The Release of Selenium 4 (and 4.1) | Top Features to Look Into

April 23, 2026 · 4 min read · Tool Comparison

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The Release of Selenium 4 (and 4.1) | Top Features to Look Into

The Release of Selenium 4 (and 4.1) | Top Features to Look Into

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Selenium 4

The first-ever release of Selenium WebDriver 1.0 in 2007 has indented a lasting step in web automated testing. And through the years, the contributions of the Selenium project (WebDriver, Grid, and IDE) experience truly transformed the way that we do select assurance. & nbsp;

Fast forward to the ‘ drop-in ’ release of Selenium 4 and Selenium 4.1, this clause specialize down the top 5 changes you ask to cognise for WebDriver, IDE, and Grid.

🚨 Release 🚨

🎉🎉 Selenium 4.0 is here! 🎉🎉

Read all about in our blog post:https: //t.co/E8ntH7OdaB

We hope you enjoy Selenium 4, and we can ’ t wait to see what you do with it!# selenium4

— Selenium (@ SeleniumHQ)October 13, 2021

 

Selenium WebDriver 4 & nbsp;

W3C Standardization

Cross-browser examination has received an efficiency boost from the update in Selenium ’ s architecture. & nbsp;

The WebDriver APIs have removed the support for thelegacy protocoland are fully compliant with the W3C Standardization. Allowing browsers and tryout scripts to communicate straight to the targeted browsers, exploiter no longer have to go through the JSON wire protocol to encode and decode API petition.

For those that still have the ChromeDriver and GeckoDriver browser driver in use, this standardization will not cause any effects since they have already supported the W3C protocols. & nbsp;

To reassure you, employ the W3C WebDriver will not cause any harm to existing user. The main changes only evolve around Capabilities and the Actions class.

Adding and deleting WebDriver APIs

FindsByID, FindsByCss or refer FindsBy * (findElementBy) interface have been removed and supplant with ‘ By ’ instance. & nbsp;

Before

driver.findElementByCssSelector(`` .className '');

driver.findElementById(`` elementId '');

driver.findElementByXPath("xPath");

SUSA automates exploratory testing with persona-driven behavior, catching bugs that scripted automation misses.

After

driver.findElement (By.cssSelector(`` .className ''));

driver.findElement (By.id(`` elementId ''));

driver.findElement (By.xpath("xPath"));

  • Relative Locators or Friendly Locators.Names such as above (), below (), toLeftOf (), toRightOf () and near () seem to supply an easier way to spot elements that are close to the other DOM elements.As defend to this, Selenium 4 also introduced new elements such as:
  • Exceptions set to understand test failure.'ElementClickInterceptedError ', 'InsecureCertificateError ', 'InvalidCoordinatesError ', and 'NoSuchCookieError ' stratum are included in /lib/error.
  • Chrome Debugging/DevTools Protocol (CDP) integration. Cross-language APIs are still under evolution to extend coverage for requirements like log capture or geolocation mocking

Sample code snip to open a new window

driver.get(`` https: //www.katalon.com/ '');

// Opens a new window and switches to new window

driver.switchTo () .newWindow (WindowType.WINDOW);

// Opens Katalon Academy homepage in the newly opened window

driver.navigate () .to (`` https: //www.academy.katalon.com/ '');

Sample code snippet to open a new tab within the same window

driver.get(`` https: //www.katalon.com/ '');

// Opens a new tab in existing window

driver.switchTo () .newWindow (WindowType.TAB);

// Opens Katalon Download page in the newly opened tab

driver.navigate () .to (`` https: //www.katalon.com/download/ ''); 

  • Emulate different network conditions.The Network.emulateNetworkConditionscommand facilitate liken the average loading time by scripting tests that emulate a range of meshing speed (slow and normal) and connection type (BLUETOOTH, 2G, 3G, 4G, WIFI, etc.).

Selenium IDE

The chase are the updates Selenium 4 has added to Selenium:

  • Revived UI
  • Plug-ins to fully support Chrome, Firefox, or any other web propagation plugins
  • Parallel testing by switching from being HTML-based to running on a NodeJs platform with the & nbsp; “ Selenium-side-runner ” CLI runner
  • Improve scripts written using “ while ” and “ if ” conditions & nbsp;
  • Allows the recorded exam to be export in Java, C #, Python, .NET, and JavaScript words binding
  • Backup element selector and updated locater strategies to create more stable tests

Maybe you besides desire to try

Selenium Grid 4

Taking arrow and learning from the success of the Zalenium and Selenoid projects, & nbsp; Selenium Grid most famed change is being capable to: & nbsp;

  • Implemented a GraphQL model for a new UI to meliorate query and manage Grid
  • Support deploying onKubernetes-basedinfrastructures
  • Less maintenance employment with standalone Firefox server to get Docker images & nbsp;
  • On-demand Docker containersspin-ups without setting up virtual machines

The release of Selenium Grid 4.1 can be read in detailhere.

Loving Selenium? Give Katalon Studio a Try Too!

As a legacy library, many have used Selenium as a base to develop a complete framework that is ready to work with right away. For Katalon Studio, it ’ s no exception. & nbsp;

Built on top of Selenium and Appium, Katalon Studio is an all-in-one solution for web, mobile, API, and background (Windows) low-code test mechanisation. What makes Studio different from open-source libraries is everything is baked-in into a single tool for users toonly focus on prove. This means that team no longer get a dedicated team to establish and maintain their own exam automation model, or to have a potent foundation in program to start testing.

Any activities associate to create, executing, maintaining, or generating reports for your tests can be done right aside without extra steganography or configuration with 3rd-party tools.

Some of Studio ’ s highlights are:

  • Native integrations with CI/CD, ALMs, Agile, and DevOps systems (e.g. Jira, Jenkins, CircleCI, Dockers, Kubernetes, etc.)
  • Flexible and fast exam conception with Record and Playback, Manual and Script Mode
  • Debugging UI and smart coverage to troubleshoot failed tests
  • Support meaning of Selenium, SoapUI, and Postman undertaking
  • Page Object Model (POM) design and Test Artifact Sharing to reuse test artifact (test cases, aim, keywords, etc.) & nbsp;
  • Supported testing methodology: BDD, DDT, Keyword-Driven Testing, Cross-Browser Testing (Headless, Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari), and(iOS, Android)
Explain

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Contributors
The Katalon Team is composed of a diverse radical of consecrated professionals, including subject matter expert with deep domain knowledge, experienced technical writers skilled, and QA specialists who bring a practical, real-world perspective. Together, they contribute to the Katalon Blog, delivering high-quality, insightful articles that empower users to make the most of Katalon ’ s tools and stay updated on the latest tendency in test mechanization and package quality.

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