Macro Replay — Help, quick start and FAQ (site index)
90-second quick start
- Open the web page where your task starts. Click the Macro Replay icon (or press Ctrl+Shift+L) and choose Record on this tab.
- Do the task once by hand: click, type, choose options, press Enter. A small "Recording · n steps" pill shows the count. Page changes within the same site keep recording.
- Click Stop & save on the pill (or press Ctrl+Shift+L again). The macro is saved on this device.
- Go back to the start page, open Macro Replay and click Play. To run it several times, open Options and set Repeat (up to 10) and a delay. To run it once per spreadsheet row, export your sheet as CSV, click Load CSV… and put
{{Column name}}placeholders in the typed values: either type them while recording (e.g.{{First name}}into the name field) or, after recording, open Options → Steps and edit the value of a typed step (useful for e-mail fields, which refuse a literal placeholder while recording).
Nothing records?
- Refresh the page after installing. Chrome does not attach the recorder to pages that were already open before the extension was installed.
- Recording works on normal
http/httpspages only — not on Chrome's own pages, the Web Store, PDF viewers or the new-tab page. - Clicks inside a frame that belongs to another site (an embedded widget from a different domain) cannot be recorded; the macro shows an "unsupported" step for them.
What is recorded, what is not
| Recorded | Not recorded (by design) |
|---|---|
| Clicks on buttons, links, checkboxes, radios; dropdown choices; typed text (the final value of each field); Enter, Tab, Escape; page changes within the same site | Passwords, card numbers, one-time codes and fields whose name or label looks sensitive (password, senha, CVV, card, token, secret, OTP, SSN, CPF) — the replay pauses so you type them yourself |
| Elements inside open web components (shadow DOM) and same-site frames | Closed components, frames from other sites, file uploads, drag-and-drop, right-click menus, browser alert dialogs — recorded as "unsupported" with a clear message |
At save time, flagged fields (for example a password shown as plain text) are listed with Record this value? [No]. Leave it on No unless you really want the value stored in the macro on this device. Until you answer, the typed value is held only in the extension's in-memory session storage so the question can be asked; it is discarded on No, after 10 minutes without an answer, or when Chrome closes — it is never written to the macro or to disk without your Yes. Real password fields (type=password), card numbers and one-time codes are never read at all.
CSV format
- First row = column names. Columns are referenced as
{{Column name}}(case-insensitive).{{row}}is the row number. - Comma, semicolon or tab separated; quotes and line breaks inside quotes are fine; UTF-8 (with or without BOM); up to 1 MB.
- Free tier: the first 10 rows of the file are used per run. Cells are never interpreted (a cell starting with
=is just text). - A CSV cell used as a page address must be a full
http://orhttps://URL; anything else fails that row with "URL from CSV is not http(s)".
Hotkeys and rebinding
| Default | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+Shift+E (⌘⇧E on Mac) | Open Macro Replay |
| Ctrl+Shift+L | Start / stop recording on this tab |
| Ctrl+Shift+K | Replay the selected macro on this tab |
| Ctrl+Shift+Y | Stop the running replay |
Chrome leaves a shortcut unassigned when another extension or your system already uses it. Open chrome://extensions/shortcuts to see and change them.
Replay in a background tab
The replay keeps running when you switch to another tab or window — Chrome slows background pages down, so each step may take a second longer, but the run continues and finishes. The pill shows "tab in background — replay continues, slower".
Troubleshooting by message
| Message | Meaning / what to do |
|---|---|
no element matched after 10 s (tried: …) | The page changed, or the element appears later than 10 s. Retry, Skip, or re-record the step. Raise the step timeout in Settings for slow pages. |
element found but covered by <…> | A dialog, cookie banner or overlay is on top. Close it and Retry. |
this field may need keystroke replay (not yet supported) | The page ignored the typed value (it only reacts to real keystrokes). The step is marked ok; check the field. |
Click the Macro Replay icon on this page to continue | The replay moved to another website. Click the icon (or press a hotkey) on that tab to continue. |
Type the value manually, then Resume | A sensitive field. Type it, then click Resume on the pill. |
This step is inside another site's frame (not supported) | Skip the step or re-record without the embedded widget. |
URL from CSV is not http(s) | The CSV cell used as an address is not a full web address. |
Recording stopped at a different site | You navigated to another website while recording; the macro was saved up to that point. |
Privacy
Macros stay in this browser. No account, no cloud. The free version sends anonymous event counters (install, first recording, first replay, success, interest click) with no identifiers, once per install; turn them off in Settings. Full policy: /privacy/.
Pro (planned)
A one-time Pro unlock with higher limits (unlimited repeats and CSV rows, unlimited macros, a run log with results CSV) is planned; nothing is charged in this version. If you need it, click "Need unlimited rows or repeats? Tell us" in the extension — it only counts the click. Pro will be sold by SSTE SERVICOS, SISTEMAS E TREINAMENTO EMPRESARIAL LTDA (Brazil) via Kiwify; price, 14-day refund and the receipt-is-your-licence rule are on the terms page (/terms/). It will not include scheduling.
Support
E-mail sste.tools@proton.me with the "Copy report" text from the extension (it contains no page content or query strings unless you tick the boxes). We answer every message; there is no guaranteed response time.