Debug School

rakesh kumar
rakesh kumar

Posted on

Explain ElementNotInteractableException in selenium

ElementNotInteractableException in Selenium occurs when you attempt to interact with an element on a web page, but the element is present and visible, yet it cannot be interacted with due to some reason. Here are different scenarios when an ElementNotInteractableException can occur, along with coding examples:

Element Covered by Another Element:

Element with Zero Dimensions

Disabled Form Elements

Invisible Elements

Read-only Elements:

Hidden Elements:

Non-Input Elements with Invalid Actions:

Element Covered by Another Element:

This occurs when the element you want to interact with is covered or obscured by another element.

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.common.exceptions import ElementNotInteractableException

driver = webdriver.Chrome()
try:
    driver.get("https://example.com")
    element_to_click = driver.find_element_by_id("element-to-click")
    covering_element = driver.find_element_by_id("covering-element")
    covering_element.click()  # Raises ElementNotInteractableException
except ElementNotInteractableException as e:
    print(f"ElementNotInteractableException: {e}")
finally:
    driver.quit()
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Element with Zero Dimensions:

If an element has zero width or height, it may not be interactable.

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.common.exceptions import ElementNotInteractableException

driver = webdriver.Chrome()
try:
    driver.get("https://example.com")
    zero_dimension_element = driver.find_element_by_id("zero-dimension-element")
    zero_dimension_element.click()  # Raises ElementNotInteractableException
except ElementNotInteractableException as e:
    print(f"ElementNotInteractableException: {e}")
finally:
    driver.quit()
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Disabled Form Elements:

Disabled input fields, buttons, or form elements cannot be interacted with.

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.common.exceptions import ElementNotInteractableException

driver = webdriver.Chrome()
try:
    driver.get("https://example.com")
    disabled_button = driver.find_element_by_id("disabled-button")
    disabled_button.click()  # Raises ElementNotInteractableException
except ElementNotInteractableException as e:
    print(f"ElementNotInteractableException: {e}")
finally:
    driver.quit()
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Invisible Elements:

Elements that are set to display: none or are otherwise not visible cannot be interacted with.

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.common.exceptions import ElementNotInteractableException

driver = webdriver.Chrome()
try:
    driver.get("https://example.com")
    invisible_element = driver.find_element_by_id("invisible-element")
    invisible_element.click()  # Raises ElementNotInteractableException
except ElementNotInteractableException as e:
    print(f"ElementNotInteractableException: {e}")
finally:
    driver.quit()
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Read-only Elements:

Read-only input fields cannot be modified.

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.common.exceptions import ElementNotInteractableException

driver = webdriver.Chrome()
try:
    driver.get("https://example.com")
    read_only_input = driver.find_element_by_id("read-only-input")
    read_only_input.send_keys("Text")  # Raises ElementNotInteractableException
except ElementNotInteractableException as e:
    print(f"ElementNotInteractableException: {e}")
finally:
    driver.quit()
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Hidden Elements:

Elements that are hidden using CSS properties like visibility: hidden or opacity: 0 cannot be interacted with.

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.common.exceptions import ElementNotInteractableException

driver = webdriver.Chrome()
try:
    driver.get("https://example.com")
    hidden_element = driver.find_element_by_id("hidden-element")
    hidden_element.click()  # Raises ElementNotInteractableException
except ElementNotInteractableException as e:
    print(f"ElementNotInteractableException: {e}")
finally:
    driver.quit()
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Non-Input Elements with Invalid Actions:

Trying to perform actions like sending keys or clicking on non-input elements (e.g.,

, ) that do not support those actions.
from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.common.exceptions import ElementNotInteractableException

driver = webdriver.Chrome()
try:
    driver.get("https://example.com")
    non_input_element = driver.find_element_by_id("non-input-element")
    non_input_element.send_keys("Text")  # Raises ElementNotInteractableException
except ElementNotInteractableException as e:
    print(f"ElementNotInteractableException: {e}")
finally:
    driver.quit()

Handling ElementNotInteractableException usually involves ensuring that the element is in an interactable state before attempting to interact with it. You can use explicit waits, check for element attributes, or adjust your test logic to accommodate the element's state.

Latest comments (0)