Message: no such element: Unable to locate element Selenium Python

Question

I am trying to click on a button but getting this error message: The element I am trying to click does exist on the page but I am not sure why it's saying that the element does not exist:

Message: no such element: Unable to locate element: {"method":"xpath","selector":"//button[@class="vote_button mfp-voteText"]"}

Below is my code:

driver.get('https://trupanion.com/canada/members/contest?pixlee_album_photo_id=427049511')

time.sleep(10)

try:
    vote = driver.find_element_by_xpath('//button[@class="vote_button mfp-voteText"]')
    vote.click()
except Exception as e:
    print(e)

Below is the XPath in chrome dev tool which shows it's correct:

Maybe because the web page is not loaded? I see the error: Error 1020 This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. — Sergii Dmytrenko, Jul 15 '20 at 11:07
The element is loaded. I did check it after the error but it was there. If there any fix? — codewithawais, Jul 15 '20 at 11:09

frianH · Answer 1 · 2020-07-15T11:34:25.247

It inside a <frame> tag, switch it first:

driver.get('https://trupanion.com/canada/members/contest?pixlee_album_photo_id=427049511')

time.sleep(10)

try:
    #switch it first
    driver.switch_to.frame(driver.find_element_by_id('pixlee_lightbox_iframe'))
    vote = driver.find_element_by_xpath('//button[@class="vote_button mfp-voteText"]')
    vote.click()
except Exception as e:
    print(e)

But note time.sleep(..) is a bad idea.

You can learn selenium waits here:

selenium-python.readthedocs.io/waits.html

And for switch a frame:

.frame_to_be_available_and_switch_to_it

Although your xpath will work, the css selector looks better:

vote = driver.find_element_by_css_selector('button.vote_button.mfp-voteText')

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 15 '20 at 11:09

Try to use css selector instead of XPATH with the WebdriverWait() function. It will wait X seconds for an element to be clickable and will click it as soon as it is present. However, you need to switch to the frame that you have to find by a frame selector.

from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By
from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait
from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC

self.webdriver.switch_to_frame(self.webdriver.find_element_by_css_selector('frame'))
try:
    WebDriverWait(webdriver,time).until(EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.CSS_SELECTOR,path)))
except Exception as e:
   print(e)

undetected Selenium · Accepted Answer · 2020-07-15T11:19:49.420

The desired element is within an <iframe> so you have to:

Induce WebDriverWait for the desired frame to be available and switch to it.
Induce WebDriverWait for the desired element to be clickable.
You can use either of the following Locator Strategies:

Using CSS_SELECTOR:

driver.get('https://trupanion.com/members/contest?pixlee_album_photo_id=427049511')
WebDriverWait(driver, 10).until(EC.frame_to_be_available_and_switch_to_it((By.CSS_SELECTOR,"iframe#pixlee_lightbox_iframe")))
WebDriverWait(driver, 20).until(EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.CSS_SELECTOR, "button.vote_button.mfp-voteText"))).send_keys("test")

Using XPATH:

driver.get("https://trupanion.com/members/contest?pixlee_album_photo_id=427049511")
WebDriverWait(driver, 10).until(EC.frame_to_be_available_and_switch_to_it((By.XPATH,"//iframe[@id='pixlee_lightbox_iframe']")))
WebDriverWait(driver, 20).until(EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.XPATH, "//button[@class='vote_button mfp-voteText']"))).click()

Note : You have to add the following imports :

from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait
from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By
from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC

Browser Snapshot:

VOTED

Reference

You can find a couple of relevant discussions in:

haha.. @DebanjanB. it was you. I can not really recognize you. — jis0324, Dec 29 '20 at 21:55
How??? At some point, I've gotten your help and referenced a lot of your questions and answers in the scraping & selenium field. So I know only your face, not remembered your name. — jis0324, Dec 29 '20 at 22:14
@jis0324 Sounds great, keep visiting [Selenium Chat Room](https://chat.stackoverflow.com/rooms/223360/selenium) we are regular there :) — undetected Selenium, Dec 29 '20 at 22:16
You disguised as a dog, but I can see a real face for a little time. Please note that I am holding a long sword. LOL................. — jis0324, Dec 29 '20 at 22:17

Message: no such element: Unable to locate element Selenium Python

3 Answers3

Reference