Troubleshooting: Chrome tab will not auto-refresh

If Auto Refresh Turbo shows a schedule pause, the tab is waiting for the daily window — not broken.

Most “it stopped reloading” reports come down to one of a few predictable causes: the wrong kind of tab, Start is off, the daily schedule is outside its window, or optional safety features paused the loop. Walk through the list below before assuming a bug.

Quick checks (30 seconds)

Open the popup — is Start active for that tab?
Look at the URL — is it a normal https:// page?
If schedule is on, is the current clock time inside your window?
Did you click or type in the tab recently with stop-on-interaction enabled?

If all four look fine, continue with the sections that match your symptom.

The tab is a chrome:// or extension page

Auto Refresh Turbo reloads ordinary website tabs. It cannot refresh:

chrome:// settings and internals
The Chrome Web Store or chrome-extension:// pages
Blank about:blank tabs you never navigated

Fix: open the dashboard or queue on a real site URL, then press Start again.

Start is off or the session ended

Stop ends the session until you press Start again. That is different from a schedule pause, which keeps your interval saved.

Fix: select the tab, open the popup, press Start, and wait for one full countdown cycle.

Schedule pause vs broken timer

When a daily refresh schedule is enabled, refresh runs only inside the window you set (for example 09:00–18:00). Outside that window the session is paused: settings stay, reload resumes when the window opens.

The popup should say that refresh is paused for schedule reasons. If the clock is outside your window, nothing is wrong.

Fix: wait for the window, widen the window, or turn schedule off for a one-off evening watch.

Stop on click or type

Stop-on-interaction is on by default. If you are actively working inside the tab, reload may pause so you do not lose form input.

Fix: finish typing, or disable stop-on-interaction if you accept surprise reloads while editing.

Suspicious-page stop fired

Optional suspicious-page stop ends the loop when a simple on-page heuristic thinks the page looks like an error, challenge, or captcha screen. That is intentional — looping reload on a challenge page rarely helps.

Fix: solve the challenge manually, navigate back to the normal view, press Start again. Turn the option off only if you understand the trade-off.

Permission prompt was dismissed

Optional on-page features (visual timer, stop-on-interaction, suspicious-page stop) need host access. If you dismissed the permission prompt, the core reload may still work, but some options will not.

Fix: open the popup and grant access when Chrome asks, or visit Chrome permissions explained for what each grant does.

Hard refresh and login walls

Hard refresh bypasses cache. On some apps that forces a cold boot and kicks you to a login screen after every cycle.

Fix: turn hard refresh off and use a normal reload. See How it works for the difference.

Interval too aggressive

A one-second interval on a heavy dashboard can look like “nothing happens” when the page is still loading from the previous reload.

Fix: try 30–60 seconds, confirm one full cycle, then tighten if needed.

Tab was closed or Chrome restarted

Sessions bind to tab IDs. Close the tab and the session is gone. After a browser restart, stored snapshots help restore sessions, but a tab that was closed before restart will not magically reappear.

Fix: open the page again, press Start. Check the tab list in the popup for orphaned entries.

Badge countdown vs multi-tab list

The toolbar badge shows a short countdown for the active tab only. Other tabs may be refreshing without a badge number.

Fix: open the popup tab list to see every running session.

Still stuck?

Gather three details before you contact support:

The page URL (redact secrets)
Your interval and whether schedule / hard refresh / suspicious stop are on
What the popup status line says at the moment it fails

Then read the FAQ and Privacy Policy if permissions are part of the story.