Complete Guide for Beginners (Best Practices, FAQs)

WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.className("your-class-name"));

element = driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "your-class-name")

IWebElement element = driver.FindElement(By.ClassName("your-class-name"));

Using class name in XPath

element = driver.find_element(By.XPATH, '//*[@class="class_name"]')

element = driver.find_element(By.XPATH, '//*[@id="element_id" and contains(@class, "class_name")]')

element = driver.find_element(By.XPATH, '//*[@name="element_name" and contains(@class, "class_name")]')

element = driver.find_element(By.XPATH, '//*[contains(@class, "class_name") and text()="Exact Text"]')T

• Right click on element.
• Select inspect element.
• From the inspect element window, you will get a class name as shown in the below image.

Step 2: Get your test page URL

Copy the URL of the test page you are looking to test in Selenium test.

Step 3: Launch your IDE

Launch IDE as per your programming language, you use for Selenium Testing, i.e. IDLE, Visual Studio, or Eclipse.

Step 4: Create project and add selenium dependencies

To run Selenium tests, you need to create a project and add the required Selenium Jars to run Selenium tests in it.

Step 5: Run test

Here are examples of how to use find element by class in Java, Python, and C# languages. 

You need to update test page URLs and class name in the following examples before running the test.

import org.openqa.selenium.By;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebElement;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;

public class FindByClass {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        System.setProperty("webdriver.chrome.driver", "path/to/chromedriver");
        WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();
        driver.get("https://example.com");

        WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.className("example-class"));
        System.out.println("Element text: " + element.getText());

        driver.quit();
    }
}

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

# Initialize WebDriver
driver = webdriver.Chrome()
driver.get("https://example.com")

# Locate element by class name
element = driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "example-class")
print("Element text:", element.text)

# Close browser
driver.quit()

C# Example

using OpenQA.Selenium;
using OpenQA.Selenium.Chrome;
using System;

class FindByClassName
{
    static void Main()
    {
        IWebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();
        driver.Navigate().GoToUrl("https://example.com");

        IWebElement element = driver.FindElement(By.ClassName("example-class"));
        Console.WriteLine("Element text: " + element.Text);

        driver.Quit();
    }
}

Limitations:

• Works only with single-class names: Selenium does not support multiple class names. If the class attribute has multiple class names like 

  .

• Returns only the first matching element: If you are looking to get all elements with the same class, use findElements(By.className()) instead.
• Not recommended for dynamically generated class names: If the class name changes on every page reload, it is recommended to not use it in selenium test scripts.

Advantages:

• Faster than Other Methods in Some Cases: Searching by class name will be faster if multiple elements have the same tag but different attributes.
• No Need for Complex Selectors: Unlike other complex selectors like XPath or CSS, find by class name is simple. It does not require extra syntax or logic to identify the element.
• Works Well for Elements with Distinct Classes: This method will directly return the target element, if elements have a clear and unique class name.
• Avoids XPath Limitations: Sometimes XPath struggles with complex queries. Using class name will provide a simpler and more robust solution.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Question: What is finding element by class name in Selenium?

Answer: findElement(By.className()) is a Selenium WebDriver method that is used to locate an element using its class name.

Question: How do I find an element by class name in Selenium?

Answer: You can use the following syntax

driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "your_class_name")

Question: What is the difference between findElement(By.className()) and findElements(By.className())?

Answer: 

• findElement(By.className()) returns the first matching class element.
• findElements(By.className()) returns a list of all matching class elements.

Question: Can I use multiple class names in findElement(By.className())?

Answer: No, Selenium does not support compound class names. You can use CSS selector instead like: 

driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, ".classx.classy")

Question: Why is find_element_by_class_name deprecated?

Answer: Selenium 4 removed find_element_by_class_name. Now, you can use driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, “your_class_name”).

Question: How do I click an element found by class name?

Answer: After finding the element, use: element.click() in your selenium test.

Question: How do I get text from an element found by class name?

Answer: Use given syntax below to get text:

text = driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "your_class_name").text

Question: Can I use findElement(By.className()) for hidden elements?

Answer: No, Selenium cannot interact with hidden elements.

Question: How do I check if an element exists before finding it?

Answer: You can use the following syntax:

elements = driver.find_elements(By.CLASS_NAME, "your_class_name")
if elements:
    print("Element found!")

Question: What’s the best alternative if find element by class name fails?

Answer: CSS_SELECTOR is the best alternative.

Question: Can I use regex with find element by class name?

Answer: No, but you can use XPATH with contains():

driver.find_element(By.XPATH, "//*[contains(@class, 'partial_class_name')]")

Troubleshooting Common find element by class Errors

Error: ❌ NoSuchElementException: Unable to locate element.

Fix: ✅ You need to check the following things to resolve this error.

1. Make sure element exists on the page.
2. Check if the class name is correct (case-sensitive).
3. Wait for the element to load using WebDriverWait.

Error: ❌ InvalidSelectorException: Compound class names not permitted.

Fix: ✅ You will get this error when you try to locate an element using findElement(By.className()) and the element has multiple class names i.e.

. 

To fix this error, you can use an alternative element locator like CSS Selector. Example: 

driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, ".class1.class2")

Error: ❌ StaleElementReferenceException: Stale element reference

Fix: ✅ This error occurs when an element is no longer attached to the DOM.

To fix this:

• Re-locate the element before interacting with it.
• Use WebDriverWait with EC.staleness_of(element).

Error: ❌ AttributeError: ‘WebDriver’ object has no attribute ‘find_element_by_class_name’.

Fix: ✅ Actually, find_element_by_class_name is deprecated in Selenium 4. 

Now in Selenium 4, you can use: 

driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "class_name")

Error: ❌ ElementClickInterceptedException

Fix: ✅ This error occurs when another element is blocking the target element. 

To resolve this issue, you can use JavaScriptExecutor to force-click:

driver.execute_script("arguments[0].click();", element)

Error: ❌ TimeoutException: element not found within time.

Fix: ✅ This error occurs when an element is taking time to load. 

To fix this error, use WebDriverWait to wait until it appears:

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

WebDriverWait(driver, 10).until(EC.presence_of_element_located((By.CLASS_NAME, "class_name")))

Error: ❌ TypeError: find_element_by_class_name() missing 1 required positional argument

Fix: ✅ This error occurs when you pass class name incorrectly. Pass the class name correctly:

driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "your_class_name")

Error: ❌ Multiple elements found when expecting a single element.

Fix: ✅ This error occurs when you use driver.find_element and return multiple elements. In this case, you can use driver.find_elements in Selenium 4.

driver.find_elements(By.CLASS_NAME, "your_class_name")

Error: ❌ NoneType object has no attribute ‘click’

Fix: ✅ Targeted element was not found, so it returned None. In this case, you need to verify the class name or add an explicit wait before interacting with the element.

Error: ❌ find_element(By.class_name) works in one browser but not another.

Fix: ✅ Different browsers render elements differently. If the find element by class name is not working in a specific browser, then you can try CSS_SELECTOR or XPATH as an alternative.

Best Practices for Find By Class

Here are a few important points you need to consider while using Find By Class in Selenium WebDriver automation test.

• Prefer selecting elements with unique class names to avoid ambiguity.
• Prefer Selenium 4 Syntax (By.CLASS_NAME)
• Always use explicit waits to handle dynamic elements.
• Use CSS_SELECTOR or XPATH for more reliable selection.
• Check for hidden elements before interacting.
• Print logs when elements are found or actions are taken for easy debugging.
• Make sure that page is fully loaded before interacting with the element.

Pro Tip: If you often struggle with class selectors, consider using CSS_SELECTOR or XPATH especially for complex DOM structures.

Now you’re all set to use find by class in Selenium tests without errors!

Have any questions? Drop a comment below! I am ready to help you with.