Interacting with web elements

A high-level instruction set for manipulating form controls.

There are only 5 basic commands that can be executed on an element:

click (applies to any element)
send keys (only applies to text fields and content editable elements)
clear (only applies to text fields and content editable elements)
submit (only applies to form elements)
select (see Select List Elements)

Additional validations

These methods are designed to closely emulate a user’s experience, so, unlike the Actions API, it attempts to perform two things before attempting the specified action.

If it determines the element is outside the viewport, it scrolls the element into view, specifically it will align the bottom of the element with the bottom of the viewport.
It ensures the element is interactable before taking the action. This could mean that the scrolling was unsuccessful, or that the element is not otherwise displayed. Determining if an element is displayed on a page was too difficult to define directly in the webdriver specification, so Selenium sends an execute command with a JavaScript atom that checks for things that would keep the element from being displayed. If it determines an element is not in the viewport, not displayed, not keyboard-interactable, or not pointer-interactable, it returns an element not interactable error.

Click

The element click command is executed on the center of the element. If the center of the element is obscured for some reason, Selenium will return an element click intercepted error.

        driver.get("https://www.selenium.dev/selenium/web/inputs.html");

	    // Click on the element 
        WebElement checkInput=driver.findElement(By.name("checkbox_input"));
        checkInput.click();

Show full example

package dev.selenium.elements;

import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
import org.openqa.selenium.By;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebElement;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;
import java.time.Duration;
import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;

public class InteractionTest{

    @Test
    public void interactWithElements() {
        WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();
        driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(Duration.ofMillis(500));
        // Navigate to Url
        driver.get("https://www.selenium.dev/selenium/web/inputs.html");

	    // Click on the element 
        WebElement checkInput=driver.findElement(By.name("checkbox_input"));
        checkInput.click();
        Boolean isChecked=checkInput.isSelected();
        assertEquals(isChecked,false);

        //SendKeys
        // Clear field to empty it from any previous data
        WebElement emailInput=driver.findElement(By.name("email_input"));
        emailInput.clear();
	    //Enter Text
        String email="admin@localhost.dev";
	    emailInput.sendKeys(email);
        //Verify
        String data=emailInput.getAttribute("value");
        assertEquals(data,email);


        //Clear Element
        // Clear field to empty it from any previous data
        emailInput.clear();
        data=emailInput.getAttribute("value");
        assertEquals(data, ""); 

        driver.quit();
    }

}

View full example on GitHub

    # Navigate to URL
    driver.get("https://www.selenium.dev/selenium/web/inputs.html")

    # Click on the checkbox
    check_input = driver.find_element(By.NAME, "checkbox_input")
    check_input.click()

Show full example

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By

import pytest


def test_interactions():
    # Initialize WebDriver
    driver = webdriver.Chrome()
    driver.implicitly_wait(0.5)

    # Navigate to URL
    driver.get("https://www.selenium.dev/selenium/web/inputs.html")

    # Click on the checkbox
    check_input = driver.find_element(By.NAME, "checkbox_input")
    check_input.click()

    is_checked = check_input.is_selected()
    assert is_checked == False

    # Handle the email input field
    email_input = driver.find_element(By.NAME, "email_input")
    email_input.clear()  # Clear field
    
    email = "admin@localhost.dev"
    email_input.send_keys(email)  # Enter text

    # Verify input
    data = email_input.get_attribute("value")
    assert data == email

    # Clear the email input field again
    email_input.clear()
    data = email_input.get_attribute("value")
    assert data == ""

    # Quit the driver
    driver.quit()

View full example on GitHub

            // Navigate to Url
	            driver.Navigate().GoToUrl("https://www.selenium.dev/selenium/web/inputs.html");
	            // Click on the element 
	            IWebElement checkInput = driver.FindElement(By.Name("checkbox_input"));
	            checkInput.Click();

Show full example

using System;
	using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
	using OpenQA.Selenium;
	using OpenQA.Selenium.Chrome;
	
	namespace SeleniumDocs.Elements
	{
	    [TestClass]
	    public class InteractionTest
	    {
	        [TestMethod]
	        public void TestInteractionCommands()
	        {
	            IWebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();
	            driver.Manage().Timeouts().ImplicitWait = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(500);
	
	            // Navigate to Url
	            driver.Navigate().GoToUrl("https://www.selenium.dev/selenium/web/inputs.html");
	            // Click on the element 
	            IWebElement checkInput = driver.FindElement(By.Name("checkbox_input"));
	            checkInput.Click();
	
	            //Verify
	            Boolean isChecked = checkInput.Selected;
	            Assert.AreEqual(isChecked, false);
	
	            //SendKeys
	            // Clear field to empty it from any previous data
	            IWebElement emailInput = driver.FindElement(By.Name("email_input"));
	            emailInput.Clear();
	            //Enter Text
	            String email = "admin@localhost.dev";
	            emailInput.SendKeys(email);
	
	            //Verify
	            String data = emailInput.GetAttribute("value");
	            Assert.AreEqual(data, email);
	
	
	            //Clear Element
	            // Clear field to empty it from any previous data
	            emailInput.Clear();
	            data = emailInput.GetAttribute("value");
	            
	            //Verify
	            Assert.AreEqual(data, "");
	
	            //Quit the browser
	            driver.Quit();
	        }
	    }
	}

View full example on GitHub

    driver.find_element(name: 'color_input').click

Show full example

# frozen_string_literal: true

require 'spec_helper'

RSpec.describe 'Element Interaction' do
  let(:driver) { start_session }

  before { driver.get 'https://www.selenium.dev/selenium/web/inputs.html' }

  it 'clicks an element' do
    driver.find_element(name: 'color_input').click
  end

  it 'clears and send keys to an element' do
    driver.find_element(name: 'email_input').clear
    driver.find_element(name: 'email_input').send_keys 'admin@localhost.dev'
  end
end

View full example on GitHub

    await submitButton.click();

Show full example

const {By, Builder, Browser} = require('selenium-webdriver');
  const assert = require("assert");
  
  (async function firstTest() {
    let driver;
    
    try {
      driver = await new Builder().forBrowser(Browser.CHROME).build();
      await driver.get('https://www.selenium.dev/selenium/web/web-form.html');
    
      let title = await driver.getTitle();
      assert.equal("Web form", title);
    
      await driver.manage().setTimeouts({implicit: 500});
    
      let textBox = await driver.findElement(By.name('my-text'));
      let submitButton = await driver.findElement(By.css('button'));
    
      await textBox.sendKeys('Selenium');
      await submitButton.click();
    
      let message = await driver.findElement(By.id('message'));
      let value = await message.getText();
      assert.equal("Received!", value);
    } catch (e) {
      console.log(e)
    } finally {
      await driver.quit();
    }
  }())

View full example on GitHub

    // Navigate to Url
    driver.get("https://www.selenium.dev/selenium/web/inputs.html")

    // Click the element
    driver.findElement(By.name("color_input")).click();

Send keys

The element send keys command types the provided keys into an editable element. Typically, this means an element is an input element of a form with a text type or an element with a content-editable attribute. If it is not editable, an invalid element state error is returned.

Here is the list of possible keystrokes that WebDriver Supports.

        // Clear field to empty it from any previous data
        WebElement emailInput=driver.findElement(By.name("email_input"));
        emailInput.clear();
	    //Enter Text
        String email="admin@localhost.dev";
	    emailInput.sendKeys(email);

Show full example

package dev.selenium.elements;

import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
import org.openqa.selenium.By;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebElement;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;
import java.time.Duration;
import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;

public class InteractionTest{

    @Test
    public void interactWithElements() {
        WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();
        driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(Duration.ofMillis(500));
        // Navigate to Url
        driver.get("https://www.selenium.dev/selenium/web/inputs.html");

	    // Click on the element 
        WebElement checkInput=driver.findElement(By.name("checkbox_input"));
        checkInput.click();
        Boolean isChecked=checkInput.isSelected();
        assertEquals(isChecked,false);

        //SendKeys
        // Clear field to empty it from any previous data
        WebElement emailInput=driver.findElement(By.name("email_input"));
        emailInput.clear();
	    //Enter Text
        String email="admin@localhost.dev";
	    emailInput.sendKeys(email);
        //Verify
        String data=emailInput.getAttribute("value");
        assertEquals(data,email);


        //Clear Element
        // Clear field to empty it from any previous data
        emailInput.clear();
        data=emailInput.getAttribute("value");
        assertEquals(data, ""); 

        driver.quit();
    }

}

View full example on GitHub

    # Handle the email input field
    email_input = driver.find_element(By.NAME, "email_input")
    email_input.clear()  # Clear field
    
    email = "admin@localhost.dev"
    email_input.send_keys(email)  # Enter text

Show full example

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By

import pytest


def test_interactions():
    # Initialize WebDriver
    driver = webdriver.Chrome()
    driver.implicitly_wait(0.5)

    # Navigate to URL
    driver.get("https://www.selenium.dev/selenium/web/inputs.html")

    # Click on the checkbox
    check_input = driver.find_element(By.NAME, "checkbox_input")
    check_input.click()

    is_checked = check_input.is_selected()
    assert is_checked == False

    # Handle the email input field
    email_input = driver.find_element(By.NAME, "email_input")
    email_input.clear()  # Clear field
    
    email = "admin@localhost.dev"
    email_input.send_keys(email)  # Enter text

    # Verify input
    data = email_input.get_attribute("value")
    assert data == email

    # Clear the email input field again
    email_input.clear()
    data = email_input.get_attribute("value")
    assert data == ""

    # Quit the driver
    driver.quit()

View full example on GitHub

            //SendKeys
	            // Clear field to empty it from any previous data
	            IWebElement emailInput = driver.FindElement(By.Name("email_input"));
	            emailInput.Clear();
	            //Enter Text
	            String email = "admin@localhost.dev";
	            emailInput.SendKeys(email);

Show full example

using System;
	using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
	using OpenQA.Selenium;
	using OpenQA.Selenium.Chrome;
	
	namespace SeleniumDocs.Elements
	{
	    [TestClass]
	    public class InteractionTest
	    {
	        [TestMethod]
	        public void TestInteractionCommands()
	        {
	            IWebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();
	            driver.Manage().Timeouts().ImplicitWait = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(500);
	
	            // Navigate to Url
	            driver.Navigate().GoToUrl("https://www.selenium.dev/selenium/web/inputs.html");
	            // Click on the element 
	            IWebElement checkInput = driver.FindElement(By.Name("checkbox_input"));
	            checkInput.Click();
	
	            //Verify
	            Boolean isChecked = checkInput.Selected;
	            Assert.AreEqual(isChecked, false);
	
	            //SendKeys
	            // Clear field to empty it from any previous data
	            IWebElement emailInput = driver.FindElement(By.Name("email_input"));
	            emailInput.Clear();
	            //Enter Text
	            String email = "admin@localhost.dev";
	            emailInput.SendKeys(email);
	
	            //Verify
	            String data = emailInput.GetAttribute("value");
	            Assert.AreEqual(data, email);
	
	
	            //Clear Element
	            // Clear field to empty it from any previous data
	            emailInput.Clear();
	            data = emailInput.GetAttribute("value");
	            
	            //Verify
	            Assert.AreEqual(data, "");
	
	            //Quit the browser
	            driver.Quit();
	        }
	    }
	}

View full example on GitHub

    driver.find_element(name: 'email_input').send_keys 'admin@localhost.dev'

Show full example

# frozen_string_literal: true

require 'spec_helper'

RSpec.describe 'Element Interaction' do
  let(:driver) { start_session }

  before { driver.get 'https://www.selenium.dev/selenium/web/inputs.html' }

  it 'clicks an element' do
    driver.find_element(name: 'color_input').click
  end

  it 'clears and send keys to an element' do
    driver.find_element(name: 'email_input').clear
    driver.find_element(name: 'email_input').send_keys 'admin@localhost.dev'
  end
end

View full example on GitHub

      let inputField = await driver.findElement(By.name('no_type'));

Show full example


  const {By, Browser, Builder} = require('selenium-webdriver');
  const assert = require("node:assert");
  
  
  describe('Element Interactions', function () {
    let driver;
  
    before(async function () {
      driver = new Builder()
        .forBrowser(Browser.CHROME)
        .build();
    });
  
    after(async () => await driver.quit());
  
    it('should Clear input and send keys into input field', async function () {
  
      try {
        await driver.get('https://www.selenium.dev/selenium/web/inputs.html');
        let inputField = await driver.findElement(By.name('no_type'));
        await inputField.clear();
        await inputField.sendKeys('Selenium');
        const text = await inputField.getAttribute('value');
        assert.strictEqual(text, "Selenium");
      } catch (e) {
        console.log(e)
      }
    });
  });

View full example on GitHub

  
    // Navigate to Url
    driver.get("https://www.selenium.dev/selenium/web/inputs.html")

	//Clear field to empty it from any previous data
	driver.findElement(By.name("email_input")).clear()
	
    // Enter text 
    driver.findElement(By.name("email_input")).sendKeys("admin@localhost.dev")

Clear

The element clear command resets the content of an element. This requires an element to be editable, and resettable. Typically, this means an element is an input element of a form with a text type or an element with acontent-editable attribute. If these conditions are not met, an invalid element state error is returned.

        //Clear Element
        // Clear field to empty it from any previous data
        emailInput.clear();

Show full example

package dev.selenium.elements;

import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
import org.openqa.selenium.By;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebElement;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;
import java.time.Duration;
import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;

public class InteractionTest{

    @Test
    public void interactWithElements() {
        WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();
        driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(Duration.ofMillis(500));
        // Navigate to Url
        driver.get("https://www.selenium.dev/selenium/web/inputs.html");

	    // Click on the element 
        WebElement checkInput=driver.findElement(By.name("checkbox_input"));
        checkInput.click();
        Boolean isChecked=checkInput.isSelected();
        assertEquals(isChecked,false);

        //SendKeys
        // Clear field to empty it from any previous data
        WebElement emailInput=driver.findElement(By.name("email_input"));
        emailInput.clear();
	    //Enter Text
        String email="admin@localhost.dev";
	    emailInput.sendKeys(email);
        //Verify
        String data=emailInput.getAttribute("value");
        assertEquals(data,email);


        //Clear Element
        // Clear field to empty it from any previous data
        emailInput.clear();
        data=emailInput.getAttribute("value");
        assertEquals(data, ""); 

        driver.quit();
    }

}

View full example on GitHub

    email_input.clear()

Show full example

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By

import pytest


def test_interactions():
    # Initialize WebDriver
    driver = webdriver.Chrome()
    driver.implicitly_wait(0.5)

    # Navigate to URL
    driver.get("https://www.selenium.dev/selenium/web/inputs.html")

    # Click on the checkbox
    check_input = driver.find_element(By.NAME, "checkbox_input")
    check_input.click()

    is_checked = check_input.is_selected()
    assert is_checked == False

    # Handle the email input field
    email_input = driver.find_element(By.NAME, "email_input")
    email_input.clear()  # Clear field
    
    email = "admin@localhost.dev"
    email_input.send_keys(email)  # Enter text

    # Verify input
    data = email_input.get_attribute("value")
    assert data == email

    # Clear the email input field again
    email_input.clear()
    data = email_input.get_attribute("value")
    assert data == ""

    # Quit the driver
    driver.quit()

View full example on GitHub

            //Clear Element
	            // Clear field to empty it from any previous data
	            emailInput.Clear();
	            data = emailInput.GetAttribute("value");

Show full example

using System;
	using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
	using OpenQA.Selenium;
	using OpenQA.Selenium.Chrome;
	
	namespace SeleniumDocs.Elements
	{
	    [TestClass]
	    public class InteractionTest
	    {
	        [TestMethod]
	        public void TestInteractionCommands()
	        {
	            IWebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();
	            driver.Manage().Timeouts().ImplicitWait = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(500);
	
	            // Navigate to Url
	            driver.Navigate().GoToUrl("https://www.selenium.dev/selenium/web/inputs.html");
	            // Click on the element 
	            IWebElement checkInput = driver.FindElement(By.Name("checkbox_input"));
	            checkInput.Click();
	
	            //Verify
	            Boolean isChecked = checkInput.Selected;
	            Assert.AreEqual(isChecked, false);
	
	            //SendKeys
	            // Clear field to empty it from any previous data
	            IWebElement emailInput = driver.FindElement(By.Name("email_input"));
	            emailInput.Clear();
	            //Enter Text
	            String email = "admin@localhost.dev";
	            emailInput.SendKeys(email);
	
	            //Verify
	            String data = emailInput.GetAttribute("value");
	            Assert.AreEqual(data, email);
	
	
	            //Clear Element
	            // Clear field to empty it from any previous data
	            emailInput.Clear();
	            data = emailInput.GetAttribute("value");
	            
	            //Verify
	            Assert.AreEqual(data, "");
	
	            //Quit the browser
	            driver.Quit();
	        }
	    }
	}

View full example on GitHub

    driver.find_element(name: 'email_input').clear

Show full example

# frozen_string_literal: true

require 'spec_helper'

RSpec.describe 'Element Interaction' do
  let(:driver) { start_session }

  before { driver.get 'https://www.selenium.dev/selenium/web/inputs.html' }

  it 'clicks an element' do
    driver.find_element(name: 'color_input').click
  end

  it 'clears and send keys to an element' do
    driver.find_element(name: 'email_input').clear
    driver.find_element(name: 'email_input').send_keys 'admin@localhost.dev'
  end
end

View full example on GitHub

      await driver.get('https://www.selenium.dev/selenium/web/inputs.html');

Show full example


  const {By, Browser, Builder} = require('selenium-webdriver');
  const assert = require("node:assert");
  
  
  describe('Element Interactions', function () {
    let driver;
  
    before(async function () {
      driver = new Builder()
        .forBrowser(Browser.CHROME)
        .build();
    });
  
    after(async () => await driver.quit());
  
    it('should Clear input and send keys into input field', async function () {
  
      try {
        await driver.get('https://www.selenium.dev/selenium/web/inputs.html');
        let inputField = await driver.findElement(By.name('no_type'));
        await inputField.clear();
        await inputField.sendKeys('Selenium');
        const text = await inputField.getAttribute('value');
        assert.strictEqual(text, "Selenium");
      } catch (e) {
        console.log(e)
      }
    });
  });

View full example on GitHub

  
    // Navigate to Url
    driver.get("https://www.selenium.dev/selenium/web/inputs.html")

	//Clear field to empty it from any previous data
	driver.findElement(By.name("email_input")).clear()

Submit

In Selenium 4 this is no longer implemented with a separate endpoint and functions by executing a script. As such, it is recommended not to use this method and to click the applicable form submission button instead.

Last modified November 30, 2024: chore: add `text=true` to the broken code examples (#2088)[deploy site] (3a3c6b9faa)

Tune in for the Selenium Community Live scheduled for April 25th, 2025. Join us!

Interacting with web elements

Additional validations

Click

Send keys

Clear

Submit

Development Partners

Selenium Level Sponsors

Support the Selenium Project