How to Auto Refresh a Page in Chrome
Chrome has no built-in way to reload a tab on a timer. There are four workarounds, but only one of them actually repeats: a browser extension. The console, bookmarklet and meta-refresh methods all reload the page exactly once and then stop — for the reason explained below, which most guides get wrong.
Short answer
Install a free auto refresh extension, open the tab, pick an interval and press start. It takes about 30 seconds and it is the only method that keeps refreshing unattended.
Get Auto Refresh Master — FreeThe four methods, compared
| Method | Repeats? | Setup | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome extension | Yes | ~30 seconds | Anything unattended |
| DevTools console | No — once | Instant | A single delayed reload |
| Bookmarklet | No — once | One-time save | Repeatable manual click |
| Meta refresh tag | Yes | Edit the page | Sites you own |
Method 1 — Use a free Chrome extension (recommended)
This is the only approach that survives the reload, because the extension lives outside the page. When the tab reloads, the extension is still running and schedules the next one. Everything below uses Auto Refresh Master, which is free with no account.
- 1
Install Auto Refresh Master
Add it from the Chrome Web Store. No account, no sign-up, no permissions beyond the tabs you point it at.
- 2
Open the page you want refreshed
Jobs are per tab, so start on the page itself rather than a new tab.
- 3
Click the extension icon
The popup opens showing the interval controls for the current tab.
- 4
Pick an interval
Choose a preset — 5s, 10s, 30s, 1 min — or type a custom value. Switch to a min/max pair if you want a random interval.
- 5
Optionally enable hard refresh
This bypasses the cache so you get fresh content rather than a stored copy.
- 6
Press Start
A countdown begins and the tab reloads on schedule. Repeat on other tabs to run several jobs at once.
Worth switching on
- Hard refresh — bypasses the cache, so you get live content rather than a stored copy. Essential for price and dashboard pages.
- Random intervals — vary the gap between reloads instead of firing like a metronome. How random intervals work →
- Multiple tabs — each tab keeps its own independent timer.
Method 2 — The DevTools console (one reload only)
You will find this snippet in almost every guide on the subject, usually described as refreshing “every 30 seconds”. Press F12, open the Console tab, paste it and hit Enter:
setInterval(() => location.reload(), 30000);Why it only fires once
Reloading a page destroys its JavaScript context, and your timer lives inside that context. So the sequence is: you set the interval → 30 seconds pass → the page reloads → the timer is wiped along with everything else on the old page. Nothing schedules a second reload. The snippet is a one-shot delayed refresh, not a loop, no matter how many guides describe it otherwise.
It is still handy when you want a single delayed reload — waiting on a deploy to finish, for example. For anything unattended you need something that outlives the page.
Method 3 — Bookmarklet
Save a snippet as a bookmark and click it on any page. Convenient, but it runs in the page context too — so it hits the same wall as Method 2 and reloads once.
javascript:setTimeout(()=>location.reload(),30000);Method 4 — Meta refresh
If you own the page, put this in the <head>. This one does repeat — the tag is re-parsed on every load — but only works on sites you control.
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="30">How often should you refresh?
Shorter is not better. Every reload is a request, and hammering a page can get you rate-limited or simply make the tab unusable. Sensible starting points:
| Interval | In milliseconds | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| 5 seconds | 5000 | Fast-moving prices, restock pages |
| 10 seconds | 10000 | Live scores, auction listings |
| 30 seconds | 30000 | General monitoring, build status |
| 1 minute | 60000 | Dashboards, analytics |
| 5 minutes | 300000 | News feeds, long-running reports |
Comparing your options? See how the main Chrome auto refresh extensions stack up .
Troubleshooting
The page keeps logging me out
Some sites end a session if requests arrive too fast, or treat a hard refresh as a new visit. Lengthen the interval first, then turn hard refresh off and see whether the session survives.
Refreshing stopped after a while
Chrome may discard a background tab under memory pressure, which ends anything tied to it. Pin the tab, or use an extension with persistent jobs so the schedule is restored automatically.
The content never changes
You are almost certainly seeing a cached copy. Enable hard refresh so the cache is bypassed on every reload.
My console snippet only refreshed once
That is expected — reloading destroys the JavaScript context that held your timer. See Method 2 above. Use an extension for anything repeating.
I get rate-limited or see a challenge page
Your interval is too aggressive. Back off to something longer and consider a random interval so requests are not perfectly evenly spaced.
Form input disappears on refresh
Reloading discards unsaved form state. Do not auto refresh a tab you are typing into — run the job in a separate tab instead.
Frequently asked questions
Does Chrome have a built-in auto refresh?
No. Chrome has no native setting to reload a tab on a timer, which is why an extension or a workaround is needed. Right-click reload options control how a single reload behaves, not repeating ones.
Why does the setInterval console trick only work once?
Because reloading the page destroys its JavaScript context, and the timer lives inside that context. After the first reload nothing remains to schedule the next one. It is a one-shot delayed refresh, not a loop.
How do I auto refresh a page every 5 seconds in Chrome?
Install an auto refresh extension, open the tab, set the interval to 5 seconds and press start. Five seconds is aggressive for most sites, so watch for rate limiting and lengthen it if you see challenge pages.
Can I auto refresh several tabs at different intervals?
Yes, with an extension that supports per-tab jobs. Auto Refresh Master keeps an independent timer per tab, so one can run at 10 seconds while another runs at 5 minutes.
Will auto refresh work if the tab is in the background?
Yes, though Chrome may throttle timers in background tabs to save resources, and can discard a tab entirely under memory pressure. Pinning the tab and using persistent jobs makes this more reliable.
Does auto refreshing use a lot of data?
It depends on page weight and interval. A 2 MB page refreshed every 10 seconds is roughly 720 MB an hour. Enabling hard refresh increases it further, since nothing is served from cache.
Is auto refreshing a page against the rules?
On most sites, refreshing at a reasonable interval is ordinary use. Very aggressive refreshing can breach terms of service or trigger anti-abuse systems. Check the terms of any site you monitor and keep intervals sensible.
How do I stop a page from auto refreshing?
If you started it with an extension, open the extension and stop the job for that tab. If the page refreshes itself, that is a meta refresh tag or script in the page, which you cannot switch off without blocking scripts on that site.
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