Tab Reloader allows you to configure Google Chrome to automatically reload tabs at a specific time. Why would you need to do that? Well, there are webpages that you might need to refresh periodically to get updates and a simple extension such as Tab Reloader can certainly be of help in this case. For instance, it can be particularly useful when tracking stock market prices or when participating in auctions or sale days on various pages.
A small Chrome add-on for scheduling tab reloads
Like any Chrome extension, the add-on can be installed from the Web Store. The extension is immediately available and, as you will surely notice, it adds a new button in the browser’s toolbar, right next to the address bar.
When visiting a page, you simply have to click on the new icon to access the options of Tab Reloader. A small popup window is shown, providing you with options to configure tab reloading and additional settings.
Set custom reload times for individual tabs
There are a few predefined time intervals that you can choose, from 30 seconds to 5 minutes, with a user-defined variation. If you don’t want to go with the predefined values, you can type in the number of hours, minutes or seconds between two consecutive refresh cycles.
Additional settings allow you to customize the behavior of the add-on. For instance, if the tab is active or offline, then the add-on can block a scheduled reload. You can choose to scroll to the end after reload, bypass form submissions or even run a JavaScript code sequence after reloading.
There are a few other options that allow you to focus on the tab if the content has changed: the add-on can play a sound or instantly switch to the tab.
Reload tabs in Chrome automatically
Tab Reloader can schedule tab reloading based on your indications. It is one of those small but useful browser extensions that comes in handy if you need to reload individual tabs periodically. Note that the add-on is also available for Mozilla Firefox.