Python3 Selenium on Ubuntu script works when visible fails when headless

Question

I have a python3 selenium script on Ubuntu running in chrome successfully when I attempt to run headless it errors out on element not being interactable:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "file.py", line 143, in <module>
    driver.find_element_by_xpath('//*[@id="ctl00_MainContent_MyReportViewer_ctl04_ctl00"]').click()                  
  File "/home/jobs/.local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/selenium/webdriver/remote/webelement.py", line 80, in click                      
    self._execute(Command.CLICK_ELEMENT)
  File "/home/jobs/.local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/selenium/webdriver/remote/webelement.py", line 633, in _execute                      
    return self._parent.execute(command, params)
  File "/home/jobs/.local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/selenium/webdriver/remote/webdriver.py", line 321, in execute                      
    self.error_handler.check_response(response)
  File "/home/jobs/.local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/selenium/webdriver/remote/errorhandler.py", line 242, in check_response                      
    raise exception_class(message, screen, stacktrace)
selenium.common.exceptions.ElementNotInteractableException: Message: element not interactable                      
  (Session info: headless chrome=87.0.4280.88

I'd seen a post on that it might be how chrome interacts with objects differently so I've tried this with Firefox as well with the same results.

The only line I'm changing is:

chrome_options.add_argument("--headless")

Answer 1

This error message...

selenium.common.exceptions.ElementNotInteractableException: Message: element not interactable

...implies that the desired WebElement wasn't interactable when you invoked click on it.

The element seems to be a dynamic element, so to click on the element you need to induce WebDriverWait for the element_to_be_clickable() and you can use either of the following Locator Strategies:

• Using CSS_SELECTOR:

  WebDriverWait(driver, 20).until(EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.CSS_SELECTOR, "#ctl00_MainContent_MyReportViewer_ctl04_ctl00"))).click()
  

• Using XPATH:

  WebDriverWait(driver, 20).until(EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.XPATH, "//*[@id="ctl00_MainContent_MyReportViewer_ctl04_ctl00"]"))).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
  

---

Update

In you are still unable to click on the element as an alternative you can use the ActionChains as follows:

• Using CSS_SELECTOR:

  element = WebDriverWait(driver, 20).until(EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.CSS_SELECTOR, "#ctl00_MainContent_MyReportViewer_ctl04_ctl00")))
  ActionChains(driver).move_to_element(element).click(element).perform()
  

• Using XPATH:

  element = WebDriverWait(driver, 20).until(EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.XPATH, "//*[@id="ctl00_MainContent_MyReportViewer_ctl04_ctl00"]")))
  ActionChains(driver).move_to_element(element).click(element).perform()
  

• 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
  from selenium.webdriver.common.action_chains import ActionChains