How it works
Click. Shift →. Done.
Keep the document open and click the first field of the form. Shift → fills every field Parsel can match. → fills just the one you are in.
Using Parsel
- Keep the information open. Leave the invoice, email or spreadsheet open in another window. It can sit behind the window you are typing in; it just should not be minimized. Parsel only uses what is visible in that window, plus the text on your clipboard.
- Click the field. When exactly one value on screen fits the field, it appears as faint ghost text right away. If Parsel is not sure, it stays silent.
- Press Shift → to fill the form, or → for just this field. Values are entered as if you typed them, so websites and forms behave normally. Fields Parsel can't match stay empty, and the cursor waits in the first one.
Keys
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| Shift → | Accepts the suggestion and fills the rest of the form: every empty field that matches exactly one value from the same source. Fields with no match, or more than one, stay empty; a notice says how many were filled and the cursor moves to the first field that needs you. |
| → Right Arrow | Accepts the suggestion. Only while a suggestion is showing and the cursor is at the end of the text; everywhere else Right Arrow works as usual. |
| Esc | Dismisses the suggestion. It stays dismissed while you remain in that field. |
| Typing | Narrows. Typed characters are evidence: the start of a value, or a piece from the middle such as 718 for INV-44718-A. The suggestion updates or disappears. |
| Tab | Untouched. Tab always does what the application does with Tab. |
Three looks, so you always know what accepting does
Empty field. Full ghost text: accepting inserts it.
You typed the start. Ghost text after your typing: accepting completes it.
You typed the middle. A chip by the cursor: accepting replaces your typing with the whole value.
Every suggestion carries a small source marker showing where it came from, such as Invoice.pdf, Outlook or Clipboard, so you can check it at a glance before accepting.
Under the hood
No AI model, no cloud, no templates to set up. Parsel uses deterministic rules that run in milliseconds on your own computer.
Read
An in-memory index of the visible text in your open windows, through the operating system's accessibility interface. Built-in OCR fills in when a window exposes little text.
Understand
Labels and layout turn text into values with a meaning: an invoice number, a due date, a policy number, an amount.
Match
The field you clicked resolves to a meaning the same way, from its label.
Decide
A value is shown only if exactly one candidate fits. Two equally likely values means silence.
Enter
You press → or Shift →. Values go in as real keystrokes, so web apps see normal typing.
Pause and exclude
Pause from the tray icon or the Parsel window. Reading, capture and suggestions stop at once, and the tray icon turns grey. Exclude any app (or a single window) from the tray menu: Parsel will not read it or suggest in it. Known password managers are excluded by default, and password fields never receive suggestions.
Supported apps
Parsel supports named applications rather than "any app". Each row below is exercised by the recorded demos on this site or by Parsel's test runs.
| Where | Values come from | Values go into |
|---|---|---|
| Web browsers (Chrome, Edge) | Web pages; PDFs, text files and images opened in the browser | Any web form, including React apps |
| PDFs (browser or Adobe Acrobat Reader) | Text PDFs; scanned PDFs through on-device OCR | – |
| Images and scans | Through on-device OCR | – |
| Microsoft Excel | Sheets and tables (pick a row once, its other columns follow) | Cells, labeled by the column header |
| Microsoft Word | Documents, including résumés | – |
| Microsoft Outlook (desktop) | Emails | – |
| Microsoft PowerPoint | Slide shows, through on-device OCR | – |
| Desktop apps | – | Standard text boxes (WinForms and WPF) |
| Notepad | Text files | Yes |
Only what is visible counts: text scrolled out of view, or a spreadsheet column off the edge of the window, is not read.
Known limitations
- Windows running as administrator (elevated) are not supported.
- The suggestion overlay is visible to others when you share your screen.
- English only. East Asian input methods (IME) are not supported yet, because they use Right Arrow and Esc while composing.
- On Windows 10, Windows may show a border around a window while Parsel reads it with OCR.
- Only the applications in the table above are supported.
- PowerPoint slides are read with OCR, so the slide show must be visible; the editing view's thumbnails are ignored.
Not seeing a suggestion?
Check that Parsel is not paused, that the source window is open and not minimized, that the value is visible in it, and that both apps are in the table above. If two values could fit, Parsel waits for you to type. That is by design: silence beats a weak suggestion.