How can I select checkboxes using the Selenium Java WebDriver?

Question

How can I check the checkboxes using an id or XPath expression? Is there a method similar to select by visibletext for a dropdown?

Going through the examples given for all other related questions, I could not find a proper solution that works in a concise way that by few line or method I can check a chekbox or radio button.

A sample HTML section is below:

<tbody>
    <tr>
        <td>
            <span class="120927">
            <input id="ctl00_CM_ctl01_chkOptions_0" type="checkbox" name="ctl00$CM$ctl01$chkOptions$0"/>
            <label for="ctl00_CM_ctl01_chkOptions_0">housingmoves</label>
            </span>
        </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td>
            <span class="120928">
            <input id="ctl00_CM_ctl01_chkOptions_1" type="checkbox" name="ctl00$CM$ctl01$chkOptions$1"/>
            <label for="ctl00_CM_ctl01_chkOptions_1">Seaside & Country Homes</label>
            </span>
        </td>
    </tr>
</tbody>

Well what does your HTML look like? It's impossible to answer without looking at a sample, even a very brief sample, of what your page looks like. — Arran, Feb 04 '13 at 09:30
Does this answer your question? [Click Check-box from the list of Check boxes via Selenium/Webdriver](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/11888786/click-check-box-from-the-list-of-check-boxes-via-selenium-webdriver) — Josh Correia, Sep 04 '20 at 16:57

score 68 · Answer 1 · edited Dec 01 '20 at 11:17

68

Selecting a checkbox is similar to clicking a button.

driver.findElement(By.id("idOfTheElement")).click();

will do.

However, you can also see whether the checkbox is already checked. The following snippet checks whether the checkbox is selected or not. If it is not selected, then it selects.

if ( !driver.findElement(By.id("idOfTheElement")).isSelected() )
{
     driver.findElement(By.id("idOfTheElement")).click();
}

edited Dec 01 '20 at 11:17

Peter Mortensen

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answered Feb 04 '13 at 09:54

Code Enthusiastic

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@ Code Enthusaiastic 'driver.findElement(By.id("idOfTheElement").click();' It is not working in my case. Please see my HTML code. I am using IE8 driver. – Maximus Feb 04 '13 at 10:16
I was just trying to say how to select a check box. If the attribute id of an element is dynamic then you may need to rely on css or xpath. – Code Enthusiastic Feb 04 '13 at 13:51
Yes, this seems like a more robust solution, not making assumptions about the current state of the checkboxes. – Peter Mortensen Dec 01 '20 at 07:59
In Python, it is `.is_selected()` (two changes). – Peter Mortensen Dec 01 '20 at 10:40

score 24 · Answer 2 · edited Dec 01 '20 at 07:23

24

It appears that the Internet Explorer driver does not interact with everything in the same way the other drivers do and checkboxes is one of those cases.

The trick with checkboxes is to send the Space key instead of using a click (only needed on Internet Explorer), like so in C#:

if (driver.Capabilities.BrowserName.Equals(“internet explorer"))
    driver.findElement(By.id("idOfTheElement").SendKeys(Keys.Space);
else
    driver.findElement(By.id("idOfTheElement").Click();

edited Dec 01 '20 at 07:23

Peter Mortensen

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answered Nov 12 '13 at 17:40

Scott Crowe

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4

SendKeys also is the solution for the C# driver. Thanks. – Bob Feb 13 '14 at 21:19
2

I found I had to use the send a space key method with ChromeDriver also. Ive tested the send space key method with Chrome Drive v2.14 and IEDriver 2.44. – dmeehan Feb 10 '15 at 15:43
the above solution is perfect.If you want to add an extra checking if the check box is already checked or not the u can do the same like below. try{ IWebElement TargetElement = driver.FindElement(By.XPath(xPathVal)); if (!TargetElement.Selected) { TargetElement.SendKeys(Keys.Space); } } catch (Exception e) { } – Arnab Sep 28 '15 at 18:20
In Python it is `.send_keys(Keys.SPACE)` instead of `.SendKeys(Keys.Space)` (3 differences). `Keys` requires `from selenium.webdriver.common.keys import Keys`. – Peter Mortensen Dec 01 '20 at 07:38

score 7 · Answer 3 · edited Dec 01 '20 at 07:17

7

If you want to click on all checkboxes at once, a method like this will do:

private void ClickAllCheckboxes()
{
    foreach (IWebElement e in driver.FindElements(By.xpath("//input[@type='checkbox']")))
    {
        if(!e.Selected)
            e.Click();
    }
}

edited Dec 01 '20 at 07:17

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jul 02 '13 at 08:50

Tedesco

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10

What language? The use of `.Click()` (uppercase "c") suggests it is [C#](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_Sharp_%28programming_language%29) (like [Faiz's answer](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/14682763/how-can-i-select-checkboxes-using-the-selenium-java-webdriver/17417176#17417176)). All other bindings, including Python, use lowercase (`.click()`). – Peter Mortensen Dec 01 '20 at 11:18

score 5 · Answer 4 · edited Apr 24 '18 at 10:40

5

Solution for C#

try
{
    IWebElement TargetElement = driver.FindElement(By.XPath(xPathVal));
    if (!TargetElement.Selected)
    {                    
        TargetElement.SendKeys(Keys.Space);
    }
}
catch (Exception e)
{
}

edited Apr 24 '18 at 10:40

Ahmed Ashour

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answered Sep 28 '15 at 18:21

Arnab

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How is it different from previous answers? – Peter Mortensen Dec 01 '20 at 07:50
In Python it is `.send_keys(Keys.SPACE)` instead of `.SendKeys(Keys.Space)` (three differences). `Keys` requires `from selenium.webdriver.common.keys import Keys`. – Peter Mortensen Dec 01 '20 at 10:46
In Python, it is [`.is_selected()`](https://www.selenium.dev/documentation/en/webdriver/web_element/#is-element-selected) (three changes). – Peter Mortensen Dec 01 '20 at 11:39

score 3 · Answer 5 · edited Nov 30 '20 at 23:58

3

You can use the following code:

List<WebElement> checkbox = driver.findElements(By.name("vehicle"));
((WebElement) checkbox.get(0)).click();

My HTML code was as follows:

<.input type="checkbox" name="vehicle" value="Bike">I have a bike<br/>
<.input type="checkbox" name="vehicle" value="Car">I have a car<br/>

edited Nov 30 '20 at 23:58

Peter Mortensen

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answered Feb 04 '13 at 13:46

Maria

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2

Typecast in here seems obsolete. – codepleb Apr 06 '18 at 15:26

score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Feb 04 '13 at 10:43

To get the checkbox for 'Seaside & Country Homes', use this XPath:

//label[text()='Seaside & Country Homes']/preceding-sibling::input[@type='checkbox']

To get the checkbox for 'housingmoves', use this XPath:

//label[text()='housingmoves']/preceding-sibling::input[@type='checkbox']

The principle here is to get the label with the text you want, then get the checkbox that is before the label, since that seems to be how your HTML is laid out.

To get all checkboxes, you would start a little higher up and then work down, so that is to say get the table, and then get any checkbox within a span:

//table/descendant::span/input[@type='checkbox']

Works fine for me here, with your HTML. Therefore there is something else you aren't telling us. How is it not working? Is it finding anything? — Arran, Feb 04 '13 at 12:21

score 1 · Answer 7 · edited Nov 30 '20 at 23:52

1

This should help -

IWebElement elementToClick = driver.findElement(By.xpath(""//input[contains(@id, 'lstCategory_0')]"));
elementToClick.Click();

You can also pass an id.

If you want something like visible text you can "find element" by name if they have names.

edited Nov 30 '20 at 23:52

Peter Mortensen

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answered Feb 04 '13 at 09:28

some_other_guy

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Well I am able to select dropdown values using below code and want some similar option to select checkboxes and radio button. driver.findElement(By.xpath("html/body/form/div[5]/div[3]/div[1]/div[2]/table[1]/tbody/tr[1]/td/div[2]/div[2]/ul/li/select")).click(); Select option = new Select(driver.findElement(By.id("ctl00_CM_ctl00_ddlOptions"))); option.selectByVisibleText("Yes"); – Maximus Feb 04 '13 at 09:47
@Arran Below is the extract of my HTML. ' housingmoves Seaside & Country Homes ' – Maximus Feb 04 '13 at 09:53
Sorry guys! I m new to this and do not know how differentiate code, URL and comment. – Maximus Feb 04 '13 at 09:54
What language? The use of `.Click()` (uppercase "c") suggests it is [C#](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_Sharp_%28programming_language%29) (like [Faiz's answer](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/14682763/how-can-i-select-checkboxes-using-the-selenium-java-webdriver/17417176#17417176)). All other bindings, including Python, use lowercase (`.click()`). – Peter Mortensen Dec 01 '20 at 11:02

score 1 · Answer 8 · edited Dec 01 '20 at 08:17

1

A solution using WebDriver and C# is below. The key idea is to get the ID of the checkbox from the labels' 'for' attribute, and use that to identify the checkbox.

The code will also set the checkbox state only if it needs to be changed.

public void SetCheckboxStatus(string value, bool toCheck)
{
    // Get the label containing the checkbox state
    IWebElement labelElement = this.Driver.FindElement(By.XPath(string.Format("//label[.='{0}']",value)));
    string checkboxId = labelElement.GetAttribute("for");

    IWebElement checkbox = this.Driver.FindElement(By.Id(checkboxId));

    if (toCheck != checkbox.Selected)
    {
        checkbox.Click();
    }
}

edited Dec 01 '20 at 08:17

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jul 02 '13 at 03:59

Faiz

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Yes, this seems like a more robust solution, not making assumptions about the current state of the checkboxes. – Peter Mortensen Dec 01 '20 at 07:59
In Python, it is [`.is_selected()`](https://www.selenium.dev/documentation/en/webdriver/web_element/#is-element-selected) (three changes) and [`.click()`](https://www.selenium.dev/documentation/en/webdriver/browser_manipulation/#frames-and-iframes) (lowercase), respectively. – Peter Mortensen Dec 01 '20 at 11:34

score 1 · Answer 9 · edited Apr 24 '18 at 10:40

1

I found that sometimes JavaScript doesn't allow me to click the checkbox because was working with the element by onchange event.

And that sentence helps me to allow the problem:

driver.findElement(By.xpath(".//*[@id='theID']")).sendKeys(Keys.SPACE);

edited Apr 24 '18 at 10:40

Ahmed Ashour

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answered Dec 02 '16 at 11:45

ra1x

11
1

In Python it is `.send_keys(Keys.SPACE)` instead of `.SendKeys(Keys.Space)` (three differences). `Keys` requires `from selenium.webdriver.common.keys import Keys`. – Peter Mortensen Dec 01 '20 at 10:47

score 1 · Answer 10 · edited Dec 01 '20 at 07:56

1

The below code will first get all the checkboxes present on the page, and then deselect all the checked boxes.

List<WebElement> allCheckbox = driver.findElements(By
    .xpath("//input[@type='checkbox']"));

for (WebElement ele : allCheckbox) {
    if (ele.isSelected()) {
        ele.click();
    }
}

edited Dec 01 '20 at 07:56

Peter Mortensen

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answered Apr 15 '17 at 08:57

Puneet Ghildiyal

21
5

Yes, this seems like a more robust solution, not making assumptions about the current state of the checkboxes. – Peter Mortensen Dec 01 '20 at 07:58
In Python, it is `.is_selected()` (two changes). – Peter Mortensen Dec 01 '20 at 10:40
What language is this? Java? (The question specified Java, but at least 3 answers have used C#.) – Peter Mortensen Dec 01 '20 at 11:59

score 0 · Answer 11 · edited Dec 01 '20 at 07:16

0

Running this approach will in fact toggle the checkbox; .isSelected() in Java/Selenium 2 apparently always returns false (at least with the Java, Selenium, and Firefox versions I tested it with).

The selection of the proper checkbox isn't where the problem lies -- rather, it is in distinguishing correctly the initial state to needlessly avoid reclicking an already-checked box.

edited Dec 01 '20 at 07:16

Peter Mortensen

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answered Feb 27 '13 at 02:26

Dave

1

In Python, it is `.is_selected()` (two changes). – Peter Mortensen Dec 01 '20 at 10:40

score 0 · Answer 12 · edited Dec 01 '20 at 07:18

0

To select a checkbox, use the "WebElement" class.

To operate on a drop-down list, use the "Select" class.

edited Dec 01 '20 at 07:18

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jul 25 '13 at 06:54

Khan

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14

score 0 · Answer 13 · edited Dec 01 '20 at 07:41

Step 1:

The object locator supposed to be used here is XPath. So derive the XPath for those two checkboxes.

String housingmoves="//label[contains(text(),'housingmoves')]/preceding-sibling::input";
String season_country_homes="//label[contains(text(),'Seaside & Country Homes')]/preceding-sibling::input";

Step 2:

Perform a click on the checkboxes

driver.findElement(By.xpath(housingmoves)).click();
driver.findElement(By.xpath(season_country_homes)).click();

score 0 · Answer 14 · edited Dec 01 '20 at 07:42

0

For a partial match, do the following:

getDriver().findElement(By.cssSelector("<tag name>[id*='id pattern to look for']")).click();

edited Dec 01 '20 at 07:42

Peter Mortensen

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answered Dec 03 '14 at 20:09

RCR

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15

score 0 · Answer 15 · edited Dec 01 '20 at 07:46

0

Here is the C# version of Scott Crowe's answer. I found that both IEDriver and ChromeDriver responded to sending a Key.Space instead of clicking on the checkbox.

if (((RemoteWebDriver)driver).Capabilities.BrowserName == "firefox")
{
    // Firefox
    driver.FindElement(By.Id("idOfTheElement")).Click();
}
else
{
    // Chrome and Internet Explorer
    driver.FindElement(By.Id("idOfTheElement")).SendKeys(Keys.Space);
}

edited Dec 01 '20 at 07:46

Peter Mortensen

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answered Feb 10 '15 at 16:20

dmeehan

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1

In Python it is `.send_keys(Keys.SPACE)` instead of `.SendKeys(Keys.Space)` (three differences). `Keys` requires `from selenium.webdriver.common.keys import Keys`. – Peter Mortensen Dec 01 '20 at 10:45
1

In Python it is `.click()` (lowercase). – Peter Mortensen Dec 01 '20 at 11:36

score 0 · Answer 16 · answered Sep 25 '15 at 09:42

0

Maybe a good starting point:

isChecked  = driver.findElement((By.id("idOftheElement"))).getAttribute("name");
if(!isChecked.contains("chkOptions$1"))
{
    driver.FindElement(By.Id("idOfTheElement")).Click();
}

answered Sep 25 '15 at 09:42

Milky

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How is it different from [Scott Crowe's answer](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/14682763/how-can-i-select-checkboxes-using-the-selenium-java-webdriver/19936164#19936164) and other answers? – Peter Mortensen Dec 01 '20 at 10:42
What language? The use of [`.Click()`](https://www.selenium.dev/documentation/en/webdriver/browser_manipulation/#frames-and-iframes) (uppercase "c") suggests it is [C#](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_Sharp_%28programming_language%29) (both Java and Python ruled out). All other bindings, including Python, use lowercase (`.click()`). – Peter Mortensen Dec 01 '20 at 11:38

score 0 · Answer 17 · edited Dec 01 '20 at 07:55

I tried with various approaches, but nothing worked. I kept getting "Cannot click element" or ElementNotVisibleException.

I was able to find the input, but I couldn't check it. Now, I'm clicking on the div that contains the checkbox and it works with following HTML (CSS based on Bootstrap).

 @foreach (var item in Model)
 {
     <tr>
         <td>
             <div id="@item.Id" class="checkbox">
                 <label><input type="checkbox" class="selectone" value="@item.Id"></label>
             </div>
         </td>
         <td val="@item.Id">
             @item.Detail
         </td>
         <td>
             <div>@item.Desc
             </div>
         </td>
         <td>
             @Html.ActionLink("Edit", "Create", new { EditId = item.Id })
         </td>
     </tr>
 }

This is the code for WebDriver:

var table = driver.FindElement(By.TagName("table"));
var tds = table.FindElements(By.TagName("td"));
var itemTds = tds.Where(t => t.Text == itemtocheck);
foreach (var td in itemTds)
{
    var CheckBoxTd = tds[tds.IndexOf(td) - 1];
    var val = td.GetAttribute("val");
    CheckBoxTd.FindElement(By.Id(val)).Click();
}

In this approach, I give the item id as id for the div and also add an attribute for td with that id. Once I find the td of the item that needs to be checked, I can find the div before that td and click it. We can also use the XPath query that supports before (here is the example http://learn-automation.com/how-to-write-dynamic-xpath-in-selenium/).

What language in the last part? The use of [`.Click()`](https://www.selenium.dev/documentation/en/webdriver/browser_manipulation/#switching-windows-or-tabs) (uppercase "c") suggests it is [C#](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_Sharp_%28programming_language%29) (both Java and Python ruled out). All other bindings, including Python, use lowercase (`.click()`). — Peter Mortensen, Dec 01 '20 at 11:55

How can I select checkboxes using the Selenium Java WebDriver?

17 Answers17

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