How to Keep Multiple Tabs Refreshing at Different Intervals

Chrome has no built-in auto-refresh. To reload several tabs on different timers, such as a dashboard every minute and an inbox every ten, you need an extension that sets a timer per tab, plus a Chrome setting so background tabs don't go to sleep.

Per-tab auto-refresh extensions

Extensions such as Tab Reloader and Easy Auto Refresh let you set a separate interval for each tab. Typical features:

• A different timer per tab or per site.
• Remembering the setting for a site, so it starts again after a restart.
• Pausing when you're typing in the page, so a reload doesn't wipe your work.

Check the permissions and recent reviews before installing. See auto-refresh extensions compared.

Keep background tabs awake

Chrome's Memory Saver puts inactive tabs to sleep, which stops their timers. Go to Settings → Performance and add the sites you refresh under Always keep these sites active. Chrome also slows timers in background tabs to save power, so short intervals may run late.

One tab, many pages: a different approach

If you're watching several pages on a wall screen, you may not need many tabs at all. AutoBrowser plays the pages in a bookmark folder one after another in a single tab, on one timer that you set, and loops. Each page loads fresh when its turn comes. It uses one interval for the whole folder, so it doesn't replace per-tab timers.

Gentler than reloading

• Use the page's own refresh. Many dashboards, email apps and monitoring tools update live or have an auto-refresh setting. That's lighter than a full reload.
• Turn on notifications for the apps that support them, instead of reloading to check.
• Use change alerts for pages you only need to know about when they change, such as a product page or a listing.

Staying signed in

Some sites sign you out after a period of inactivity, and a reload may not count as activity. See how to keep a web session alive.

Be considerate

Reloading every few seconds adds load to the site and can get your connection rate-limited or blocked. For most pages, every one to five minutes is plenty. If the page fails to load, see how to reload a page automatically when it shows an error.