Launching Different Browsers using Selenium Python

 Selenium is one of the most widely used tools for web automation and browser testing. It allows developers and testers to simulate user interactions with web pages across different browsers, making cross-browser testing more accessible and efficient. In this blog post, we'll explore how to launch different browsers—such as Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari—using Selenium with Python.


Why Launch Multiple Browsers?

Web applications often behave differently depending on the browser and its version. Cross-browser testing helps ensure a consistent user experience across:

  • Google Chrome (Chromium-based)
  • Mozilla Firefox
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Apple Safari (macOS only)
  • Headless browsers (for CI/CD pipelines)

Selenium WebDriver provides browser-specific drivers to control the browser directly. Let's look at how to configure and launch each browser using Python.


Prerequisites

To follow along, make sure you have the following installed:

  • Python (3.6+)
  • Selenium (pip install selenium)
  • WebDriver executables (e.g., chromedriver, geckodriver, etc.) added to your system path

Install Selenium using pip:

bash

pip install selenium


1. Launching Google Chrome

python


from selenium import webdriver


driver = webdriver.Chrome()

driver.get("https://www.google.com")

Make sure you have the correct version of ChromeDriver that matches your installed Chrome browser. You can also use webdriver-manager to avoid manual driver setup:

bash

pip install webdriver-manager


python


from selenium import webdriver

from webdriver_manager.chrome import ChromeDriverManager


driver = webdriver.Chrome(ChromeDriverManager().install())

driver.get("https://www.google.com")

2. Launching Mozilla Firefox

python


from selenium import webdriver

from webdriver_manager.firefox import GeckoDriverManager


driver = webdriver.Firefox(executable_path=GeckoDriverManager().install())

driver.get("https://www.mozilla.org")

Firefox is fully supported and a good choice for testing open web standards.


3. Launching Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) uses msedgedriver:

python


from selenium import webdriver

from webdriver_manager.microsoft import EdgeChromiumDriverManager


driver = webdriver.Edge(EdgeChromiumDriverManager().install())

driver.get("https://www.microsoft.com")

Edge is now Chromium-based, so it behaves similarly to Chrome in many cases.


4. Launching Safari (macOS Only)

Safari comes pre-installed on macOS and has a built-in WebDriver called safaridriver.

python


from selenium import webdriver


driver = webdriver.Safari()

driver.get("https://www.apple.com")

To enable safaridriver, run this command once:


bash

safaridriver --enable

Safari is ideal for macOS/iOS compatibility testing.


5. Running Browsers in Headless Mode

Headless mode allows browsers to run without a GUI—useful for automated testing and CI environments.


Chrome Headless:

python


from selenium import webdriver

from selenium.webdriver.chrome.options import Options

from webdriver_manager.chrome import ChromeDriverManager


options = Options()

options.add_argument('--headless')

driver = webdriver.Chrome(ChromeDriverManager().install(), options=options)

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

Firefox Headless:

python


from selenium import webdriver

from selenium.webdriver.firefox.options import Options

from webdriver_manager.firefox import GeckoDriverManager


options = Options()

options.headless = True

driver = webdriver.Firefox(executable_path=GeckoDriverManager().install(), options=options)

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

Conclusion

Launching different browsers using Selenium with Python is a crucial skill for cross-browser and automated testing. Selenium makes it easy to write once and test across multiple platforms. Tools like webdriver-manager simplify driver setup, while headless mode is ideal for server-based environments. By mastering browser launches with Selenium, you ensure your web applications work seamlessly for all users—no matter their browser of choice.

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Read More: Setting Up Your First Selenium Python Script

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