findElement by className in Selenium Java

Introduction

We use findElement by className to quickly find a web page element using its CSS class name. This helps us interact with buttons, text boxes, or other parts of a webpage during testing.

You want to click a button that has a specific class on a webpage.

You need to check if a message with a certain class appears after an action.

You want to enter text into a field identified by its class name.

You want to verify the style or presence of an element with a known class.

You want to automate navigation by clicking links styled with a class.

Syntax

Selenium Java

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

Replace "class-name" with the actual class attribute value of the element.

This finds the first element matching the class name on the page.

Examples

Finds the first element with class submit-btn, often a submit button.

Selenium Java

WebElement button = driver.findElement(By.className("submit-btn"));

Finds an alert message element by its class.

Selenium Java

WebElement message = driver.findElement(By.className("alert-message"));

Finds a text input field using its class name.

Selenium Java

WebElement inputField = driver.findElement(By.className("input-text"));

Sample Program

This program opens a browser, goes to a test page, finds a button by its class name submit-btn, and prints if it is visible or not. It handles the case if the element is missing.

Selenium Java

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

public class FindElementByClassNameExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Set path to chromedriver executable if needed
        // System.setProperty("webdriver.chrome.driver", "path/to/chromedriver");

        WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();
        try {
            driver.get("https://example.com/testpage");

            // Find element by class name
            WebElement button = driver.findElement(By.className("submit-btn"));

            // Check if button is displayed
            if (button.isDisplayed()) {
                System.out.println("Button found and visible.");
            } else {
                System.out.println("Button found but not visible.");
            }

        } catch (Exception e) {
            System.out.println("Element not found: " + e.getMessage());
        } finally {
            driver.quit();
        }
    }
}

Important Notes

Class names should not contain spaces; if the element has multiple classes, use only one class name at a time.

If multiple elements share the same class, findElement returns the first one found.

Use findElements to get all elements with the same class name.

Summary

findElement by className helps locate a single web element using its CSS class.

It returns the first matching element or throws an error if none found.

Useful for interacting with buttons, inputs, or messages identified by class.