How to reload page only once in JavaScript ?

Last Updated : 12 Mar, 2021

In this article, we are going to implement a JavaScript code that would allow us to reload a page only once.

The Simplest implementation:

window.location.reload()

It is the simplest inbuilt method in JavaScript that will reload the page, but the task is to refresh the page/reload the page only once.

As this JavaScript method reloads the page repeatedly & to fix this issue, we are going to use Location Hash property explained in the example.

Example 1: This example describes the Location Hash property.

The hash property sets or returns the anchor part of the URL, including the hash/pound sign (#).
When using this property, do not include the pound (#) sign with the hash string.

HTML

<!DOCTYPE html> 
<html lang="en"> 
  
<head> 
  <meta charset="UTF-8" /> 
  <meta name="viewport" content= 
    "width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" /> 
  <title>Document</title> 
</head> 
  
<body> 
  <script lang="javascript"> 
    const reloadUsingLocationHash = () => { 
      window.location.hash = "reload"; 
    } 
    window.onload = reloadUsingLocationHash(); 
  </script> 
</body> 
  
</html>

Output: The URL changes from http://127.0.0.1:5500/index.html to http://127.0.0.1:5500/index.html#reload

Example 2: In this example, we are going to do the same thing but without using location.hash property & without changing/adding hash(#) sign to the URL of the page.

We are going to use DOM location reload() method to achieve the same.

HTML

<!DOCTYPE html> 
<html lang="en"> 
  
<head> 
    <meta charset="UTF-8" /> 
    <meta name="viewport" content= 
        "width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" /> 
      
    <script type='text/javascript'> 
  
        // JavaScript anonymous function 
        (() => { 
            if (window.localStorage) { 
  
                // If there is no item as 'reload' 
                // in localstorage then create one & 
                // reload the page 
                if (!localStorage.getItem('reload')) { 
                    localStorage['reload'] = true; 
                    window.location.reload(); 
                } else { 
  
                    // If there exists a 'reload' item 
                    // then clear the 'reload' item in 
                    // local storage 
                    localStorage.removeItem('reload'); 
                } 
            } 
        })(); // Calling anonymous function here only 
    </script> 
</head> 
  
<body></body> 
  
</html> 