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    Chrome Keeps Refreshing Tabs? Why It Happens and How to Stop It

    Chrome keeps refreshing tabs: why it happens and how to stop it

    If Chrome keeps refreshing tabs when you switch back to them, the cause is almost always Memory Saver. To free up memory, Chrome puts tabs you have not used for a while to sleep, and a sleeping tab reloads the moment you click on it. You lose your place on the page, a paused video starts again, and some sites ask you to sign in again.

    To stop Chrome from refreshing tabs, open Settings → Performance and either add the sites you need to Always keep these sites active or turn Memory Saver off. If a tab reloads while you are looking at it, something else is causing it: an extension, the website itself or a tab that crashed. This guide explains each cause, how to tell them apart and how to fix it on a computer, Android and iPhone.

    Why does Chrome keep refreshing tabs?

    Chrome reloads a tab for one of five reasons. On a computer, the first one explains most cases.

    • Memory Saver put the tab to sleep. Chrome deactivates tabs you are not using so the tab in front of you runs smoothly. Google's help page says it plainly: "When you access an inactive tab, it automatically reloads."
    • Your phone closed the tab in the background. On Android and iPhone, the operating system takes memory back from apps and tabs you are not looking at. When you return, Chrome has to load the page again.
    • An extension reloads it. Auto refresh extensions reload pages on a timer. Tab suspender extensions unload unused tabs to save memory, so their tabs reload when you come back, just like with Memory Saver.
    • The website refreshes itself. News sites, live scores, trading pages and some dashboards reload the page on a timer with a refresh tag or JavaScript. This happens in every browser, not only Chrome.
    • The tab crashed. A page that uses too much memory can crash. Chrome then shows an error page such as "Aw, Snap!" and you have to reload it.

    How to tell which cause it is

    Watch when the tab reloads. That usually points straight at the cause.

    What you seeLikely causeWhere to fix it
    The tab reloads when you click back to it after a whileMemory SaverSettings → Performance
    Tabs reload on your phone after you switch appsThe phone freed up memoryFewer open tabs and apps
    The page reloads on a regular timer while you watch itAn extension or the websiteTest in Incognito and in another browser
    An error page appears before the reloadThe tab crashedClose heavy tabs and update Chrome

    To confirm that Memory Saver is responsible, type chrome://discards in the address bar. The page lists your open tabs and shows how many times Chrome has discarded each one.

    How to stop Chrome from refreshing tabs on a computer

    Start with the first option. It keeps the sites you care about loaded and still lets Chrome save memory on all your other tabs.

    Option 1: Keep specific sites active (recommended)

    1. Click the three-dot menu in Chrome and choose Settings.
    2. Click Performance in the left sidebar. You can also type chrome://settings/performance in the address bar.
    3. Next to Always keep these sites active, click Add.
    4. Choose sites from the tabs you have open, or type a web address, and confirm. Chrome never deactivates the sites on this list, whatever Memory Saver mode you use.

    Option 2: Make Chrome wait longer before tabs sleep. On the same page, Memory Saver has three modes. Moderate deactivates tabs after a longer time, Balanced is the recommended middle setting and Maximum deactivates tabs soonest. If you have plenty of memory and hate reloads, choose Moderate.

    Option 3: Turn Memory Saver off. Switch off the Memory Saver toggle and Chrome stops deactivating tabs altogether. Chrome will then use more memory, so with many tabs open on a computer with little RAM, Chrome and other apps can slow down.

    Option 4: Protect one tab until you restart Chrome. Open chrome://discards, find the tab and click Toggle in its Auto Discardable column. Chrome will not discard that tab, but the setting resets when Chrome restarts.

    Some tabs are never deactivated anyway. According to Google, Memory Saver leaves alone tabs that are playing audio or video, sharing your screen, showing page notifications, downloading files, holding a partly filled form, pinned, or connected to a USB or Bluetooth device. So pinning a tab is a quick way to protect it, too.

    How to stop Chrome from refreshing tabs on Android and iPhone

    Chrome on a phone has no Memory Saver switch and no setting that keeps tabs loaded. Android and iOS decide when to take memory back from apps in the background, and Chrome reloads the page when you return. You can make it happen less often, but you cannot turn it off:

    • Close tabs you no longer need. Every open tab competes for memory, and dozens of old tabs make reloads more likely.
    • Close heavy apps you are not using, such as games, camera apps and video editors.
    • Keep Chrome and your phone's system software up to date.
    • Finish typing before you switch apps. If you leave a long form or message half done, copy the text first, because a reload can clear it.

    Is an extension refreshing your tabs?

    Open the same page in an Incognito window. Chrome turns extensions off in Incognito unless you have allowed them there. If the page stops reloading in Incognito, an extension is the cause. Go to chrome://extensions and switch extensions off one at a time until the reloads stop.

    If you use Auto Refresh Page, click its icon and open the Refresh List tab. It shows every page that has a refresh timer and its interval. Pause or delete the ones you no longer need, or use the Running switch at the top to pause all of them at once. If Start auto refresh on browser start is ticked, saved timers start again every time Chrome opens, so a timer you set weeks ago can still be running. See how to manage the Active Tab List.

    img
    English 
    Running 
    Time Interval
    Refresh List
    Detect Keyword

    Active Tab List 

    Export
    Import

    https://mail.example.com/inbox

    10 Minute

    https://news.example.com/live

    1 Minute

    https://dashboard.example.com/sales

    15 Minute

    If you want a page to keep refreshing but never while you are using it, keep the timer and change what happens when you interact with the page. Under Advanced Options, Refresh Behavior on User Interaction can stop, pause or restart the countdown when you click or type. See Stop, Pause or Restart on user interaction.

    Is the website refreshing itself?

    Open the page in another browser, such as Microsoft Edge or Firefox. If it reloads there too, the site is doing it. Some pages contain a refresh tag that tells the browser to reload after a set number of seconds, and others reload with JavaScript to show new headlines, scores or prices.

    Chrome has no setting that blocks a site's own reloads. Look for a switch on the site itself, often called live updates or auto-update, or open a version of the page that does not update itself, such as an individual article instead of the front page.

    What if the tab crashed?

    If you see "Aw, Snap!" or another error page before a reload, the tab ran out of memory or hit a bug. Close tabs you are not using, update Chrome (three-dot menu → Help → About Google Chrome) and restart it. If one site crashes again and again, try it with your extensions turned off, because an extension can also make a page crash.

    When you want a background tab to keep refreshing

    Some people have the opposite problem. They use an auto refresh extension to reload a dashboard, an inbox or a page they are monitoring in a background tab, and Memory Saver puts that tab to sleep. A sleeping tab cannot reload, so the page stays out of date until you click on it.

    Auto Refresh Page handles this for you in Chrome and Microsoft Edge. While a tab has an active refresh timer, the extension tells the browser not to put it to sleep. When you stop the timer, the tab goes back to normal and Memory Saver can deactivate it again. If you also need a website to keep you signed in, see how to keep a session alive in Chrome.

    In most cases, adding a site to Always keep these sites active is all you need to stop Chrome from refreshing tabs. If you would rather decide yourself when a page reloads, Auto Refresh Page lets you set the interval, see a countdown and stop the timer whenever you like. It is free for Chrome, Edge and Firefox. To reload a page by hand, see how to reload a tab or website.

    Frequently Asked Questions:

    1. 1. Why does Chrome keep refreshing my tabs?

      Usually because of Memory Saver. Chrome puts tabs you haven't used for a while to sleep to free up memory, and a sleeping tab reloads when you click on it. Other causes are your phone closing background tabs, an extension, a website that reloads itself and a tab that crashed.

    2. 2. How do I stop Chrome from refreshing tabs automatically?

      Open Settings → Performance. Next to Always keep these sites active, click Add and add the sites you don't want reloaded. You can also set Memory Saver to Moderate so tabs sleep later, or turn Memory Saver off completely.

    3. 3. Does turning off Memory Saver slow down Chrome?

      It can. With Memory Saver off, every open tab keeps using memory. With many tabs on a computer with little RAM, Chrome and other apps may get slower. Keeping Memory Saver on and adding exceptions is usually the better choice.

    4. 4. Why does Chrome reload tabs on my Android phone or iPhone?

      Phones have less memory, so Android and iOS close apps and tabs running in the background. Chrome then reloads the page when you return. There is no setting to turn this off, but closing unused tabs and apps makes it happen less often.

    5. 5. How can I stop one tab from reloading?

      Add its site to Always keep these sites active, or pin the tab, because Memory Saver doesn't deactivate pinned tabs. To protect a single tab until you restart Chrome, open chrome://discards and click Toggle in the tab's Auto Discardable column.

    6. 6. Why does a page keep refreshing while I'm looking at it?

      Memory Saver only deactivates tabs you aren't using, so an extension or the website itself is doing it. Open the page in an Incognito window: if the reloads stop, an extension is responsible. If the page also reloads in another browser, the site reloads itself.

    7. 7. Will Memory Saver stop my auto refresh extension?

      It can stop timers in tabs it puts to sleep. Auto Refresh Page prevents this in Chrome and Edge: tabs with an active refresh timer are kept awake, and they go back to normal when you stop the timer.