Auto refresh and scroll to the bottom in Chrome

To auto refresh and scroll to the bottom in Chrome, add Refresh Page, add Scroll Page set to Bottom of page, configure Repeat, and click Save & Run.

A page may restore your previous position after a reload, but that position can be above the newest entries. For logs, queues, and status boards that add content at the bottom, place Scroll Page after Refresh Page to jump to the current end on every cycle.

Set up auto refresh and scroll in the side panel

You’ll need Tab Automation installed. Custom automations are free; Explorer unlocks the full Dashboard. Google Search is coming soon. The side-panel tour covers first-time setup.

1. Open the tab you want to keep current — a server log stream, deployment monitor, or live dashboard.
2. Open Tab Automation from its toolbar action. The extension opens in Chrome’s side panel.
3. Click New Automation. Under Tab & Startup, turn off Always start this automation in a new tab, then pick the open tab.
4. Click Add Step, then choose Refresh Page.
5. Click Add Step, then choose Scroll Page. Bottom of page is selected by default.
6. Turn on Repeat at the End block; it is off in a new automation. Its initial wait is 30 seconds, set to Fixed. You can choose No wait, Fixed, or Random range, in seconds from 0 to 3600 where allowed.
7. Click Save & Run.

Each cycle reloads the assigned tab, jumps to the bottom, then waits before starting again. Click Pause to hold the cycle or Remove Automation to delete it.

If the page fetches data asynchronously after loading, insert a short Wait / Delay step between Refresh Page and Scroll Page to give the content time to appear before scrolling. For a recognizable loading state, use Until to check for the element you need.

Target a specific element below the fold

If your dashboard has multiple sections and you only watch one widget, you can scroll directly to that element instead of the document bottom:

1. On the Scroll Page step, choose An element instead of Bottom of page.
2. Click Pick element to scroll to, then click the target widget or table on the page. The picker writes the CSS selector.
3. If the selector matches several items, set Which match to use to This one.
4. Click Test scroll to confirm the tab centers the target element.

When the automation reaches an element scroll, it waits up to six seconds for the selector to appear, then centers it in the viewport using scrollIntoView.

You can also choose Down and enter a specific pixel distance (1 to 20,000 pixels; default 600px) when you need to move past a sticky navigation bar or fixed header.

Why DevTools console scripts fail on reload

Putting a reload and a scroll in the same console callback does not scroll the newly loaded page:

setInterval(() => {
  location.reload();
  window.scrollTo(0, document.body.scrollHeight);
}, 30000);

The reload removes the timer. The scrollTo call may run against the old document while navigation begins, but it is not scheduled to run in the new page. You need a separate action after the reload completes.

Tab Automation runs the reload and scroll as separate steps. Refresh Page calls chrome.tabs.reload and waits for the load to finish, with a bounded timeout. Scroll Page then acts on the loaded document. Content that arrives later still needs the extra wait described above.

The auto refresh background tab guide covers how background timers and tab throttling work when you switch away.

Combine scroll with screenshots or alerts

After the scroll, you can capture the view or check its content:

• Capture a PNG of content below the fold: Take a Screenshot captures the visible viewport by default. Place Scroll Page first to photograph the bottom widget, or enable Full page on the screenshot step to load and capture the page as one PNG.
• Check for new alert text: Place If / Else or Wait Until after the reload to inspect updated page elements, then trigger a desktop notification or webhook with Send Alert.

For general reload intervals and cache options, see the one-tab auto-refresh guide and the dashboard reload guide.

Scrolling limits

• Bottom of page is one instant jump. It jumps to the document’s current scrollHeight. It does not continuously poll or trigger infinite-scroll feeds that require simulated wheel gestures.
• Scrolls the main document. Scroll Page moves document.scrollingElement. For a nested overflow: auto container with its own scrollbar, use An element mode on a target item inside that container.
• Chrome must stay open. Extension alarms do not run after you quit Chrome. Active automations reschedule when Chrome is reopened.
• Automations stay local. Tab configurations are stored locally in chrome.storage.local on your computer. Read the privacy policy for permissions and data handling.