Browser profile management in Selenium Java - Build an Automation Script

Verify browser profile settings are applied correctly in Selenium

Preconditions (2)

Step 1: Create a new Firefox profile with a custom preference (e.g., disable images loading)

Step 2: Launch Firefox browser using Selenium WebDriver with the created profile

Step 3: Navigate to a website that contains images (e.g., https://example.com)

Step 4: Verify that images are not loaded due to the profile setting

✅ Expected Result: Firefox browser launches with the custom profile settings applied, and images on the website do not load

Automation Requirements - Selenium WebDriver with Java

Assertions Needed:

Verify the browser is launched with the custom profile

Verify that images are not loaded on the webpage

Best Practices:

Use FirefoxProfile to set preferences before launching the browser

Use explicit waits if needed to ensure page load

Use Page Object Model if expanding tests

Close the browser properly after test

Automated Solution

Selenium Java

import org.openqa.selenium.By;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxOptions;
import org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxProfile;
import org.openqa.selenium.support.ui.ExpectedConditions;
import org.openqa.selenium.support.ui.WebDriverWait;

import java.time.Duration;

public class BrowserProfileTest {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Set system property for geckodriver path if needed
        // System.setProperty("webdriver.gecko.driver", "/path/to/geckodriver");

        // Create Firefox profile
        FirefoxProfile profile = new FirefoxProfile();
        // Disable image loading: set preference to 2 (block images)
        profile.setPreference("permissions.default.image", 2);

        // Set Firefox options with profile
        FirefoxOptions options = new FirefoxOptions();
        options.setProfile(profile);

        // Initialize WebDriver with options
        WebDriver driver = new FirefoxDriver(options);

        try {
            // Navigate to example.com
            driver.get("https://example.com");

            // Wait for page to load
            WebDriverWait wait = new WebDriverWait(driver, Duration.ofSeconds(10));
            wait.until(ExpectedConditions.presenceOfElementLocated(By.tagName("body")));

            // Verify images are not loaded
            // Check if any <img> elements have naturalWidth > 0 (means loaded)
            boolean imagesLoaded = (Boolean) ((org.openqa.selenium.JavascriptExecutor) driver).executeScript(
                    "return Array.from(document.images).some(img => img.naturalWidth > 0);"
            );

            if (!imagesLoaded) {
                System.out.println("Test Passed: Images are blocked as per profile settings.");
            } else {
                System.out.println("Test Failed: Images are loaded despite profile settings.");
            }

        } finally {
            // Close browser
            driver.quit();
        }
    }
}

This test script creates a Firefox profile and sets a preference to block images from loading. It then launches Firefox with this profile using Selenium WebDriver.

After navigating to a website with images, it uses JavaScript execution to check if any images have loaded by checking their naturalWidth property.

If no images are loaded, the test prints a pass message; otherwise, it prints a fail message.

The script uses explicit waits to ensure the page body is present before checking images.

Finally, the browser is closed properly in a finally block to avoid resource leaks.

Common Mistakes - 3 Pitfalls

Not setting the Firefox profile in FirefoxOptions before creating the driver

Using Thread.sleep() instead of explicit waits

Checking image presence by counting <img> tags instead of verifying if images actually loaded

Bonus Challenge

Now add data-driven testing with 3 different Firefox profile preferences to block images, block JavaScript, and block CSS.

Show Hint