Selenium WebDriver Java Cheatsheet

⚙️ Setup & Installation Beginner

Maven Dependencies

<!-- Selenium Java -->
            <dependency>
            <groupId>org.seleniumhq.selenium</groupId>
            <artifactId>selenium-java</artifactId>
            <version>4.15.0</version> </dependency>

            <!-- WebDriverManager (Auto-download drivers) -->Initialize WebDriver
            import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver; import
            org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;
            import
            io.github.bonigarcia.wdm.WebDriverManager;

            // Option 1: Using WebDriverManager (Recommended)new
ChromeDriver();
            // Option 2: Manual driver path
            System.setProperty("webdriver.chrome.driver", "/path/to/chromedriver"); WebDriver driver = new
ChromeDriver();
            // Other browsers
            WebDriver firefoxDriver = new
            FirefoxDriver(); WebDriver edgeDriver = new EdgeDriver(); WebDriver safariDriver = new
            SafariDriver();
Browser Options
            ChromeOptions options = new
ChromeOptions();
            // Headless mode
            options.addArguments("--headless"); 
            // Window size
            options.addArguments("--window-size=1920,1080"); options.addArguments("--start-maximized"// Disable notifications
            options.addArguments("--disable-notifications"// Disable automation flags
            options.addArguments("--disable-blink-features=AutomationControlled"); options.setExperimentalOption("excludeSwitches", new String[]{"enable-automation"// Incognito mode
            options.addArguments("--incognito"); 
            // Accept insecure certificates
            options.setAcceptInsecureCerts(true); WebDriver driver = new
            ChromeDriver(options);

📘 Basic Commands Beginner

Navigation

            // Open URL
            driver.get("https://example.com"); 
            // Navigate methods
            driver.navigate().to("https://example.com"// Get current URL
            String currentUrl = driver.getCurrentUrl();

            // Get page title
            String title = driver.getTitle();

            // Get page source
            String pageSource = driver.getPageSource();
          

Window Management

            // Maximize window
            driver.manage().window().maximize();

            // Minimize window
            driver.manage().window().minimize();

            // Fullscreen
            driver.manage().window().fullscreen();

            // Set window size
            driver.manage().window().setSize(new
            Dimension(1920, 1080));

            // Set window position
            driver.manage().window().setPosition(new0, 0));

            // Get window handle
            String windowHandle = driver.getWindowHandle();

            // Get all window handles
            Set<String> handles = driver.getWindowHandles();
          

Browser Cleanup

            // Close current window
            driver.close();

            // Close all windows and quit driver
            driver.quit();
          

💡 Best Practice: Always use driver.quit() in teardown methods to close all windows and end the session properly.

🎯 Element Locators Beginner

Find Element Methods

            import org.openqa.selenium.By; import org.openqa.selenium.WebElement;

            // By ID (fastest and most reliable)
            WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.id("username"// By Name
            WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.name("email"// By Class Name
            WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.className(// By Tag Name
            WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.tagName(// By Link Text (exact match)
            WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.linkText(// By Partial Link Text
            WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.partialLinkText(// By CSS Selector (flexible and fast)
            WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.cssSelector(// By XPath (powerful but slower)
            WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.xpath(CSS Selector Examples
            
                Selector
                Description
                Example
              

            
                #id
                ID selector
                #username
              

                .class
                Class selector
                .btn-primary
              

                tag
                Tag selector
                input
              

                [attribute]
                Attribute exists
                [required]
              

                [attr='value']
                Exact match
                [type='text']
              

                [attr^='value']
                Starts with
                [id^='user']
              

                [attr$='value']
                Ends with
                [id$='name']
              

                [attr*='value']
                Contains
                [class*='btn']
              

                parent > child
                Direct child
                div > input
              

                ancestor descendant
                Any descendant
                form input
              

                :nth-child(n)
                Nth child
                li:nth-child(2)
              

                :first-child
                First child
                li:first-child
              

                :last-child
                Last child
                li:last-child
              

          XPath Examples
            // Absolute XPath (not recommended - brittle)"/html/body/div/form/input"

            // Relative XPath (recommended)
            "//input[@id='username']"

            // By text content
            "//button[text()='Submit']"
            "//a[contains(text(),'Click')]"

            // By attribute
            "//input[@type='password']"
            "//div[@class='container']"

            // Multiple attributes (AND)
            "//input[@type='text' and @name='username']"// OR condition
            "//input[@type='submit' or @type='button']"// Contains attribute value
            "//div[contains(@class,'btn')]"

            // Starts with
            "//input[starts-with(@id,'user')]"

            // Parent axis
            "//input[@id='username']/parent::div"

            // Following sibling
            "//label[@for='username']/following-sibling::input"// Preceding sibling
            "//input[@id='password']/preceding-sibling::label"// Index-based
            "(//input[@type='text'])[2]"
          
Finding Multiple Elements
            // Find multiple elements
            List<WebElement> elements =
            driver.findElements(By.className("item"));

            // Iterate through elements
            for (WebElement element : elements) { System.out.println(element.getText()); }

            // Get count
            int count = elements.size(); 

            💡 Locator Strategy Priority:

            1. ID (fastest, most reliable)

            2. CSS Selector (fast, flexible)

            3. XPath (powerful but slower)

            4. Avoid: linkText, className if possible
          

Selector	Description	Example
`#id`	ID selector	`#username`
`.class`	Class selector	`.btn-primary`
`tag`	Tag selector	`input`
`[attribute]`	Attribute exists	`[required]`
`[attr='value']`	Exact match	`[type='text']`
`[attr^='value']`	Starts with	`[id^='user']`
`[attr$='value']`	Ends with	`[id$='name']`
`[attr*='value']`	Contains	`[class*='btn']`
`parent > child`	Direct child	`div > input`
`ancestor descendant`	Any descendant	`form input`
`:nth-child(n)`	Nth child	`li:nth-child(2)`
`:first-child`	First child	`li:first-child`
`:last-child`	Last child	`li:last-child`

🖱️ Element Interactions Intermediate

Basic Interactions

            // Click element
            element.click();

            // Type text (appends to existing)
            element.sendKeys("Hello World"); 
            // Clear and type
            element.clear(); element.sendKeys("New Text"// Submit form
            element.submit();

            // Get text
            String text = element.getText();

            // Get attribute value
            String value = element.getAttribute("value"); String href = element.getAttribute("href"// Get CSS property
            String color = element.getCssValue("color"); String fontSize = element.getCssValue("font-size"// Check if element is displayed
            boolean isDisplayed = element.isDisplayed();

            // Check if element is enabled
            boolean isEnabled = element.isEnabled();

            // Check if checkbox/radio is selected
            boolean isSelected = element.isSelected();

            // Get element size
            Dimension size = element.getSize();
            int width = size.getWidth(); int height = size.getHeight();

            // Get element location
            Point location = element.getLocation();
            int x = location.getX(); int y = location.getY();
          

Dropdown/Select Elements

            import
            org.openqa.selenium.support.ui.Select;

            // Create Select object
            Select dropdown = new
Select(driver.findElement(By.id(// Select by visible text
            dropdown.selectByVisibleText("United States"// Select by value attribute
            dropdown.selectByValue("us"); 
            // Select by index (0-based)
            dropdown.selectByIndex(2); 
            // Get selected option
            WebElement selected = dropdown.getFirstSelectedOption(); String
            selectedText = selected.getText();

            // Get all options
            List<WebElement> options = dropdown.getOptions();

            // Deselect (for multi-select)
            dropdown.deselectAll(); dropdown.deselectByValue(); dropdown.deselectByIndex(0); 
            // Check if multi-select
            boolean isMultiple = dropdown.isMultiple();
          

Checkboxes and Radio Buttons

            // Select checkbox/radio
            if (!element.isSelected()) { element.click(); }

            // Uncheck checkbox
            if (element.isSelected()) { element.click(); }

            // Toggle checkbox
            element.click();
          

File Upload

// Upload file (no click needed) WebElement uploadElement = driver.findElement(By.id()); uploadElement.sendKeys("/path/to/file.pdf"// Multiple files (some browsers) uploadElement.sendKeys("/path/file1.pdf\n/path/file2.pdf"

Actions Class (Advanced Interactions)

import org.openqa.selenium.interactions.Actions; Actions actions = new Actions(driver); // Right click actions.contextClick(element).perform(); // Double click actions.doubleClick(element).perform(); // Hover over element actions.moveToElement(element).perform(); // Drag and drop WebElement source = driver.findElement(By.id("draggable")); WebElement target = driver.findElement(By.id(// Drag by offset actions.dragAndDropBy(element, 100, 200).perform(); // Click and hold actions.clickAndHold(element).perform(); // Release actions.release().perform(); // Chain actions actions .moveToElement(menu) .click() .moveToElement(submenu) .click() .perform(); // Send keyboard keys actions.sendKeys(Keys.ENTER).perform(); actions.sendKeys(Keys.TAB).perform(); // Key combinations actions.keyDown(Keys.CONTROL).sendKeys("a"

JavaScript Execution

            import
            org.openqa.selenium.JavascriptExecutor; JavascriptExecutor js =
(JavascriptExecutor) driver;

            // Click element (bypasses visibility checks)"arguments[0].click();", element);

            // Scroll to element
            js.executeScript("arguments[0].scrollIntoView(true);"// Scroll to bottom
            js.executeScript("window.scrollTo(0, document.body.scrollHeight);"// Scroll by pixels
            js.executeScript("window.scrollBy(0, 500);"// Set input value
            js.executeScript("arguments[0].value='text';"// Get element text (including hidden)
            String text = (String) js.executeScript("return arguments[0].innerText;"// Highlight element (debugging)
            js.executeScript("arguments[0].style.border='3px solid red'"// Remove element attribute
            js.executeScript("arguments[0].removeAttribute('readonly');"// Check page load state
            String state = (String) js.executeScript("return document.readyState"
        

⏰ Waits & Synchronization Intermediate

Implicit Wait

import java.time.Duration; // Set implicit wait (applies to all findElement calls)// Not recommended to use with explicit waits

⚠️ Warning: Don't mix implicit and explicit waits. Choose one strategy and stick with it.

Explicit Wait (Recommended)

            import
            org.openqa.selenium.support.ui.WebDriverWait;
            import
            org.openqa.selenium.support.ui.ExpectedConditions;

            // Create wait object
            WebDriverWait wait = new
WebDriverWait(driver, Duration.ofSeconds(10));

            // Wait for element to be visible
            WebElement element = wait.until(
            ExpectedConditions.visibilityOfElementLocated(By.id(// Wait for element to be clickable
            wait.until(ExpectedConditions.elementToBeClickable(By.id(// Wait for element to be present
            wait.until(ExpectedConditions.presenceOfElementLocated(By.id(// Wait for element to be invisible
            wait.until(ExpectedConditions.invisibilityOfElementLocated(By.id(// Wait for text to be present
            wait.until(ExpectedConditions.textToBePresentInElementLocated(
            By.id("message"), "Success"
            ));

            // Wait for title
            wait.until(ExpectedConditions.titleIs("Home Page")); wait.until(ExpectedConditions.titleContains(// Wait for URL
            wait.until(ExpectedConditions.urlToBe("https://example.com/home")); wait.until(ExpectedConditions.urlContains("home"// Wait for alert
            wait.until(ExpectedConditions.alertIsPresent());

            // Wait for frame to be available
            wait.until(ExpectedConditions.frameToBeAvailableAndSwitchToIt(// Wait for number of windows
            wait.until(ExpectedConditions.numberOfWindowsToBe(// Wait for staleness (element no longer in DOM)// Wait for attribute value
            wait.until(ExpectedConditions.attributeToBe(element,
            "class", "active"));
            wait.until(ExpectedConditions.attributeContains(element,
            "class", "btn"));
          

Fluent Wait (Advanced)

import org.openqa.selenium.support.ui.FluentWait; import org.openqa.selenium.NoSuchElementException; // Create fluent wait with custom pollingnew FluentWait<>(driver) .withTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(30)) .pollingEvery(Duration.ofMillis(500)) .ignoring(NoSuchElementException.class// Use fluent wait WebElement element = fluentWait.until(driver"dynamic-element"

Thread Sleep (Not Recommended)

            // Hard wait - avoid if possible
            Thread.sleep(3000); // 3 seconds
          

⚠️ Avoid Thread.sleep(): Use explicit waits instead. Hard sleeps slow down tests and make them brittle.

Page Load Timeout

            // Set page load timeout
            driver.manage().timeouts().pageLoadTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(// Set script timeout (for async scripts)
        

🚀 Advanced Features Advanced

Handling Alerts/Popups

            import org.openqa.selenium.Alert; 
            // Switch to alert
            Alert alert = driver.switchTo().alert();

            // Get alert text
            String alertText = alert.getText();

            // Accept alert (click OK)
            alert.accept();

            // Dismiss alert (click Cancel)
            alert.dismiss();

            // Send text to prompt
            alert.sendKeys("My Input"); alert.accept();

            // Wait for alert
            WebDriverWait wait = new
            WebDriverWait(driver, Duration.ofSeconds(10)); wait.until(ExpectedConditions.alertIsPresent());
          

Handling Frames/iFrames

            // Switch to frame by index
            driver.switchTo().frame(0); 
            // Switch to frame by name or ID
            driver.switchTo().frame("frameName"); 
            // Switch to frame by WebElement
            WebElement frameElement = driver.findElement(By.id(// Switch back to main content
            driver.switchTo().defaultContent();

            // Switch to parent frame
            driver.switchTo().parentFrame();
          

Handling Multiple Windows/Tabs

// Get current window handle String mainWindow = driver.getWindowHandle(); // Open new tab (Selenium 4+) driver.switchTo().newWindow(WindowType.TAB); // Open new window driver.switchTo().newWindow(WindowType.WINDOW); // Get all window handles Set<String> allWindows = driver.getWindowHandles(); // Switch to new window for (String window : allWindows) { if (!window.equals(mainWindow)) { driver.switchTo().window(window); break; } } // Close current window and switch back driver.close(); driver.switchTo().window(mainWindow); // Wait for new window wait.until(ExpectedConditions.numberOfWindowsToBe(

Screenshots

            import
            org.openqa.selenium.TakesScreenshot;
            import org.openqa.selenium.OutputType; import org.apache.commons.io.FileUtils;

            // Take screenshot
            TakesScreenshot ts = (TakesScreenshot) driver; File source =
            ts.getScreenshotAs(OutputType.FILE); File destination =
            new File("screenshot.png"// Take element screenshot (Selenium 4+)"logo"new File("element.png"// Screenshot as Base64
            String base64 = ts.getScreenshotAs(OutputType.BASE64);
          

Cookies Management

            import org.openqa.selenium.Cookie; 
            // Add cookie
            Cookie cookie = new Cookie(, "value"); driver.manage().addCookie(cookie);

            // Get cookie by name
            Cookie myCookie = driver.manage().getCookieNamed(// Get all cookies
            Set<Cookie> cookies = driver.manage().getCookies();

            // Delete cookie
            driver.manage().deleteCookieNamed("sessionId"// Delete all cookies
            driver.manage().deleteAllCookies();
          

Browser Logs

            import
            org.openqa.selenium.logging.LogType;
            import
            org.openqa.selenium.logging.LogEntries;
            import
            org.openqa.selenium.logging.LogEntry;

            // Get browser console logs
            LogEntries logs = driver.manage().logs().get(LogType.BROWSER);

            for (LogEntry entry : logs) { System.out.println(entry.getLevel() +
            " " + entry.getMessage()); } 
            // Available log types
            driver.manage().logs().get(LogType.BROWSER);
            driver.manage().logs().get(LogType.DRIVER);
            driver.manage().logs().get(LogType.CLIENT);
            driver.manage().logs().get(LogType.SERVER);
          

Network Interception (Selenium 4+)

            import
            org.openqa.selenium.devtools.DevTools;
            import
            org.openqa.selenium.devtools.v119.network.Network;

            // Enable DevTools
            DevTools devTools = ((ChromeDriver) driver).getDevTools();
            devTools.createSession();

            // Enable network tracking
            devTools.send(Network.enable(Optional.empty(), Optional.empty(),
            Optional.empty()));

            // Intercept requests
            devTools.addListener(Network.requestWillBeSent(), request -> {
            System.out.println("Request: " + request.getRequest().getUrl()); });

            // Intercept responses
            devTools.addListener(Network.responseReceived(), response -> {
            System.out.println("Response: " + response.getResponse().getUrl()); });
          

Geolocation (Selenium 4+)

            // Set geolocation
            driver.executeCdpCommand("Emulation.setGeolocationOverride", Map.of("latitude", 37.7749,
            "longitude", -122.4194,
            "accuracy", 1) );
          

Mobile Emulation

            import java.util.HashMap; 
            // Emulate mobile device
            Map<String, Object> mobileEmulation =
            new HashMap<>(); mobileEmulation.put("deviceName",
            "iPhone 12 Pro"); ChromeOptions options = new
            ChromeOptions(); options.setExperimentalOption(new
ChromeDriver(options);
            // Custom mobile settings
            Map<String, Object> deviceMetrics =
            new HashMap<>(); deviceMetrics.put("width",
            375); deviceMetrics.put(, 812); deviceMetrics.put(, 3.0); mobileEmulation.put(, deviceMetrics); mobileEmulation.put("userAgent""Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 15_0..."
        

✨ Best Practices & Tips

Page Object Model (POM)

            import
            org.openqa.selenium.support.FindBy;
            import
            org.openqa.selenium.support.PageFactory;

            public class LoginPage { private WebDriver driver; @FindBy(id = "username") private WebElement usernameField;
            @FindBy(id = "password") private WebElement passwordField;
            @FindBy(css = "button[type='submit']") private WebElement loginButton;

            public LoginPage(WebDriver driver) { this.driver = driver; PageFactory.initElements(driver, this); }

            public void login(String username, String password) { usernameField.sendKeys(username);
            passwordField.sendKeys(password); loginButton.click(); } }
          

✅ DO:

Use explicit waits instead of implicit
Prefer ID and CSS selectors over XPath
Always call driver.quit() in @AfterMethod
Use Page Object Model for maintainability
Keep locators in Page Objects, not in tests
Use WebDriverManager for driver management
Create reusable BasePage class
Handle exceptions appropriately

❌ DON'T:

Don't use Thread.sleep() for waits
Don't mix implicit and explicit waits
Don't use absolute XPath
Don't hardcode test data in test methods
Don't leave driver instances unclosed
Don't catch exceptions without logging
Don't create too many dependencies between tests

Exception Handling

            try { WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.id("submit"));
            element.click(); }
            catch (NoSuchElementException e) { System.out.println("Element not found");
            }
            catch (ElementNotInteractableException e) { System.out.println(catch (StaleElementReferenceException e) { System.out.println(); element = driver.findElement(By.id("submit"catch (TimeoutException e) { System.out.println(Common Selenium Exceptions
            
                Exception
                Cause
                Solution
              

            
                NoSuchElementException
                Element not found
                Check locator, add wait
              

                StaleElementReferenceException
                Element removed from DOM
                Re-locate element
              

                ElementNotInteractableException
                Element not clickable
                Wait for clickable, scroll
              

                TimeoutException
                Wait timeout exceeded
                Increase timeout, check condition
              

                NoSuchWindowException
                Window closed
                Check window handles
              

                NoAlertPresentException
                No alert present
                Wait for alert
              

          Performance Tips
            🚀 Speed Up Your Tests:
            Use headless mode for CI/CD
Disable images/CSS loading (if not needed)
Run tests in parallel
Use explicit waits with appropriate timeouts
Minimize browser actions (group operations)
Cache frequently used elements
Use CSS selectors instead of XPath

          

Exception	Cause	Solution
NoSuchElementException	Element not found	Check locator, add wait
StaleElementReferenceException	Element removed from DOM	Re-locate element
ElementNotInteractableException	Element not clickable	Wait for clickable, scroll
TimeoutException	Wait timeout exceeded	Increase timeout, check condition
NoSuchWindowException	Window closed	Check window handles
NoAlertPresentException	No alert present	Wait for alert