Common element interactions

Click, type, clear, select from dropdowns, upload files, and read text, attributes and state from the elements you find.

Typing, clicking and clearing

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

wait = WebDriverWait(driver, 10)

email = wait.until(EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.ID, "email")))
email.clear()
email.send_keys("[email protected]")

password = driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, "input[type=password]")
password.send_keys("correct horse battery staple")
password.send_keys(Keys.ENTER)

# keyboard combinations on a focused element
search = driver.find_element(By.NAME, "q")
search.send_keys("selenium")
search.send_keys(Keys.CONTROL, "a")
search.send_keys(Keys.DELETE)

• send_keys appends; call clear() first or you will concatenate values across a retry.
• clear() on a field the page re-renders can race; a more robust reset is selecting all and deleting, or reloading the form.
• Keys.ENTER submits a form the way a keyboard user would, which is often closer to reality than clicking a styled button.
• element_to_be_clickable waits for visibility and enabled state, which is the condition you almost always mean.

Dropdowns, checkboxes and radios

from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import Select

country = Select(driver.find_element(By.ID, "country"))
country.select_by_visible_text("United Kingdom")
country.select_by_value("GB")
country.select_by_index(0)

print([o.text for o in country.options])
print(country.first_selected_option.text)
print(country.is_multiple)

# multi-select: select several, then clear them
tags = Select(driver.find_element(By.ID, "tags"))
tags.select_by_value("api")
tags.select_by_value("docs")
tags.deselect_all()

terms = driver.find_element(By.ID, "terms")
if not terms.is_selected():
    terms.click()
assert terms.is_selected()

plan = driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, "input[name=plan][value=annual]")
plan.click()
assert plan.get_attribute("checked") is not None

A custom dropdown built from divs is not a <select> and Select will raise UnexpectedTagNameException. Click the trigger, then click the option element - and give the option a stable test id, because generated class names change between builds.

Reading values, uploads and state

field = driver.find_element(By.ID, "email")

field.get_attribute("value")        # the current value, even if typed
field.get_attribute("placeholder")  # any attribute, or None
field.text                          # rendered text (not the value)
field.is_displayed()
field.is_enabled()
field.get_property("validity")      # a DOM property, not an attribute

assert "error" in field.get_attribute("class")

# file upload: the input must exist in the DOM, even if hidden
upload = driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, "input[type=file]")
upload.send_keys("/absolute/path/to/invoice.pdf")

• Use get_attribute("value") for form state; .text on an input returns an empty string.
• Attribute versus property matters: get_attribute reflects the DOM attribute, so a checkbox toggled by the user may not change it. is_selected() is the reliable check.
• File upload requires an absolute path and does not work on a remote Grid node unless the file exists on that node - use a file detector or upload a shared volume.
• For disabled controls, is_enabled() is better than checking for a class name that a designer may rename.

# remote grids: ship the file with the session
from selenium.webdriver.remote.file_detector import LocalFileDetector

driver.file_detector = LocalFileDetector()
driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, "input[type=file]").send_keys("invoice.pdf")

FAQ

Related

Locators and waits Alerts, frames and windows

Last refreshed 2026-09-18.