Switching between windows in Selenium Java

Introduction

Sometimes, a web app opens new windows or tabs. You need to switch control to these windows to test them.

When clicking a link opens a new browser tab and you want to check its content.

When a popup window appears and you need to interact with it.

When testing multi-window workflows like login or payment popups.

When verifying that the main window remains unchanged after opening a new window.

When closing a child window and returning to the main window.

Syntax

Selenium Java

String mainWindow = driver.getWindowHandle();
for (String windowHandle : driver.getWindowHandles()) {
    if (!windowHandle.equals(mainWindow)) {
        driver.switchTo().window(windowHandle);
        break;
    }
}

getWindowHandle() returns the current window's ID.

getWindowHandles() returns all open window IDs.

Examples

This switches from the main window to the newly opened window.

Selenium Java

String mainWindow = driver.getWindowHandle();
// Switch to new window
for (String window : driver.getWindowHandles()) {
    if (!window.equals(mainWindow)) {
        driver.switchTo().window(window);
        break;
    }
}

Switch directly to a window if you know its ID.

Selenium Java

driver.switchTo().window("windowHandleId");

Switch back to the main window using its handle after working in another window.

Selenium Java

driver.switchTo().window(mainWindow);

Sample Program

This test opens a page with a button that opens a new window. It switches to the new window, prints its title, closes it, then returns to the main window and prints its title.

Selenium Java

import org.openqa.selenium.By;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;
import java.time.Duration;

public class WindowSwitchTest {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        System.setProperty("webdriver.chrome.driver", "path/to/chromedriver");
        WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();
        driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(Duration.ofSeconds(5));

        driver.get("https://www.w3schools.com/jsref/tryit.asp?filename=tryjsref_win_open");

        // Switch to iframe to click the button
        driver.switchTo().frame("iframeResult");
        driver.findElement(By.tagName("button")).click();

        String mainWindow = driver.getWindowHandle();

        // Switch to new window
        for (String windowHandle : driver.getWindowHandles()) {
            if (!windowHandle.equals(mainWindow)) {
                driver.switchTo().window(windowHandle);
                break;
            }
        }

        // Print title of new window
        System.out.println("New window title: " + driver.getTitle());

        // Close new window
        driver.close();

        // Switch back to main window
        driver.switchTo().window(mainWindow);
        System.out.println("Back to main window title: " + driver.getTitle());

        driver.quit();
    }
}

Important Notes

Always store the main window handle before switching to new windows.

Use driver.close() to close the current window, and driver.quit() to close all windows and end the session.

Switching windows is important to interact with popups or tabs opened by your test actions.

Summary

Switching windows lets your test control new browser tabs or popups.

Use getWindowHandle() and getWindowHandles() to manage windows.

Always switch back to the main window after finishing work in a new window.