How do I use Password AutoFill on macOS?

pwSafe 11.0 will bring Password AutoFill to macOS. Similar to iOS, this allows you to select an entry from your safe without leaving Safari.

Enabling Password AutoFill

To enable Password AutoFill, two settings need to be enabled

1. The AutoFill Service in pwSafe
2. AutoFill in macOS System Settings

To make these changes, select "Password AutoFill..." from the pwSafe menu, or use the ⌥⌘A keyboard shortcut. This opens the Password AutoFill Status dialog.

Use the provided buttons to enable both settings. The "Manage" button opens macOS System Settings where you need to enable pwSafe manually (screenshot below).

AutoFill Service

The AutoFill Service is a background service required by AutoFill. This service will be available even when the pwSafe app is not started to allow AutoFill while pwSafe is closed. The service shows an icon  in the menu bar to show its presence:

This icon cannot be hidden or removed (unless you disable the AutoFill Service of course). In future updates it will provide important functionality, like quick access to your safes.

macOS Password AutoFill

The "Manage" button opens your Mac's System Settings, enable pwSafe as shown here

In case the "Manage" button is unable to open your Mac's System Settings, please open it manually and select General -> AutoFill & Passwords

Using Password AutoFill

After enabling Password AutoFill, launch the Safari browser. When a website requires you to login just select "pwSafe..." from the dropdown, unlock your safe and select the desired entry.

Your safe will be kept unlocked until you logout. If you want to lock your safe earlier, you can do so by right-clicking on your safe and selecting "Lock".

Safes list

pwSafe 11.0 allows you to select any safe stored in pwSafe's iCloud folder or any other location (locally on your Mac, other Cloud storage like Dropbox or OneDrive, network storage, etc.).

Your non-iCloud safes will appear in a separate "External" section as shown here

Safes are automatically added to this list after unlocking them (once) in the main pwSafe app. Alternatively, you can also manage this list manually using the familiar '+' and '-' buttons.

One-Time Password AutoFill

Version 11.0.5 adds AutoFill support for One-Time Passwords. This allows pwSafe to provide two-factor authentication codes to websites, fully integrated in Safari. To make use of this feature, make sure to store your One-Time Password in pwSafe, and to provide the URL of the website in the entry.

Note: this feature requires macOS 15.0 or later.

Excluding a safe from AutoFill

After enabling AutoFill in macOS System Settings, pwSafe will transfer the list of entries to macOS when you unlock a safe. This list contains only non-confidential information (like URL and username) to enable AutoFill to work optimally.

To disable this behavior for a specific safe, unlock the safe and select Safe Settings from the Safe menu. On the General tab, disable the "Show entries on AutoFill" option. After disabling this option, macOS autocomplete can no longer assist AutoFill. To select an entry, you now need to select "pwSafe..." from the dropdown offered by Safari and follow the prompts from there.

If AutoFill is not enabled in macOS System Settings, the "Show entries on AutoFill" option will be grayed out.

Limitations

As with other features that have been introduced, Password AutoFill will have some limitations when first introduced. During the 11.x updates these limitations will gradually be lifted.

There is only one limitation left:

• There is no timeout setting to automatically lock unlocked safes

We are very interested in your feedback. Please leave your comments below.