Auto Refresh Plus

How to Auto Refresh a Page in Edge, Brave and Opera

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Edge, Brave and Opera have no built-in setting to reload a page on a timer. Because all three are built on Chromium, the usual fix is a refresh extension from the Chrome Web Store. If you can't install extensions, a short console snippet makes any page reload itself until you close the tab.

Microsoft Edge, Brave and Opera share Chrome's engine, so the same two approaches work in each one: install an extension that adds a refresh timer to the tab, or run a few lines of JavaScript yourself. What differs is how each browser lets you install extensions from the Chrome Web Store. Auto Refresh Plus is built and tested for Google Chrome; the steps for Chrome itself are in how to auto refresh a page in Chrome.

How do I auto refresh in Microsoft Edge?

Edge does not have a timed reload option in its menus or settings. You can add one with an extension. Edge has its own add-ons store, and it can also install extensions from the Chrome Web Store once you allow it:

  1. 1Open the extension’s page on the Chrome Web Store in Edge.
  2. 2Edge shows a banner at the top of the page. Click “Allow extensions from other stores”, then confirm.
  3. 3Click “Get” (or “Add to Chrome”) on the store page, then “Add extension”.
  4. 4Pin the extension from the puzzle-piece menu so its icon stays in the toolbar.

Edge's sleeping tabs feature can unload tabs you are not looking at, which stops any timer on them. If a refreshing page keeps going to sleep, open Settings, then System and performance, and add the site under “Never put these sites to sleep”.

How do I auto refresh in Brave?

Brave also lacks a built-in auto refresh, but it supports the Chrome Web Store directly. There is no extra switch to flip:

  1. 1Open the extension’s page on the Chrome Web Store in Brave.
  2. 2Click “Add to Brave” (the button may still say “Add to Chrome”), then “Add extension”.
  3. 3Pin it from the puzzle-piece menu.

Brave Shields block trackers and some scripts. Shields do not stop a page from reloading, but if a page looks broken after each reload, try turning Shields down for that site using the lion icon in the address bar.

How do I auto refresh in Opera?

The old Opera browser had a “Reload every” option, but today's Chromium-based Opera does not. Opera has its own add-ons site and needs a helper add-on before it can install from the Chrome Web Store:

  1. 1In Opera, open the Opera add-ons site and install the official “Install Chrome Extensions” add-on.
  2. 2Open the extension’s page on the Chrome Web Store. The button now reads “Add to Opera”.
  3. 3Click it, then confirm the install from Opera’s extensions page if asked.

Opera GX users can do the same thing. If you use Opera's battery saver, background tabs may be slowed down; plug in or switch it off while you need the page to keep refreshing.

Can I use Chrome Web Store extensions in these browsers?

In general, yes. Edge, Brave and Opera all run on Chromium, so most Chrome extensions install and run normally. A few things can differ: some extensions rely on Google-specific features, and a browser update can change how extensions behave. The extension's store page lists only Chrome as supported unless the developer says otherwise.

What if I can't install extensions?

On a work computer where extensions are blocked, you can still make a page reload on a timer from the developer console. This works the same way in Edge, Brave and Opera because they share Chrome's DevTools:

  1. 1Open the page and press F12 (Ctrl+Shift+J on Windows, Cmd+Option+J on a Mac).
  2. 2Click the Console tab and paste the snippet below. Change 60 to the seconds you want.
  3. 3Press Enter. Leave the tab open; reloading it yourself ends the timer.
const seconds = 60;
const frame = document.createElement('iframe');
frame.src = location.href;
frame.style.cssText = 'position:fixed;inset:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0';
document.body.replaceChildren(frame);
setInterval(() => frame.contentWindow.location.reload(), seconds * 1000);

Some sites refuse to load inside a frame and will show a blank page. Our guide to refreshing a page without an extension explains why and covers two other methods. To decide how often to reload, see how often a page should auto refresh.

For the simplest setup, use Google Chrome with Auto Refresh Plus: one popup, one number, and the page keeps itself up to date.