Browser profile configuration in Selenium Python - Build an Automation Script

Configure Firefox browser profile to disable notifications and verify settings

Preconditions (2)

Step 1: Create a new Firefox profile

Step 2: Set the profile preference to disable browser notifications

Step 3: Launch Firefox browser with this profile

Step 4: Navigate to https://www.example.com

Step 5: Verify that the browser notifications are disabled

✅ Expected Result: Firefox browser launches with notifications disabled and loads https://www.example.com successfully

Automation Requirements - Selenium with Python

Assertions Needed:

Verify the browser is launched with the custom profile

Verify the page title contains 'Example Domain' to confirm navigation

Verify that notifications are disabled by checking the profile preference

Best Practices:

Use FirefoxProfile to set preferences before browser launch

Use explicit waits if needed for page load

Use assertions from unittest or pytest for validation

Close the browser after test to free resources

Automated Solution

Selenium Python

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.firefox.options import Options
import unittest

class TestFirefoxProfile(unittest.TestCase):
    def setUp(self):
        # Create Firefox profile
        self.profile = webdriver.FirefoxProfile()
        # Disable notifications
        self.profile.set_preference("dom.webnotifications.enabled", False)
        self.profile.update_preferences()

        options = Options()
        # Launch Firefox with the custom profile
        self.driver = webdriver.Firefox(firefox_profile=self.profile, options=options)

    def test_notifications_disabled(self):
        self.driver.get("https://www.example.com")
        # Assert page title contains 'Example Domain'
        self.assertIn("Example Domain", self.driver.title)
        # Verify the preference is set (indirectly, since direct check is not possible via WebDriver)
        # We rely on profile setting correctness here

    def tearDown(self):
        self.driver.quit()

if __name__ == '__main__':
    unittest.main()

This test script uses Selenium with Python's unittest framework.

In setUp, we create a Firefox profile and set the preference dom.webnotifications.enabled to False to disable notifications.

We launch Firefox with this profile.

The test navigates to https://www.example.com and asserts the page title contains 'Example Domain' to confirm navigation.

Direct verification of notification settings via WebDriver is not possible, so we trust the profile setting.

Finally, tearDown closes the browser to clean up.

Common Mistakes - 4 Pitfalls

Not setting the profile preferences before launching the browser

Using deprecated FirefoxProfile API or incorrect method names

Not closing the browser after test execution

Trying to verify browser preferences directly via WebDriver commands

Bonus Challenge

Now add data-driven testing with 3 different Firefox profile preferences to disable notifications, disable images, and set a custom homepage

Show Hint