10 Common Selenium Locator Mistakes in 2025

Introduction

Locators are the backbone of Selenium automation—but one tiny mistake can turn your test suite into a house of cards. From brittle XPath expressions to over-reliance on dynamic IDs, even seasoned automation engineers make these errors.

In this guide, we’ll dissect the 10 most common locator mistakes plaguing Selenium users in 2025, with code examples and actionable fixes to stabilize your tests. Let’s turn those flaky failures into rock-solid reliability.

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Mistake #1: Using Absolute XPath

The Crime:

// Bad practice!  
By.xpath("/html/body/div[2]/div[3]/form/input[1]");  
Why It Fails: Absolute XPath breaks with the slightest DOM change (e.g., a new div added).
The Fix: Use relative XPath with unique attributes:
// Better!  
By.xpath("//input[@id='username' and @class='login-field']");  
Mistake #2: Overusing Dynamic IDs
The Crime:
// Risky!  
By.id("submitButton_1698765432");  
Why It Fails: Dynamic IDs (e.g., submitButton_<timestamp>) change every session.
The Fix: Target stable attributes or combine with other locators:
// Safer!  
By.cssSelector("button[id^='submitButton'][type='submit']");  
Mistake #3: Ignoring Explicit Waits
The Crime: Assuming elements load instantly.

driver.findElement(By.id("slowLoadingButton")).click(); // Fails randomly!  
The Fix: Pair locators with explicit waits:

WebDriverWait wait = new WebDriverWait(driver, Duration.ofSeconds(10));  
wait.until(ExpectedConditions.elementToBeClickable(By.id("slowLoadingButton"))).click();  
Mistake #4: Overcomplicating CSS Selectors
The Crime:
By.cssSelector("div.container > div.row > div.col-md-4 > a.btn-primary");  
Why It Fails: Too specific—breaks on UI tweaks.
The Fix: Simplify with unique classes/IDs:
By.cssSelector("a.btn-primary[data-testid='purchase-button']");  
Mistake #5: Relying on Text Content
The Crime:
// Fragile!  
By.xpath("//button[text()='Submit']");  
Why It Fails: Text labels change (e.g., "Submit" → "Save").
The Fix: Use partial text or combine with attributes:
By.xpath("//button[contains(text(), 'Sub') and @role='submit']");  
Mistake #6: Not Prioritizing Accessibility
The Crime: Ignoring ARIA labels.
By.cssSelector("div.customDropdown"); // Unreliable  
The Fix: Leverage ARIA roles/labels:
By.cssSelector("[role='combobox'][aria-label='Country Selector']");  
Mistake #7: Using Indexes in CSS/XPath
The Crime:
By.xpath("(//div[@class='product'])[3]"); // Breaks if order changes!  
The Fix: Use unique identifiers instead:
By.xpath("//div[@class='product' and @data-sku='ABC123']");  
Mistake #8: Forgetting Shadow DOM
The Crime: Not handling shadow roots in modern web apps.
// Fails for shadow DOM elements!  
By.cssSelector("input#username");  
The Fix: Use JavaScriptExecutor to penetrate shadow DOM:
WebElement shadowHost = driver.findElement(By.cssSelector("custom-login"));  
WebElement shadowRoot = (WebElement) ((JavascriptExecutor) driver).executeScript("return arguments[0].shadowRoot", shadowHost);  
WebElement username = shadowRoot.findElement(By.cssSelector("input#username"));  
Mistake #9: Hardcoding Locators
The Crime: Repeating locators across 100 tests.
// Hard to maintain!  
By.id("submitButton");  
The Fix: Centralize locators in a Page Object Model (POM):
// LoginPage.java  
public static final By SUBMIT_BUTTON = By.id("submitButton");  
Mistake #10: Not Testing Cross-Browser
The Crime: Assuming locators work everywhere.
Why It Fails: An XPath valid in Chrome may fail in Firefox.
The Fix:
Test locators across Chrome, Firefox, Safari.
Use browser-agnostic attributes (e.g., data-testid).
Pro Tip: Validate Locators with Tools
Browser DevTools: Test XPath/CSS in the console with $x("//your/xpath") or document.querySelectorAll().
BrowserStack: Verify locators across browsers/OS.