How to Fix Stale Element Reference Exception in Selenium

 

Introduction

Have you ever encountered a Stale Element Reference Exception while working with Selenium? This is a common challenge faced by QA engineers that can be frustrating to debug. In this blog, I’ll explain why it happens and provide simple, actionable solutions to resolve it.

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What is Stale Element Reference Exception?

This error occurs when the element you are trying to interact with is no longer present in the DOM or has changed since it was initially located.

Common Causes:

1. The element is removed or updated on the page.
2. The page has been refreshed or navigated to a new state.
3. Dynamic content has modified the DOM.

Solutions to Fix the Error

1. Re-Locate the Element
   Instead of using a cached element, locate it again before performing any operation

           WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.id("button"));

           element.click();

      2. Use Explicit Waits

          Adding explicit waits ensures that Selenium interacts with elements only after they are fully loaded.

          WebDriverWait wait = new WebDriverWait(driver, Duration.ofSeconds(10));

          WebElement element = wait.until(ExpectedConditions.elementToBeClickable(By.id("button")));

          element.click();

      3.Avoid Using Static Locators

If the DOM is dynamic, update locators dynamically or use relative strategies like XPath or CSS selectors.

     4.Handle Page Refresh

If a page refresh causes the issue, wait for the page to reload completely:

driver.navigate().refresh();

WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.id("button"));

element.click();

Check the Element's State

Before interacting with an element, validate its presence and state using conditional checks.

if(element.isDisplayed() && element.isEnabled()) {

    element.click();

}

Example Scenario

Let’s say you’re automating a login page where the submit button is dynamically updated after entering credentials. Here’s a sample fix using re-location:

WebElement submitBtn = driver.findElement(By.id("submit"));

submitBtn.click(); // might throw a Stale Element Reference Exception

// Solution: Re-locate the element

submitBtn = driver.findElement(By.id("submit"));

submitBtn.click();

Conclusion

Understanding the cause of the Stale Element Reference Exception can save you significant debugging time. By following these best practices, you can prevent this error and create robust, reliable test scripts.

Do you use similar techniques to handle dynamic elements in your test scripts? Let’s continue the discussion! Leave a comment or connect with me on LinkedIn.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/aravindhkrishn/