Updated Feb 2026: Selenium 4.18+, Chrome 122+, WebDriverManager 5.6+

Selenium remains essential for legacy framework maintenance and specific browser requirements despite Playwright’s rise.

🚀 WebDriver Setup (Auto-Managed)

// Chrome (Recommended)
WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();

// Firefox
WebDriver driver = new FirefoxDriver();

// Edge
WebDriver driver = new EdgeDriver();

// Headless Chrome (CI/CD)
ChromeOptions options = new ChromeOptions();
options.addArguments("--headless", "--no-sandbox", "--disable-dev-shm-usage");
WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver(options);

🧭 Browser Navigation

driver.get("https://example.com");                    // Direct URL
driver.navigate().to("https://example.com");          // Navigate object
driver.navigate().back();                             // Browser back
driver.navigate().forward();                          // Browser forward  
driver.navigate().refresh();                          // Page refresh

String title = driver.getTitle();                     // Page title
String url = driver.getCurrentUrl();                  // Current URL
String source = driver.getPageSource();               // HTML source

🖥️ Browser Operations

driver.manage().window().maximize();                  // Maximize
driver.manage().window().minimize();                  // Minimize
driver.manage().window().fullscreen();                // Fullscreen

driver.quit();                                        // Close all windows + end session
driver.close();                                       // Close current window only

🎯 Element Locators (Priority Order)

// Multiple elements
List<WebElement> elements = driver.findElements(By.cssSelector(".item"));

// Absence check
Assert.assertTrue(driver.findElements(By.id("nonexistent")).isEmpty());

⏳ Waits (Essential!)

// ❌ NEVER USE Thread.sleep() - Anti-pattern!

// Implicit Wait (Global)
driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(Duration.ofSeconds(10));

// Explicit Wait (Recommended)
WebDriverWait wait = new WebDriverWait(driver, Duration.ofSeconds(10));
wait.until(ExpectedConditions.elementToBeClickable(By.id("submit")));

// Fluent Wait (Advanced)
Wait<WebDriver> fluentWait = new FluentWait<>(driver)
    .withTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(30))
    .pollingEvery(Duration.ofSeconds(2))
    .ignoring(NoSuchElementException.class);

🔘 Web Elements

WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.id("username"));

element.sendKeys("testuser");                         // Type text
element.click();                                      // Click
element.clear();                                      // Clear input

String text = element.getText();                      // Visible text
String attr = element.getAttribute("value");          // Attribute value

boolean displayed = element.isDisplayed();            // Visible?
boolean enabled = element.isEnabled();                // Clickable?
boolean selected = element.isSelected();              // Checkbox/radio

📋 Dropdowns (Select Class)

WebElement dropdown = driver.findElement(By.id("country"));
Select select = new Select(dropdown);

select.selectByVisibleText("India");                  // By text
select.selectByValue("IN");                          // By value
select.selectByIndex(1);                              // By position

// Multi-select
select.deselectByValue("IN");
select.deselectAll();

🚨 Alerts & Popups

Alert alert = driver.switchTo().alert();
alert.accept();                                       // OK
alert.dismiss();                                      // Cancel
String text = alert.getText();                        // Message
alert.sendKeys("input");                              // Prompt only

🪟 Windows & Frames

// Windows/Tabs
String mainWindow = driver.getWindowHandle();
for(String window : driver.getWindowHandles()) {
    driver.switchTo().window(window);
    if(!window.equals(mainWindow)) driver.close();
}
driver.switchTo().window(mainWindow);

// Frames/iFrames
driver.switchTo().frame("frameId");                   // By ID/Name
driver.switchTo().frame(0);                           // By index
driver.switchTo().frame(driver.findElement(By.tagName("iframe")));
driver.switchTo().defaultContent();                   // Back to main

📸 Screenshots (Debug Gold!)

// Full page
File screenshot = ((TakesScreenshot)driver).getScreenshotAs(OutputType.FILE);
FileUtils.copyFile(screenshot, new File("screenshot.png"));

// Element screenshot
File elementShot = element.getScreenshotAs(OutputType.FILE);

🎭 Actions Class (Advanced Interactions)

Actions actions = new Actions(driver);
actions.moveToElement(element).perform();             // Hover
actions.contextClick(element).perform();              // Right-click
actions.doubleClick(element).perform();               // Double-click
actions.dragAndDrop(source, target).perform();        // Drag & drop

⚙️ JavaScript Executor

JavascriptExecutor js = (JavascriptExecutor) driver;
js.executeScript("window.scrollTo(0, 500);");         // Scroll
js.executeScript("arguments[0].click();", element);   // Force click
String title = js.executeScript("return document.title;").toString();

☁️ Headless Mode (CI/CD)

ChromeOptions options = new ChromeOptions();
options.addArguments(
    "--headless=new",           // New headless (2023+)
    "--window-size=1920,1080",
    "--disable-gpu",
    "--no-sandbox"
);
WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver(options);

✅ TestNG Assertions

Assert.assertEquals(actual, expected, "Message");      // Equality
Assert.assertTrue(condition, "Must be true");         // Condition
Assert.assertFalse(condition, "Must be false");       // Negative
Assert.assertNotNull(element, "Element required");

⚠️ Common Exceptions & Fixes

🎯 Pro Tips for SDETs

1. Always use Explicit Waits over Thread.sleep()
2. Prefer CSS selectors over XPath (10x faster)
3. Use WebDriverManager – no manual driver downloads:javaWebDriverManager.chromedriver().setup(); WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();
4. Page Object Model – never use raw locators in tests
5. Screenshot on failure – TestNG @AfterMethod listener

Download Printable PDF: [Link to cheatsheet PDF]

Selenium WebDriver 2026 Cheat Sheet – Exhaustive

1. 🐳 WebDriver Setup & Management

2. 🌐 Browser Navigation & Info

3. 🎯 Locators (Priority: ID > CSS > XPath)

Find Multiple Elements:

List<WebElement> elements = driver.findElements(By.cssSelector(".item"));
// Check absence: elements.isEmpty()

4. ⏳ Waits (Critical!)

Common ExpectedConditions:

visibilityOfElementLocated(locator)
elementToBeClickable(locator)
presenceOfElementLocated(locator)
textToBePresentInElement(element, "text")
numberOfWindowsToBe(2)

5. 🔘 WebElement Operations

6. 📋 Dropdown Operations (Select Class)

7. 🚨 Alerts & Popups

8. 🪟 Windows, Tabs & Frames

Windows/Tabs:

Frames/iFrames:

9. 📸 Screenshots

// Save to file
File src = ((TakesScreenshot)driver).getScreenshotAs(OutputType.FILE);
FileUtils.copyFile(src, new File("screenshot.png"));

10. 🎭 Actions Class (Advanced)

11. ⚙️ JavaScript Executor

12. 🍪 Cookies Management

13. ✅ TestNG Assertions

14. ⏱️ Timeouts

15. 📁 File Upload

16. 🚫 Common Exceptions

🎯 SDET Pro Tips (2026)

1. WebDriverManager – Never download drivers manually:javaWebDriverManager.chromedriver().setup();
2. Locator Priority: ID > CSS > XPath (10x speed difference)
3. Always Explicit Waits, Never Thread.sleep()
4. Screenshot on Failure – TestNG listener:java@AfterMethod public void tearDown(ITestResult result) { if(ITestResult.FAILURE == result.getStatus()) { // Take screenshot } }