Filling in an online form may soon take fewer searches through old messages. Google says Chrome is adding an AI-powered autofill option that can draw suggestions from Gmail, using information in email to help complete fields.
Form suggestions can come from email
The updated autofill could surface details such as a flight confirmation number, membership ID, tracking information or order number. It may also suggest an address, phone number or credit card number when a form asks for that information.
In practice, the feature connects a form field with potentially relevant information in a user's email. Rather than locating a confirmation or receipt and copying a detail over, someone could use Chrome's suggestion to fill in the field.
The usefulness depends on the information being in Gmail and matching what the form requests. The feature is described as offering suggestions, giving users a way to use information from email while filling out forms.
A broader role for Google's AI features
The update builds on Google's Personal Intelligence features. Those already let users connect Google Apps to the Gemini assistant, which can retrieve certain details and use them to answer complex questions.
Bringing similar access into Chrome puts that information closer to the moment it may be needed. A user working through a form could get a suggestion in the browser instead of first switching to an email app to find a number or address.
That convenience also links everyday browser use more closely with Google's AI ecosystem. An autofill improvement may appear modest, but reducing repeated lookups could make Chrome easier to use and give people another reason to stay with Google's browser and services.
Users choose whether to enable it
Enhanced autofill is optional. As with other Personalized Intelligence features, users can decide in Chrome settings whether to turn it on.
Google says sensitive data is encrypted. That is the company's stated protection for the information involved in the feature; users can also choose whether they want enhanced autofill enabled at all.
The choice matters because the suggestions can involve personal details, including contact and payment information. The feature's convenience comes from drawing on information in email, while its optional setting lets users decide whether that access fits their preferences.
Where the feature is rolling out
The feature is rolling out to users in the U.S. on desktop. It is also coming to the iOS and Android apps for Gemini in Chrome.
The change recalls a familiar kind of shortcut on mobile devices: Apple can detect verification codes sent by text and show them above the keyboard for one-tap entry. Chrome's Gmail-powered autofill applies a similar idea to a wider range of information, using email to help complete online forms.
For users, the immediate impact is straightforward: some details that once required opening a message and copying information may be suggested directly during form filling. Whether that saves effort will depend on the forms they use and the details stored in Gmail, but Chrome is extending autofill beyond information entered directly into the browser.