How to Close Browser in Selenium: Syntax and Examples

In Selenium, you can close the current browser window using driver.close() or close all browser windows and end the session using driver.quit(). Use close() to close one window and quit() to exit the entire browser session.

Syntax

driver.close(): Closes the current browser window that the driver is controlling.

driver.quit(): Closes all browser windows opened by the driver and ends the WebDriver session.

python

driver.close()
driver.quit()

Example

This example opens a browser, navigates to a website, then closes the current window with close() and finally quits the browser session with quit().

python

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.service import Service
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.options import Options

options = Options()
options.add_argument('--headless')  # Run browser in headless mode

service = Service()
driver = webdriver.Chrome(service=service, options=options)

driver.get('https://example.com')
print('Title:', driver.title)

driver.close()  # Closes current window

# After close(), the driver session still exists if multiple windows were open
# To fully end session, use quit()
driver.quit()

Output

Title: Example Domain

Common Pitfalls

• Using driver.close() when multiple windows are open closes only the current window, leaving others open.
• Not calling driver.quit() at the end can leave browser processes running in the background.
• Calling driver.quit() before finishing tests will cause errors because the session ends immediately.

python

from selenium import webdriver

# Wrong: quitting too early
# driver.quit()
# driver.get('https://example.com')  # This will cause error because session ended

# Right:
driver = webdriver.Chrome()
driver.get('https://example.com')
driver.quit()  # Ends session after test

Quick Reference

Method	Description
driver.close()	Closes the current browser window
driver.quit()	Closes all browser windows and ends the WebDriver session

Key Takeaways

Use driver.close() to close the current browser window only.

Use driver.quit() to close all windows and end the WebDriver session.

Always call driver.quit() at the end to avoid leftover browser processes.

Do not call driver.quit() before your test actions are complete.

driver.close() does not end the WebDriver session if multiple windows are open.