getAttribute() method in Selenium: What, Why, and How to use

Selenium’s getAttribute() method helps testers extract attribute values from web elements for validation during automation.

Overview

What is the getAttribute() method?

It retrieves the value of a specified attribute from a web element in the DOM.

Why is the getAttribute() method required?

Web apps often render elements dynamically. Validating attributes like href, value, or placeholder ensures consistent behavior across browsers, devices, and screen sizes.

How to use the getAttribute() method in Selenium?

Locate the element using Selenium locators.
Call .get_attribute(“attribute_name”) on the element.
Use the returned value for validation in your test logic.
Combine with conditions to assert expected behavior.
Run tests on real devices to catch cross-browser or UI-specific issues.

This article discusses the purpose, usage, and importance of getAttribute() in Selenium, with code examples, best practices, and tips for real-world testing using tools like BrowserStack Automate.

What are HTML Attributes?

Attributes are additional bits of information developers include in HTML tags. Attributes help in defining the characteristics of HTML elements. Apart from basic HTML tags like <h1>,<h2>, paragraph tag <p>, there are certain tags which can also include attributes.

Attributes are normally defined using “name-value” pairs. The name is the property that a developer wants to set. Consider a basic HTML tag with an attribute title. It can be defined as follows:

<h3 title=”HTML Attributes”> ATTRIBUTES </h3>

In the above example, the h3 tag has an attribute with the property name as title and property value as HTML Attributes.

What is the getAttribute() method?

The getAttribute() method is declared in the WebElement interface, and it returns the value of the web element’s attribute as a string. For attributes having boolean values, the getAttribute() method will return either true or null.

Why is the getAttribute() method required?

During the test script automation, QAs might need to fetch the attribute values of specific web elements to verify certain test scripts.

Consider an air ticket booking application. The color of booked and available seats are different. Red represents the booked seats, and available seats are represented by green. So, for verifying whether a seat is booked or available, QAs need to fetch the attribute (color) value through the test script. Once the status of the seat is verified, only then can QAs verify further test scenarios.

How to use the getAttribute() method in Selenium?

The getAttribute() method in Selenium retrieves the value of an attribute of a web element. This is especially useful when extracting dynamic content or hidden data (like href, value, title, or data-* attributes) that isn’t directly visible in the DOM.

Must Read: Understanding DOM (Document Object Model) in Selenium?

Syntax:

element.get_attribute("attribute_name")

The snippet below represents the HTML code for the search box of duckduckgo.

<input id="search_form_input_homepage" class="js-search-input search__input--adv" type="text" autocomplete="off" name="q" tabindex="1" value="" autocapitalize="off" autocorrect="off">

The above Web Element has multiple attributes like class, type, name, etc.

Developers or QAs can retrieve values for these attributes using the getAttribute() method in Selenium.

Refer to the complete code below for better understanding:

public class GetAttributeSample
{
public static void main(String[] args) 
{
System.setProperty("webdriver.chrome.driver", "./exefiles/chromedriver.exe");
WebDriver driver= new ChromeDriver();
driver.manage().window().maximize();
driver.get("https://duckduckgo.com/");

WebElement searchTextBox= driver.findElement(By.id("search_form_input_homepage"));

// retrieving html attribute value using getAttribute() method
String typeValue=searchTextBox.getAttribute("type");
System.out.println("Value of type attribute: "+typeValue);

String autocompleteValue=searchTextBox.getAttribute("autocomplete");
System.out.println("Value of autocomplete attribute: "+autocompleteValue);

// Retrieving value of attribute which does not exist
String nonExistingAttributeValue=searchTextBox.getAttribute("nonExistingAttribute");
System.out.println("Value of nonExistingAttribute attribute: "+nonExistingAttributeValue);

}
}

Output:

Value of type attribute: text
Value of autocomplete attribute: off
Value of nonExistingAttribute attribute: null

When the above code is executed, it automatically fetches the attributes – type and autocomplete. For the attribute which is not available, it returns the null value.

Did you know: 5 hidden Selenium tricks to make your life easier

How to Use getAttribute() in Selenium with Python

Here’s a practical example using Selenium and Python to fetch the href attribute of a link:

Example:

from selenium import webdriver

from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By




driver = webdriver.Chrome()

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




# Locate the link element

link = driver.find_element(By.TAG_NAME, "a")




# Get the href attribute

href_value = link.get_attribute("href")




print("Link URL:", href_value)




driver.quit()

You can also fetch other attributes like placeholder, type, class, value, etc.

Understanding Selenium WebElement Attributes

Web elements in Selenium often have various attributes defined in HTML, such as:

id: Unique identifier
class: CSS class(es)
name: Element name
value: Input value
href: URL in anchor tags
type: Input type (text, submit, etc.)

You can retrieve any of these using getAttribute() if they exist in the HTML.

Must Read: findElement and findElements in Selenium

Example:

input_field = driver.find_element(By.ID, "search")

print("Placeholder text:", input_field.get_attribute("placeholder"))

getAttribute() vs getProperty() vs getText() in Selenium

Here’s a comparison of the three commonly used methods in Selenium for retrieving element values and content.

Method	Description	Use Case Example
getAttribute()	Returns the value of the specified HTML attribute	element.get_attribute(“href”)
getProperty()	Returns the current value of a DOM property (runtime JS state)	element.get_property(“value”)
getText()	Returns the visible text of the element	element.get_text()

Example Comparison:

# Assume <input type="text" value="Hello" />

input_field = driver.find_element(By.ID, "name")

print("Attribute value:", input_field.get_attribute("value"))   # "Hello"

print("Property value:", input_field.get_property("value"))     # "Hello" (updated by JS if changed)

Use getAttribute() for static HTML values.
Use getProperty() for dynamic values updated by JavaScript.
Use getText() for visible text between opening and closing tags.

Also Read: Understanding Remote WebElement in Selenium WebDriver

Common Use Cases for getAttribute() in Selenium

Here are some practical scenarios where the getAttribute() method proves invaluable in Selenium test automation:

1. Fetching Element Value: Retrieve the value of input fields or text areas using the value attribute.

Example: To verify if a text box contains the expected data entered by a user.

String inputValue = driver.findElement(By.id("exampleInput")).getAttribute("value");

2. Verifying Element State: Inspect attributes like disabled or readonly to confirm an element’s behavior.

Example: Check if a button is disabled after specific actions.

String isDisabled = driver.findElement(By.id("submitButton")).getAttribute("disabled");

3. Extracting Dynamic Data: Access dynamically generated attributes like data-* attributes in HTML5.

Example: Fetch a dynamic data-id to operate specific to that ID.

String dataId = driver.findElement(By.className("item")).getAttribute("data-id");

4. Checking Hyperlink Hrefs: Get the href attribute of anchor tags to validate navigation links.

Example: Confirm that a URL points to the expected destination.

String link = driver.findElement(By.linkText("Learn More")).getAttribute("href");

5. Validating Element Visibility: Use attributes like style to examine visibility settings such as display:none or hidden.

Example: Confirm that a modal appears after a user action.

String displayValue = driver.findElement(By.id("popup")).getAttribute("style");

6. Analyzing CSS Styling: Verify inline CSS properties embedded in style attributes.

Example: Ensure a submit button has the required background color.

String buttonColor = driver.findElement(By.id("submitBtn")).getAttribute("style");

7. Reading Default Values: Extract pre-set properties such as placeholder text in input fields.

Example: Validate placeholder text for improved user experience.

String placeholder = driver.findElement(By.name("email")).getAttribute("placeholder");

These cases demonstrate how getAttribute() simplifies testing by providing precise insights into web elements’ attributes. Use it effectively to create robust and reliable Selenium test scripts.

Why Validate Attributes Using getAttribute() on Real Browsers & Devices

Validating attributes like href, value, or placeholder ensures consistent behavior across browsers and devices. Using getAttribute() on real environments helps catch issues that emulators often miss, like broken links or misaligned elements.

With BrowserStack Automate, teams can run Selenium tests on a wide range of real browsers and devices, ensuring accurate attribute validation under real user conditions, without setting up or maintaining in-house test infrastructure.

Accurate Attribute Validation: Ensure that dynamic attributes like href, value, aria-label, or placeholder reflect correctly across devices and browsers.
Cross-Browser Compatibility: Detect inconsistencies in attribute rendering between Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge early in the test cycle.
Real-World Conditions: Test attributes under actual device resolutions, OS-level settings, and network conditions to mimic real user behavior.
No Maintenance Overhead: Use BrowserStack Automate’s cloud-based real device and browser grid
Faster Debugging: Access screenshots, video logs, and console messages for failed attribute assertions directly through BrowserStack’s dashboard.

Talk to an Expert

Conclusion

The getAttribute() method in Selenium is essential for verifying dynamic web elements and ensuring consistent user experiences across browsers and devices.

When used effectively, especially on real devices via platforms like BrowserStack Automate, it helps catch critical UI issues early, making your tests more reliable and your web apps more robust.

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getAttribute() method in Selenium: What, Why, and How to use