Handling hidden elements in Selenium Java - Build an Automation Script

Verify interaction with a hidden element on a web page

Preconditions (2)

Step 1: Navigate to the test page URL

Step 2: Locate and click the 'Show' button to reveal the hidden button

Step 3: Wait until the hidden button is visible

Step 4: Click the now visible hidden button

Step 5: Verify that clicking the hidden button triggers the expected action (e.g., a message appears)

✅ Expected Result: The hidden button becomes visible after clicking 'Show', can be clicked, and triggers the expected action

Automation Requirements - Selenium WebDriver with Java

Assertions Needed:

Assert the hidden button is not visible before clicking 'Show'

Assert the hidden button is visible after clicking 'Show'

Assert the expected action occurs after clicking the hidden button

Best Practices:

Use explicit waits (WebDriverWait) to wait for element visibility

Use By locators with IDs or unique attributes

Avoid Thread.sleep; use waits instead

Handle NoSuchElementException and ElementNotInteractableException properly

Automated Solution

Selenium Java

import org.openqa.selenium.By;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebElement;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.support.ui.ExpectedConditions;
import org.openqa.selenium.support.ui.WebDriverWait;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.AfterEach;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.*;
import java.time.Duration;

public class HiddenElementTest {
    private WebDriver driver;
    private WebDriverWait wait;

    @BeforeEach
    public void setUp() {
        // Set path to chromedriver executable if needed
        driver = new ChromeDriver();
        wait = new WebDriverWait(driver, Duration.ofSeconds(10));
    }

    @Test
    public void testHiddenElementInteraction() {
        driver.get("https://example.com/test-hidden-element");

        By showButtonLocator = By.id("show-button");
        By hiddenButtonLocator = By.id("hidden-button");
        By messageLocator = By.id("message");

        // Assert hidden button is not visible initially
        assertTrue(driver.findElements(hiddenButtonLocator).size() > 0, "Hidden button should be present in DOM");
        WebElement hiddenButton = driver.findElement(hiddenButtonLocator);
        assertFalse(hiddenButton.isDisplayed(), "Hidden button should not be visible initially");

        // Click the 'Show' button
        WebElement showButton = driver.findElement(showButtonLocator);
        showButton.click();

        // Wait until hidden button is visible
        wait.until(ExpectedConditions.visibilityOfElementLocated(hiddenButtonLocator));

        // Click the now visible hidden button
        hiddenButton = driver.findElement(hiddenButtonLocator); // re-find element
        hiddenButton.click();

        // Verify expected action: message appears
        WebElement message = wait.until(ExpectedConditions.visibilityOfElementLocated(messageLocator));
        assertEquals("Button clicked!", message.getText(), "Expected message after clicking hidden button");
    }

    @AfterEach
    public void tearDown() {
        if (driver != null) {
            driver.quit();
        }
    }
}

This test uses Selenium WebDriver with Java and JUnit 5.

Setup: We create a ChromeDriver instance and a WebDriverWait with 10 seconds timeout.

Test steps:

• Navigate to the test page URL.
• Check the hidden button is present in the page but not visible initially.
• Click the 'Show' button to reveal the hidden button.
• Use explicit wait to wait until the hidden button becomes visible.
• Click the now visible hidden button.
• Wait for the expected message to appear and verify its text.

Teardown: Close the browser after the test.

This approach avoids using Thread.sleep and uses explicit waits for reliability. It also re-finds the hidden button after it becomes visible to avoid stale element issues.

Common Mistakes - 4 Pitfalls

Using Thread.sleep() to wait for the hidden element to appear

Trying to click the hidden element before it is visible

Using XPath with absolute paths for locating elements

Not handling NoSuchElementException when element is not found

Bonus Challenge

Now add data-driven testing with 3 different URLs where the hidden button behaves similarly

Show Hint