---
title: Handling Multiple Browsers or Tabs
description: "**Handling Multiple Browsers or Tabs** **How it works:** **1. Setup & launch** – set webdriver.chrome.driver and open a Chrome session. **2. Navigate** – go to your test page (replace the URL). **3. Main handle** – capture driver.getWindowHandle() for returning later.…"
url: "https://vinothqaacademy.com/docs/handling-multiple-browsers-or-tabs/"
updated: "2025-09-26"
category: Selenium Automation Testing
tags:
  - Selenium Automation Testing
---

# Handling Multiple Browsers or Tabs

**Handling Multiple Browsers or Tabs**

**How it works:**

**1. Setup & launch** – set webdriver.chrome.driver and open a Chrome session.

**2. Navigate** – go to your test page (replace the URL).

**3. Main handle** – capture driver.getWindowHandle() for returning later.

**4. Trigge**r – click the element that opens a new window.

**5. Handles set** – call driver.getWindowHandles() to get both main and child handles.

**6. Switch** – iterate the set, find the handle that isn’t the main one, and driver.switchTo().window(childHandle).

**7. Interact**– perform any reads or clicks in the child window.

**8. Close child** – driver.close() closes only the current window.

**9. Return**– driver.switchTo().window(mainWindowHandle) brings you back to the original window.

**10. Teardown** – driver.quit() ensures all windows are closed and the session ends.

Adjust the locators (By.xpath(...)), URLs, and any child-window interactions to match your application under test.

***Program:***

```javascript

                import org.openqa.selenium.By;

import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;

import org.openqa.selenium.WebElement;

import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;

import java.util.Set;

public class WindowHandlingExample {

    public static void main(String[] args) throws InterruptedException {

        // 1. Point to your ChromeDriver executable

        System.setProperty("webdriver.chrome.driver", "/path/to/chromedriver");

        // 2. Launch Chrome

        WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();

        try {

            // 3. Navigate to the page with a link/button that opens a new window

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

            // 4. Store the handle of the main window

            String mainWindowHandle = driver.getWindowHandle();

            System.out.println("Main window handle: " + mainWindowHandle);

            // 5. Trigger opening a new window (adjust locator as needed)

            WebElement openNewWindowBtn = driver.findElement(

                By.xpath("//button[@id='openWindow']"));

            openNewWindowBtn.click();

            // 6. Wait briefly for the new window to open

            Thread.sleep(2000);

            // 7. Get all window handles

            Set<String> allWindowHandles = driver.getWindowHandles();

            System.out.println("All window handles: " + allWindowHandles);

            // 8. Switch to the newly opened window

            for (String handle : allWindowHandles) {

                if (!handle.equals(mainWindowHandle)) {

                    driver.switchTo().window(handle);

                    System.out.println("Switched to child window: " + handle);

                    break;

                }

            }

            // 9. Perform actions in the child window

            System.out.println("Child window title: " + driver.getTitle());

            // e.g., click something or read some text

            // WebElement childElement = driver.findElement(By.id("someElement"));

            // System.out.println(childElement.getText());

            // 10. Close the child window

            driver.close();

            System.out.println("Child window closed.");

            // 11. Switch back to the main window

            driver.switchTo().window(mainWindowHandle);

            System.out.println("Switched back to main window: " + driver.getTitle());

        } finally {

            // 12. Close all browser windows and end the session

            driver.quit();

        }

    }

}
```