Keyword Found vs Keyword Not Found: Setting Up Smart Actions for Both Scenarios

Keyword detection is most powerful when you decide what should happen in both outcomes: when your word is found, and when it is not. Waiting for "In stock" to appear is one scenario; watching for an "Error" that should never appear is the opposite. Auto Refresh lets you configure smart actions for each case, so the extension reacts the right way whether your keyword shows up or stays absent.

On the Detect Keyword tab you type the word to watch for and then choose what happens on detection: notify you, play a sound, highlight the match, or keep refreshing. By combining those toggles you build two clear behaviours — one for "keyword found" and one for "keyword not found" — and let the page refresh until the condition you care about is met.

Auto Refresh

English 

Running 

Time Interval

Refresh List

Detect Keyword

Detect Keyword

available

Notification & Highlight Settings for Keyword

 Notify the user when text detection is completed 

 Play sound on keyword detection 

 Highlight specific words once they are detected 

 Continue Refreshing on Keyword Detection 

Save

Keyword found vs keyword not found

Before you touch the settings, it helps to be clear about which outcome you are actually waiting for. That single decision changes how you configure the tab:

• You want the keyword to appear: you are watching for "In stock", "Available", "Approved", or a result that is not there yet. The interesting event is found — so you alert and usually stop refreshing when it happens.
• You want the keyword to stay away: you are watching a monitor for "Error", "Down", or "Failed" that should never show up. The interesting event is found too, but here it means something is wrong — alert loudly and investigate.
• Nothing found, keep looking: in both cases, as long as the trigger word is absent (or present, if you enable Continue Refreshing), the extension simply keeps reloading and scanning without bothering you.

How to set up smart actions for both scenarios

1. Set a refresh interval on the Time Interval tab so the page keeps reloading while it watches.
2. Open the Detect Keyword tab and type the exact word or phrase to watch for, such as available or error.
3. For a found action, tick Notify the user when text detection is completed and Play sound on keyword detection so you are alerted the instant it appears.
4. Turn on Highlight specific words once they are detected if you want the match visually marked on the page when you look.
5. Decide what happens after a match: leave Continue Refreshing on Keyword Detection off to stop once found, or tick it to keep reloading (useful when you are monitoring for a word that should stay gone).
6. Click Save. Auto Refresh now reloads, scans each page, and follows your rules for both the found and not-found cases.

Tips for accurate detection

• Use a keyword that is unique to the state you care about. "Available" is safer than "in" because common words appear in unrelated places on the page.
• Leave Continue Refreshing off when the keyword marks the end of your wait — it stops the loop the moment you get what you want.
• Turn Continue Refreshing on for ongoing monitoring, so a single detection alerts you but the watch keeps running.
• Pair the sound alert with the notification so you catch the event even when the tab is in the background or minimised.
• The keyword has to appear in the page text after it loads. If the content is behind a click or a login, make sure the page shows it on reload.

Deciding your response for both "found" and "not found" turns keyword detection from a simple alarm into a smart watcher. Set your keyword, choose the actions for each outcome, and let Auto Refresh handle the waiting exactly the way you want.