SMS verification code autofill stopped working in Chrome/Firefox

dennisbr wrote:

After looking at the chrome git, the "culprit" setting is NSAutoFillHeuristicControllerEnabled. I googled this setting, and yes, it has caused many performance issues throughout browser/electron/chrome-related apps. Just do a search, and you will see the performance issues abound.

Another forum reference to the issue is here: Severe lag and freezing after macOS Tahoe update on MacBook Pro M1

If you choose to, you can enable the setting yourself (but beware!!) from a terminal prompt:

defaults write -g NSAutoFillHeuristicControllerEnabled -bool true

To disable:

defaults write -g NSAutoFillHeuristicControllerEnabled -bool true

I've been running with this setting enabled to allow autofills on Brave browser for about a week now and have experienced one out of memory problem. Mind you, I'm the "Keep 5 Brave profiles open with 20 tabs each" user, so I'm curious how others' experiences have been.

Quitting and restarting Brave resolved the issue in a snap.

To me, the added convenience of is worth the cost, for now. Hopefully Apple will resolve this problem for the long term.

After looking at the chrome git, the "culprit" setting is NSAutoFillHeuristicControllerEnabled. I googled this setting, and yes, it has caused many performance issues throughout browser/electron/chrome-related apps. Just do a search, and you will see the performance issues abound.

Another forum reference to the issue is here: Severe lag and freezing after macOS Tahoe update on MacBook Pro M1

If you choose to, you can enable the setting yourself (but beware!!) from a terminal prompt:

defaults write -g NSAutoFillHeuristicControllerEnabled -bool true

To disable:

defaults write -g NSAutoFillHeuristicControllerEnabled -bool true

It's working again in the latest Tahoe beta. Must be related to Apple's fix of the bug with Electron apps; https://9to5mac.com/2025/11/21/mac-tahoe-electron-performance-bug/

neuroanatomist wrote:

Did I miss an announcement from Apple, or you are referring to reports (for example, this one) of this working in non-Safari browsers in beta versions of macOS 26?

Use the Passwords app to create, manage, and share passwords and passkeys across Apple devices – Apple Support (UK)

On Mac, you can use AutoFill on supported third-party browsers by enabling an extension. You can find these extensions on your browser’s web store.

wuxinli1025 wrote:

1. I have 2 macbooks and both are upgraded to Tahoe. SMS verification code autofill popup stopped showing up after some time on one macbook, the other macbook still works. I'm not sure what settings I've disable that prevented it from working.

It still receives SMS forwarded from my iPhone but it's just not showing the Fill code xxxxxx popup in Chrome/Firefox, etc,

but still works in Safari.

For third party apps—if in doubt search the developers website or contact their: Support/Help/FAQ/Known issues/compatibility/updates…

Contact a third-party vendor - Apple Support

Contact a third-party vendor - Apple Support

it is unclear to me why you would even be getting SMS verification code.

It begs the question are you signed into the same AppleID?

Have you changed your AppleID recently?

Call Customer Support (800) MY–APPLE (800–692–7753)

or on line https://getsupport.apple.com/

or call AppleCare Support at 1-800-APLCARE (800-275-2273)

Outside the USA—Contact Apple for support and service by phone

See a list of Apple phone numbers around the world.

Contact Apple Support - Apple Support

wuxinli1025 wrote:

This is a new feature in macOS Tahoe introduced by Apple to show verification code in SMS, it's not a 3rd-party issue. When signing into a website in Chrome, for example, www.abc.com, abc.com will send SMS verification code to my phone and somehow it should show the popup to autofill the code in Chrome/Firefox (previously limited to Safari only I believe).

Did I miss an announcement from Apple, or you are referring to reports (for example, this one) of this working in non-Safari browsers in beta versions of macOS 26? If the latter, there is no guarantee that capability would be maintained in the final release version of Tahoe. (For example, there was a Terminal command to restore Launchpad in the beta versions of Tahoe but that workaround was blocked in the final release.)

One of those reports was subtitled, "The final barrier for switching from Safari is finally out of the way." What makes you think Apple would want to leave that feature in the official versions of Tahoe?

AmirSafayan wrote:

Following. Same issue here. Mac Mini M4 - dedicated Chrome user and the 2FA bubble has left the building. 2FA bubble works just fine in Safari - but "I don't work just fine in Safari."

Same here, finally excited that it is working and then poof, gone. Duck Duck Go browser is still working, maybe it is time to switch to DDG?

I’m experiencing the same issue on my M1 MacBook Air. The OTP autofill in Vivaldi suddenly stopped working, even though it still functions correctly in Safari. I installed MacOS 26 (after its official release) and initially, the autofill feature worked perfectly in Vivaldi — I was even using it successfully with Dia. But just a few days ago, it stopped working altogether.

I’ve been trying to find a solution ever since, but so far haven’t had any luck. It would be great if someone could provide a clear explanation of why this happens or what setting might have changed.

EDIT: It worked on Firefox too, but still no luck on my Vivaldi

Following. Happened to me as well. Currently, using Chrome Version 141.0.7390.77 (Official Build) (arm64).

Was working earlier this month and then poof, gone. Was super excited when this finally started working. Works still in Safari as it always has, but do not like safari as I use Google Apps within my organization.

i’ve now changed a 20 to 25 year habit and no longer Google for search and because of this issue, I have fully migrated to Safari.

One of the best parts of this is that I no longer use Google password manager and now have perfect password synced between Safari and my iPhone, using the Apple password app.

And of course, the two factor bubble works beautifully.

I had quite a few tab groups and migrating those over to Safari was interesting and I still haven’t fully developed a clean way to quickly navigate amongst many tabs that are open.

“Changes afoot”

itzkakarot wrote:

I've been running with this setting enabled to allow autofills on Brave browser ... Quitting and restarting Brave resolved the issue in a snap. ... Hopefully Apple will resolve this problem for the long term.

Seems clear that the problem is with Brave, I'd suggesting contacting the developer. No issues with Safari, if there were then that would be Apple's responsibility to resolve. 3rd party browsers are not Apple's responsibility.

@Dennisbr thank you!!!

I just activated this and this works beautifully across Brave, Chrome, Opera, and Vivaldi. No issues yet. This hasn't fixed the issue in Firefox, but not sure if that requires a different fix since this is for Chrome based browsers.

Same here... worked for a few days on Tahoe.. and then stopped working. Pretty crappy experience.

I am facing this issue as well. It works in Firefox but it stopped working in Chrome. I would really appreciate it if anyone figures out how to resolve it.