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    Why Auto Refresh Waits Longer Than the Interval — And How to Fix It

    Make Auto Refresh Start the Timer Immediately

    A short interval such as 5 seconds can feel much longer in practice if the timer waits for the page to fully load before it starts counting. By default, Auto Refresh begins the countdown only after the page is ready, so a slow network, slow server or busy machine effectively adds itself on top of the interval you configured.

    There is a single option that fixes this: "Start counter immediately as soon as URL start loading". With it enabled, the countdown begins the moment the new page request goes out, instead of waiting until it has finished rendering.

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    Advance Options

     Refresh only on current tab 

     Stop after 3 number of auto refresh 

     Hard Refresh 

     Start counter immediately as soon as URL start loading 

     Start auto refresh on browser start 

    How to enable it

    1. Open the Auto Refresh popup.
    2. Scroll to the Advance Options panel.
    3. Check "Start counter immediately as soon as URL start loading".
    4. Click Save and start (or restart) Auto Refresh on the tab.

    Why a 5-second interval can still feel longer

    The interval value (5 seconds, 10 seconds, etc.) controls the time between countdowns, not between page request and page request. The total time you see in the address bar is roughly:

    • Page load time — how long the server, network and browser take to deliver and render the page.
    • + Configured interval — for example, 5 seconds.
    • = Effective time between refreshes.

    With "Start counter immediately as soon as URL start loading" enabled, the configured interval and the page load time overlap as much as possible, so the countdown is no longer paused while the page renders.

    If the delay is still noticeable

    • Check whether the page itself is slow — open the same URL manually and see how long the browser takes to finish loading. Anything past the configured interval is server / network time, not extension delay.
    • If the target page uses heavy scripts or third-party resources, those continue to load after the visible content appears, and they can push the "ready" event past the timer.
    • For background tabs, browsers throttle JavaScript timers. Keep the tab visible if you need precise short intervals.

    Learn how to automatically refresh a page on Edge using the Auto Refresh Edge extension. This step-by-step guide shows how to set custom refresh intervals, auto reload web pages, and keep content updated without manually refreshing your browser.