How to Get a Back-in-Stock Alert for Any Website

To get notified when something is back in stock, start with the store's own Notify me button if it has one. It is free and works even when your computer is off. Its weak spot is timing: the store decides when to send the email, everyone on the list hears at the same moment, and a popular item can sell out again before you open your inbox. Many smaller shops have no alert at all.

For a back-in-stock alert on any website, watch the product page yourself. Auto Refresh Page reloads the page as often as you choose and alerts you the moment the "Sold out" label disappears, with a desktop notification, a sound and the tab jumping to the front. This guide shows how to set it up for the exact size or colour you want and how to avoid false alarms.

Auto Refresh

English 

Running 

Time Interval

Refresh List

Detect Keyword

Detect Keyword

Sold out

Notification & Highlight Settings for Keyword

Notify the user

When keyword found

When keyword not found

Play sound on keyword found/not found

Highlight specific words once they are detected

Continue refreshing on keyword found/not found

Activate tab focus when keyword is detected

Save

What are the ways to get a back-in-stock alert?

There are four common ways. They differ in speed, in which stores they work with, and in whether your computer has to be on.

Many people combine them: sign up for the store's email as a backup and watch the page in the browser for the fastest alert. For a closer look at cloud, desktop and browser monitors, see page monitor apps vs browser extensions.

How to set a back-in-stock alert with Auto Refresh Page

1. Install Auto Refresh Page from the Chrome Web Store. It is also available for Microsoft Edge and Firefox.
2. Open the product page and choose the exact size, colour or model you want. Many stores add your choice to the web address, for example ?variant= or ?size=, so a reload keeps showing that option. If the address does not change, see the tips further down.
3. Find the words the store shows while the item is unavailable, such as Sold out, Out of stock, Currently unavailable or Notify me when available. Copy them exactly as they appear on the page.
4. Click the Auto Refresh icon. On the Time Interval tab, choose how often to check. Every 1 to 5 minutes suits most products.
5. Open the Detect Keyword tab, paste the sold-out text and press Enter.
6. Tick Notify the user and choose When keyword not found. When the item is back, the sold-out label disappears from the page and you get the alert.
7. Tick Play sound and Activate tab focus, so you hear the alert and the product tab jumps to the front. Leave Continue refreshing unticked. The page then stops reloading when the alert fires and stays on the in-stock page, ready for you to add the item to your cart.
8. Click Save and check that the switch at the top of the popup reads Running. Keep the browser open and stop the computer from going to sleep while you wait.

Make sure your browser is allowed to show notifications in your operating system's settings. Otherwise the sound still plays but no notification appears.

Why watch for "Sold out" instead of "Add to cart"?

It is tempting to wait for Add to cart or In stock to appear. On most product pages, though, those words are already there while your item is sold out: on the buttons for other sizes, in a "You may also like" row, or in the site's menu. The alert would fire on the very first check.

The sold-out label belongs to the item you picked, so its disappearance is the most reliable signal. Use When keyword found only for a phrase that appears nowhere else on the page while the item is unavailable, such as "Only 3 left". For more on choosing between the two, see keyword found vs not found.

One thing to keep in mind: a "not found" alert also fires if the page did not load properly. A CAPTCHA, an error page or a redesigned product page has no "Sold out" label either. Treat every alert as "go and look". The tab is already in front of you, so checking takes a second.

Advanced: watch the stock status in the page source

Many online stores add product details to the page code for search engines, using schema.org values such as InStock, OutOfStock and SoldOut. You do not see these on screen, but they are in the HTML. When the visible text is unreliable, for example because the button label never changes, the source can be a better signal.

1. Open the product page and press Ctrl+U (Option+Command+U on a Mac) to view the page source.
2. Press Ctrl+F and search for availability. If you find OutOfStock or SoldOut next to it, the store publishes its stock status.
3. In Auto Refresh Page, add OutOfStock (or SoldOut) as the keyword, choose When keyword not found and tick Find monitor text in source.

Two cautions. A page with several sizes may list a separate availability value for each one, so check that the value you watch belongs to your option. Searching the source is also slower than checking visible text and can match text you did not expect. Test it once while the item is still sold out and make sure no alert fires. See Find monitor text in source and visible text vs source detection.

How to watch several stores at once

The same product is often sold by several retailers, and any of them may restock first. Open the product page at each store and set an alert on each one. Every page goes into the Refresh List with its own interval and keyword, which matters because each store words "sold out" differently. Turn on Random Interval if you want each check to happen at a slightly different time. See how to monitor many pages at once.

Restocks at a set time, queues and limited drops

Sneakers, game consoles, trading cards and concert merchandise often restock as a "drop" at an announced time, sometimes through a waiting room or queue.

• Start just before the drop. Use Start refreshing at to begin checking a few minutes before the announced time, and Stop after a number of refreshes so it does not run all day.
• Stop refreshing once you are in a queue. On some sites, reloading a waiting-room page can cost you your place. Watch the product page before the drop, then pause the timer when the queue starts.
• Do not refresh every second. Very fast reloads look like a bot. Stores may answer with a CAPTCHA or block you for a while, which is the worst thing that can happen during a drop.
• Check out yourself. Many stores' terms forbid automated buying. Let the alert bring you to the page and complete the purchase by hand.

Tips for reliable restock alerts

• The size is not in the web address? Some stores only show a size's stock after you click it. Watch for text that shows the whole product is unavailable, use the page-source method above, or check whether the store's size buttons show "sold out" labels you can watch.
• Set your location first. Stores that show stock by delivery area or local store use your postcode or selected store. Set it before you save the alert, and stay signed in if the site needs it.
• Keep a record. History of Detected Keyword logs every alert with the time, which shows you when a store tends to restock.
• Use the countdown. Tick Show visual timer on the webpage under Advanced Options to see when the next check will happen.

A store's "Notify me" email is a good backup, but you will usually hear sooner if you watch the page yourself. Install Auto Refresh Page, paste the store's "Sold out" text and let your browser tell you when it disappears. Auto refresh is free. Keyword detection is part of the Premium plan, and the free version includes a limited number of detection credits so you can try it first. For more ways to use keyword alerts, see the page monitor Chrome extension guide.