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Getting Started with Selenium in Python: A Comprehensive Guide

O

Ohidur Rahman Bappy

MAR 22, 2025

Getting Started with Selenium in Python: A Comprehensive Guide

Introduction

Selenium is a powerful tool for controlling web browsers through programs and performing browser automation. In this guide, we'll explore the basic usage of Selenium with Python.

Importing Selenium Libraries

First, you need to import the essential Selenium libraries.

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.common.exceptions import TimeoutException
from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait
from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC
from selenium.webdriver.common.keys import Keys
from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By

Setting Up WebDriver

For browser automation, you'll need a WebDriver for the browser you wish to automate.

Chrome

Download ChromeDriver here.

chromedriver = "C:/tests/chromedriver.exe"
driver = webdriver.Chrome(executable_path=chromedriver)

Firefox

Get GeckoDriver here.

geckodriver = "C:/tests/geckodriver.exe"
driver = webdriver.Firefox(executable_path=geckodriver)

Internet Explorer

IEDriverServer is available here.

iedriver = "C:/tests/IEDriverServer.exe"
driver = webdriver.Ie(executable_path=iedriver)

Safari

No download needed. SafariDriver is built into Safari.

driver = webdriver.Safari()

Using Endtest for Browser Automation

Endtest is a platform for Codeless Automated Testing on real browsers and mobile devices.

Browser Options and Arguments

Here are some common browser arguments which can enhance your testing setup:

  • --headless: Runs browser in headless mode (no GUI).
  • --start-maximized: Starts Chrome maximized.
  • --incognito: Opens Chrome in incognito mode.
  • --disable-notifications: Disables Chrome notifications.

Example setup:

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.options import Options

options = Options()
options.add_argument("--headless")
options.add_argument("--start-maximized")
options.add_argument("--disable-notifications")
options.add_argument("--incognito")
driver = webdriver.Chrome(chrome_options=options, executable_path="path to driver")

Browser Details and Navigation

Retrieve Browser Information

driver.title
driver.window_handles
driver.current_window_handle
driver.current_url
driver.page_source

Navigation Commands

driver.get(url)
driver.back()
driver.forward()
driver.refresh()

Interacting with Web Elements

Opening a Website

the_url = "https://example.com"
driver.get(the_url)

Locating Elements

You can find elements using various strategies:

  • By ID

    element = driver.find_element_by_id('register')

  • By Name

    element = driver.find_element_by_name('register')

  • By Class Name

    element = driver.find_element_by_class_name('nav-link')

  • By Tag Name

    element = driver.find_element_by_tag_name('a')

  • By Link Text

    element = driver.find_element_by_link_text('Sign Up')

  • By Partial Link Text

    element = driver.find_element_by_partial_link_text('Sign')

  • By CSS Selector

    element = driver.find_element_by_css_selector('a[href="/sign-up"]')

  • By XPath

    element = driver.find_element_by_xpath('//a[@href = "/sign-up"]')

Interacting with Elements

Click on Element

element.click()

Send Keys to Input

element.send_keys('klaus@werner.de')

Select Options from Dropdown

Using visible text:

select_element = Select(driver.find_element_by_id('country'))
select_element.select_by_visible_text('Canada')

Using value:

select_element.select_by_value('CA')

Using index:

select_element.select_by_index(1)

Taking Screenshots

driver.save_screenshot('C:/tests/screenshots/1.png')

Uploading Files

element.send_keys('C:/tests/files/example.pdf')

Execute JavaScript

driver.execute_script('document.getElementById("pop-up").remove()')

Handling iFrames

driver.switch_to.frame(driver.find_element_by_id('payment_section'))
element.send_keys('41111111111111')
driver.switch_to.default_content()

Tab and Window Handling

Switching and closing browser tabs programmatically.

More Actions

Right-click, drag and drop, hover, and more with ActionChains.

Handling Cookies

Getting and Deleting Cookies

cookies_list = driver.get_cookies()
driver.delete_cookie('shopping_cart')
driver.delete_all_cookies()

Managing Waits

Implicit Waits

driver.implicitly_wait(10)

Explicit Waits

try:
    element = WebDriverWait(driver, 5).until(
        EC.presence_of_element_located((By.NAME, "q"))
    )
    element.send_keys("selenium")
    element.send_keys(Keys.ENTER)
except TimeoutException:
    print("Failed to load search bar at www.google.com")

Additional Techniques

Changing Browser Settings

Setting user agent, simulating webcam and microphone, and using extensions.

Mobile Emulation

options = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
pixel_3_xl_emulation = {
   "deviceMetrics": {
      "width": 411, 
      "height": 731, 
      "pixelRatio": 3
   },
   "userAgent": 'Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 9.0; Pixel 3 XL ...)'}
options.add_experimental_option("mobileEmulation", pixel_3_xl_emulation)

Conclusion

Selenium is a versatile tool that can automate the repetitive tasks in browsers, intended for both testing and scraping applications. Mastering these foundational skills will equip you to tackle a variety of web automation tasks.

Tags:

automationseleniumpython