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Refresh header

files/en-us/web/http/reference/headers/refresh/index.md

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The HTTP Refresh {{Glossary("response header")}} directs a web browser to either refresh or redirect the page when a specified amount of time has passed after the page was fully loaded. It is exactly equivalent to using <meta http-equiv="refresh" content="..."> in HTML.

[!NOTE] Even though it's present in the HTTP response, the Refresh header is still handled by the HTML loading machinery and happens after HTTP or JavaScript redirects. See redirection order of precedence for more information.

[!NOTE] When a refresh redirects to a new page, the {{httpheader("Referer")}} header is included in the request for the new page (if permitted by the {{httpheader("Referrer-Policy")}}), and {{domxref("document.referrer")}} is set to the referrer URL after navigating.

<table class="properties"> <tbody> <tr> <th scope="row">Header type</th> <td>{{Glossary("Response header")}}</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>

Syntax

http
Refresh: <time>
Refresh: <time>, url=<url>
Refresh: <time>; url=<url>
  • <time>
    • : A non-negative number of seconds after which to refresh the page. Fractional parts are recognized but ignored; you should only specify integers.
  • <url> {{optional_inline}}
    • : If present, the browser will redirect to the specified URL instead of refreshing with the current URL. This URL can be quoted or unquoted. The url= prefix is case-insensitive and optional.

Examples

Refreshing a page after a specific time

This header will cause the browser to refresh the page 5 seconds after it is fully loaded (that is, after the {{domxref("Window/load_event", "load")}} event):

http
Refresh: 5

Redirecting after a specific time

This header will cause the browser to redirect to the a URL 5 seconds after the page is fully loaded:

http
Refresh: 5; url=https://example.com/

[!NOTE] See the http-equiv="refresh" attribute in the HTML reference for important information about accessibility implications of automatic redirects.

Specifications

{{Specifications}}

Browser compatibility

{{Compat}}

See also