How to Handle Textboxes and Buttons in Selenium Python

Selenium is a powerful tool for automating web applications. If you're learning Selenium with Python, one of the first things you'll want to do is interact with web elements like textboxes and buttons.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through:

• Setting up Selenium

• Locating elements (like textboxes and buttons)

• Typing into textboxes

• Clicking buttons

• A complete working example

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✅ Step 1: Install Selenium

First, install Selenium using pip:

pip install selenium

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✅ Step 2: Download WebDriver

To control a browser (like Chrome), you need its driver.

Download ChromeDriver from:
https://sites.google.com/chromium.org/driver/

Make sure the ChromeDriver version matches your Chrome browser version.

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✅ Step 3: Import Required Modules

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

• webdriver: Controls the browser

• By: Helps locate elements by ID, name, class, etc.

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✅ Step 4: Open a Browser

driver = webdriver.Chrome()  # You can also use Firefox, Edge, etc.
driver.get("https://example.com/login")  # Replace with your URL

This opens the browser and navigates to the page.

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🖊️ Handling Textboxes (Input Fields)

Use send_keys() to type into a textbox.

username_box = driver.find_element(By.ID, "username")
password_box = driver.find_element(By.NAME, "password")

username_box.send_keys("myUsername")
password_box.send_keys("myPassword")

Common Ways to Locate Elements:

Locator Method	Example
By.ID	find_element(By.ID, "user")
By.NAME	find_element(By.NAME, "email")
By.CLASS_NAME	find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "box")
By.TAG_NAME	find_element(By.TAG_NAME, "input")
By.LINK_TEXT	find_element(By.LINK_TEXT, "Login")
By.XPATH	find_element(By.XPATH, "//input")
By.CSS_SELECTOR	find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, ".btn")

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🔘 Handling Buttons

Use .click() to simulate a button press.

login_button = driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "login-btn")
login_button.click()

This clicks the button just like a real user would.

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🧪 Full Working Example

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

# Setup Chrome browser
driver = webdriver.Chrome()
driver.get("https://example.com/login")  # Replace with your real URL

# Fill in the form
username = driver.find_element(By.ID, "username")
password = driver.find_element(By.NAME, "password")

username.send_keys("testuser")
password.send_keys("mypassword")

# Click the login button
login_button = driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "login-btn")
login_button.click()

# Wait for a few seconds to see the result
time.sleep(5)

# Close the browser
driver.quit()

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💡 Bonus Tips

• Always wait for elements to load (use time.sleep() or Explicit Waits with WebDriverWait)

• Use unique identifiers (ID, name) when possible for more reliable element selection

• Use developer tools (right-click → Inspect) to find element attributes

• Handle invalid login or success messages using .text

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🧠 Common Questions

🔹 What if I want to clear the textbox before typing?

username.clear()
username.send_keys("newuser")

🔹 How can I submit a form without clicking a button?

password.submit()  # Works if the textbox is inside a form

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🔚 Conclusion

Selenium makes it easy to interact with textboxes and buttons in Python. These basic actions form the core of most test cases—from login forms to checkout pages.

Once you understand these basics, you can move on to:

• Dropdowns and checkboxes

• Form validation

• Waiting strategies

• Page navigation

Learn Selenium with Python Course

Read More 

How to Handle Textboxes and Buttons in Selenium (Python)

Your First Selenium Test Script in Python