⏳ Waits in Selenium: Implicit vs Explicit Waits Explained

When you're automating browser actions with Selenium, your script might try to interact with elements before they’re ready (e.g., not fully loaded yet). That can lead to errors like:

NoSuchElementException or ElementNotInteractableException

To handle these timing issues, Selenium provides waits that allow your script to pause until certain conditions are met.

🔁 Types of Waits in Selenium

1. Implicit Wait

Tells Selenium to wait for a certain amount of time when trying to find an element before throwing an exception.

Applies globally to all elements in the script.

🧪 Example (in Python):

python

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from selenium import webdriver

driver = webdriver.Chrome()

driver.implicitly_wait(10)  # Wait up to 10 seconds for elements to appear

driver.get("https://example.com")

element = driver.find_element("id", "username")  # Selenium waits if element is not immediately found

✅ Use it when:

You're okay with a general wait for all elements.

You want a simple, consistent wait without fine-tuning.

2. Explicit Wait

Waits for a specific condition to be true before proceeding.

More flexible and powerful than implicit waits.

🧪 Example (in Python):

python

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Edit

from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By

from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait

from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC

driver = webdriver.Chrome()

driver.get("https://example.com")

# Wait for a specific element to be clickable (up to 10 seconds)

element = WebDriverWait(driver, 10).until(

    EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.ID, "submit-button"))

)

element.click()

✅ Use it when:

You want to wait for a specific condition, like:

An element becoming clickable

An element being visible

A specific text appearing

⚠️ Key Differences

Feature Implicit Wait Explicit Wait

Scope Global (applies to all find operations) Specific to a condition or element

Flexibility Less flexible Highly flexible

Setup Once at the beginning Every time you need to wait for something

Conditions Supported None (just waits for presence) Many (clickable, visible, present, etc.)

🧠 Best Practice

Use Explicit Waits for most scenarios.

They're more reliable and give you better control, especially when:

Elements load dynamically (e.g., with JavaScript or AJAX)

You need to check specific conditions

Avoid mixing implicit and explicit waits — it can cause unpredictable delays and bugs.

✅ Summary

Wait Type Description When to Use

Implicit Wait Waits up to a fixed time for all elements Simple, low-maintenance scripts

Explicit Wait Waits for specific conditions to be true Dynamic content or complex workflows

Learn Selenium Python Training in Hyderabad

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