How to Auto Refresh a Page in Chrome Without an Extension (3 Ways That Actually Work)

Chrome has no built-in setting that reloads a page on a timer. You can still auto refresh a page without installing an extension, in three ways: run a short script in the DevTools Console, save that script as a one-click bookmarklet, or add a refresh tag to a page you own. The first two stop when you close the tab, and the third works only on pages you can edit. For pages you refresh every day, an auto refresh extension is the simpler option.

Below you will find copy-paste code for each method, a cheat sheet of interval values (every 5 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes and more), and the reason most console snippets online refresh the page only once.

Does Chrome have a built-in auto refresh?

No. Chrome reloads a page when you press F5 or Ctrl+R (Cmd+R on Mac). Its Memory Saver also reloads a sleeping tab when you go back to it. But no menu or setting reloads a tab every few seconds or minutes. To refresh on a schedule you need a small script or an extension. For the manual reload shortcuts, see how to reload a tab or website.

Why the popular console snippet refreshes only once

Many guides tell you to paste this into the Console:

setInterval(() => location.reload(), 300000);

It looks right, but it reloads the page once and then stops. A script you paste into the Console lives inside the page. When the page reloads, Chrome discards the old page and everything running in it, including your timer. The new copy of the page knows nothing about it.

The fix is to keep the timer in a tab that does not reload and let it reload a second tab. Methods 1 and 2 below both work this way.

Method 1: Auto refresh with the DevTools Console

1. Open the page you want to refresh.
2. Open the Console with Ctrl+Shift+J (Windows, Linux and ChromeOS) or Cmd+Option+J (Mac).
3. If Chrome warns you about pasting, type allow pasting and press Enter. Chrome asks for this on profiles that have rarely used the Console, to protect people from scams that trick them into pasting harmful code.
4. Paste the code below and press Enter. To change the interval, replace 300000 with your own value in milliseconds (see the cheat sheet below).
5. A copy of the page opens in a new tab and reloads on your schedule. The original tab runs the timer, so leave it open.
6. To stop, close either tab.

const refreshTab = window.open(location.href);
const timer = setInterval(() => {
  if (refreshTab.closed) { clearInterval(timer); return; }
  refreshTab.location.reload();
}, 300000); // 300000 ms = 5 minutes

If nothing opens, Chrome may have blocked the new tab as a pop-up. Click the blocked pop-up icon at the right end of the address bar, choose Always allow pop-ups for the site, and run the code again.

Limits of this method:

• Timers slow down in background tabs. After a tab has been hidden for more than five minutes, Chrome checks its timers only about once a minute. A 10-second interval then fires roughly once a minute. Intervals of a few minutes are barely affected. To avoid this, drag the copy into its own window so the original tab stays visible.
• It works only while the page stays on the same site. If the copy redirects to another domain, for example a sign-in page, browser security stops the original tab from reloading it.
• It does not survive closing. Closing either tab, or restarting Chrome, ends it. Next time you have to paste the code again.

Method 2: Make a one-click auto refresh bookmarklet

A bookmarklet is a bookmark that runs a small script instead of opening a website. It saves you from opening the Console every time, and this one asks you for the interval in seconds.

1. Show the bookmarks bar with Ctrl+Shift+B (Cmd+Shift+B on Mac).
2. Right-click the bookmarks bar and choose Add page…
3. Name it Auto Refresh. In the URL field, paste the code below. It is a single line.
4. Click Save.
5. Open any website, click Auto Refresh in the bookmarks bar, enter the number of seconds and click OK. A copy of the page opens and reloads on that schedule.

javascript:(function(){var s=prompt('Reload this page every how many seconds?','300');if(!s||isNaN(s)||s<1)return;var w=window.open(location.href);var t=setInterval(function(){if(w.closed){clearInterval(t);return;}w.location.reload();},s*1000);})();

The code goes in a bookmark rather than the address bar because Chrome removes javascript: from text you paste into the address bar. Bookmarklets do not run on Chrome's own pages, such as the New Tab page, chrome:// pages and the Chrome Web Store. Otherwise they have the same limits as Method 1, because they work the same way.

Method 3: Add auto refresh to a page you own (meta refresh or JavaScript)

If you can edit the page, such as your own dashboard, an intranet page or a local HTML file, you can build the refresh into it. Because the code is part of the page, it loads again with every reload and keeps going on its own.

HTML meta refresh. Add this inside the page's <head>. The number is in seconds, so 300 reloads the page every 5 minutes (MDN reference):

<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="300">

JavaScript. Add this just before </body>. The number is in milliseconds:

<script>
  setTimeout(() => location.reload(), 300000); // 5 minutes
</script>

This method only works on pages you control. On a public website, remember that a page that reloads by itself can disrupt visitors who are still reading or using a screen reader. WCAG recommends letting people turn off, adjust or extend timed changes like this.

Refresh interval cheat sheet

JavaScript counts in milliseconds, while meta refresh and the bookmarklet use seconds. Multiply seconds by 1,000 to get milliseconds.

Which method should you use?

For a quick, one-off refresh, the Console or the bookmarklet is enough. For your own pages, use meta refresh. For pages you refresh regularly, an extension saves you the setup every time.

When an extension is the easier choice

Auto Refresh Page is a free extension for Chrome, Edge and Firefox. It does everything above without code, and it keeps your settings between sessions. Pick a preset such as 5 Minutes, or add a custom time in hours, minutes and seconds, and click Save.

Auto Refresh

English 

Running 

Time Interval

Refresh List

Detect Keyword

5 Seconds

10 Seconds

15 Seconds

✓ 5 Minutes

10 Minutes

15 Minutes

Add custom time 

+ Custom Time

Random Interval 

+ Random Time

Save

• No second tab. The timer runs in the extension, not inside the page, so a reload never wipes it out.
• A separate timer for each page. Every URL you save goes into the Refresh List with its own interval. End a URL with * to cover every page of a site. See how to manage multiple URLs.
• It waits while you work. Refresh Behavior on User Interaction can stop, pause or restart the countdown when you click or type. See how Stop, Pause and Restart work.
• Useful extras. A countdown timer on the page, Stop after a set number of refreshes, and Hard Refresh to skip the cache.
• Keyword alerts (Premium). The Detect Keyword tab notifies you when a word appears on, or disappears from, a page. See the page monitor guide.

For a full walkthrough, see how to auto refresh a web page in Chrome, Firefox and Edge.

Tips before you auto refresh any page

• Only paste code you understand. The snippets on this page only open a copy of the page and reload it. Never paste Console code from a stranger, especially code that mentions passwords, cookies or tokens.
• Do not refresh faster than you need to. Very short intervals put load on the website, and some sites respond with a CAPTCHA or a temporary block.
• Unsaved text is lost on reload. If you type into a page that refreshes, set auto refresh to stop when you click.
• A "Confirm Form Resubmission" prompt? That page was reached by submitting a form. Here is how to prevent that prompt.
• Refreshing to stay signed in? See how to keep a session alive in Chrome and pick an interval that is shorter than the site's timeout.

Auto refreshing without an extension is possible once you know that the timer has to live outside the page. Use the Console or the bookmarklet for a quick job. When you find yourself pasting the same code every day, add Auto Refresh Page to Chrome and set it up once.