How to detect browser refresh alone

Question

Hi i want to detect browser refresh alone in javascript. The below code am using is detecting the browser close as well as refresh, back etc.

window.onbeforeunlo         


        

Answer 1

You can save the current time to session storage from onbeforeunload, then when the page loads look in session storage for a time and, if you find one and it's within (say) a couple of seconds, assume it's a refresh.

window.onbeforeunload = function() {
    sessionStorage.setItem("left", Date.now());
};

and elsewhere, in code that runs when the page loads:

var left = sessionStorage.getItem("left");
if (left && (Date.now() - left) < 2000) {
    // Refreshed
}

Full example (live copy):

(function() {
    "use strict";

    window.onbeforeunload = function() {
        sessionStorage.setItem("left", Date.now());
    };

    var left = sessionStorage.getItem("left");
    if (left && (Date.now() - left) < 2000) {
        // Refreshed
        display("Refreshed");
    } else {
        // Freshly loaded
    }
})();