How to automatically screenshot a Chrome tab

Chrome has no built-in repeating screenshot. Add Take a Screenshot plus Repeat in Tab Automation. Visible tab only; PNG under Downloads. Not a full-page crop.

Tab Automation

Chrome has no built-in setting to automatically screenshot a Chrome tab on a repeating timer. In Tab Automation, add Take a Screenshot, leave Repeat on, and click Start.

Chrome must show that tab. The PNG lands under Downloads. The image is the visible viewport, not a full-page crop.

Set up a repeating screenshot in the side panel

  1. Open the tab you want a record of — a status board, a queue, or another page you leave running.
  2. Open Tab Automation from its toolbar action. The extension opens in Chrome’s side panel.
  3. Click New Automation and pick the open tab under Select a Tab.
  4. Click Add Step, then choose Take a Screenshot.
  5. Click Test screenshot to prove Chrome can photograph that tab before you rely on a run. Test uses the same capture and download path as a live run.
  6. Configure Repeat at the End block. A new automation starts with a 30-second Fixed wait. You can choose No wait, Fixed, or Random range, in seconds from 0 to 3600 where allowed.
  7. Click Start.

The graph runs, photographs the showing tab, reaches Repeat, waits, and begins the next cycle. Pause stops the current run until you Resume it. Remove Automation deletes it.

Repeat can also stop after a set number of cycles or after a duration. Turn Repeat off when you want one PNG. The End block controls another cycle; it does not take the screenshot by itself.

This step switches the assigned tab to the front. Chrome can only photograph the tab that is showing. A repeating screenshot keeps bringing that tab forward on each cycle.

Reload, then photograph

A status board often needs a fresh load before the PNG is worth keeping.

  1. Add Refresh Page first.
  2. Add Wait / Delay as a Delay so charts or the queue can finish painting.
  3. Add Take a Screenshot.
  4. Leave Repeat on so the graph starts again after the wait.

This still photographs one assigned tab. It does not rotate a wallboard through multiple tabs. Matching a wait to load time is the dashboard guide.

If capture fails, Activity records a warning and the rest of the run still finishes. The PNG is not stored in Activity.

Walk a list, then photograph

To keep a PNG of each URL on a listing page, collect the links first, then screenshot the page the hop reaches.

  1. Add For Each Link on Page and pick the repeated links, or paste a list.
  2. Add Take a Screenshot inside Each Link.
  3. Leave Repeat on if you want another pass after the wait.

The walk uses one assigned tab. It opens a link there, photographs that page, then opens the next link in the same tab. Collecting the list is walking through links.

Content below the fold

Take a Screenshot captures the visible viewport. It does not stitch content below the fold or crop one element.

Add Scroll Page first when the wanted region is off-screen. Scroll can jump to the top, the bottom, by a distance, or to a picked element. Bottom of page is one jump to the current end. It does not keep scrolling while an infinite-scroll page loads more.

Where the file goes

The file lands under Downloads / folder as host-timestamp.png. The default folder is tab-automation. Change that in Settings (the gear on the masthead), under Screenshots, or leave a Folder override on this step.

Chrome can only write under Downloads — this is a subfolder name, not a full disk path. Use letters, numbers, hyphens, underscores, or / for nested folders. Chrome may uniquify the name if a file already exists. The image is not stored in Activity or under Values.

The extension needs the downloads permission for this step. Screenshots stay on this computer.

Limits to know before you start

  • Chrome must stay open. Extension alarms do not fire after you quit Chrome. Running automations are rescheduled when Chrome starts again.
  • The tab must be showing. This step switches to that tab and window. It does not photograph a hidden tab in the background.
  • Only http(s) pages. Chrome UI pages, extension pages, and the Chrome Web Store cannot be captured.
  • One visible frame. The step does not crop an element, attach the PNG to Send Alert, or write outside Downloads.
  • Browser support is limited. Desktop Chrome, Edge, Brave, and Opera can install the Chrome Web Store listing. Firefox, Safari, and mobile are not supported.

Automations stay in chrome.storage.local on this computer. Read the privacy policy for permissions and data handling.

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