenshot of Safari preferences with the Autofill tab highlighted

  3. Place a check next to any of the four AutoFill options you want to use when auto-filling forms on the internet.

    To prevent Safari from using any of these four categories to autopopulate a web form, click the corresponding check mark to remove it.

    A screenshot of Safari's autofill preferences with the options highlighted

  4. To view or modify the saved information used by AutoFill in a particular category, select the Edit button to the right of its name. When you do, you are prompted to enter your user password. This protects the information in AutoFill from prying eyes.

    Password screen to view and edit AutoFill info for Safari

The four types of information are:

  • Using information from my contacts: Completes forms with the information from a contact card in the Contacts app.
  • User names and passwords: Safely saves the passwords and usernames you enter on web pages and uses these again when you revisit the same web pages.
  • Credit cards: Safely saves your credit card number, name, and expiration date and uses the information when you use the card again. You can add new credit cards, remove old ones, and edit your card information here.
  • Other forms: Saves other information you enter on web pages to fill it in when you revisit the same web pages. Click Edit to see what is saved or to edit it.

You can choose to edit or remove AutoFill entries on a site-by-site basis at any time.

If you have Touch ID on your Mac, use it to fill in AutoFill names, passwords, and credit card information that it selects from the Safari preferences AutoFill tab.