The By.tagName() locator in Selenium is used to identify web elements by their HTML tag name. This is especially useful when you want to select elements like <input>, <button>, <a>, or <div> when no other unique attributes are available.

🔎 What is a Tag Name?

A tag name refers to the name of the HTML element, such as input, button, a, div, etc.

<input type="text" name="username" />
<button type="submit">Login</button>
<a href="/home">Home</a>

✅ When to Use By.tagName()?

  • ✅ When you want to count elements of a certain type
  • ✅ When you're working inside a parent element and need children by tag
  • ✅ When testing elements like all links, buttons, or list items

📌 Syntax in Java

driver.findElement(By.tagName("tagname"));

To fetch multiple elements of the same tag:

driver.findElements(By.tagName("tagname"));

💻 Example: Fetch All Links on a Page

import org.openqa.selenium.By;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebElement;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;
import java.util.List;

public class LinksExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        System.setProperty("webdriver.chrome.driver", "path/to/chromedriver");
        WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();

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

        // Get all anchor (link) elements
        List<WebElement> allLinks = driver.findElements(By.tagName("a"));

        System.out.println("Total links found: " + allLinks.size());

        for (WebElement link : allLinks) {
            System.out.println(link.getText() + " - " + link.getAttribute("href"));
        }

        driver.quit();
    }
}

🧪 Example: Access Table Rows

If you want to get all rows from a table:

WebElement table = driver.findElement(By.id("userTable"));
List<WebElement> rows = table.findElements(By.tagName("tr"));

for (WebElement row : rows) {
    System.out.println(row.getText());
}

✅ Best Practices

  • 🔸 Use By.tagName() when other locators like ID, name, or class are unavailable.
  • 🔸 Combine with parent elements to narrow down results.
  • 🔸 Avoid relying solely on tag names when elements are not unique.

⚠️ Common Mistakes

Mistake How to Avoid
Using findElement() when multiple elements exist Use findElements() to avoid missing results
Accessing tag without scoping inside a container Use parent element’s findElements() to restrict search area
Assuming tags are unique Verify with browser inspection or DevTools

📚 Summary

  • By.tagName() allows locating elements using standard HTML tags.
  • Best for selecting all elements of a type like <a>, <input>, <tr>, etc.
  • Use findElements() when expecting multiple results.

🚀 Keep Learning

Explore other locators in Selenium: