Setting Up Selenium in PyCharm or VS Code


Setting Up Selenium in PyCharm or VS Code

Selenium is a powerful tool for automating web browsers, and you can easily set it up using PyCharm or VS Code. This guide walks you through installing and configuring Selenium in both IDEs.


✅ Prerequisites

Python installed (Python 3.6+ recommended)


Pip (comes with Python)


Chrome browser (or another supported browser)


ChromeDriver (or relevant WebDriver)


1. Installing Selenium

Open your terminal or command prompt and run:


bash

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pip install selenium

To check the version:


bash

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pip show selenium

2. Download the WebDriver

For Chrome:

Go to https://chromedriver.chromium.org/downloads


Download the version that matches your Chrome browser


Unzip and place chromedriver (or chromedriver.exe on Windows) in a known folder (e.g., project root or /usr/local/bin)


3. Setting Up in PyCharm

Step-by-Step:

Create a New Project:


Open PyCharm → New Project


Select Python interpreter (you can create a new virtual environment)


Install Selenium in PyCharm:


Go to File → Settings → Project → Python Interpreter


Click the + button → Search for selenium → Install


Write a Sample Script:


python

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from selenium import webdriver


driver = webdriver.Chrome(executable_path='path/to/chromedriver')

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

print(driver.title)

driver.quit()

Run the Script:


Right-click the file → Run


4. Setting Up in VS Code

Step-by-Step:

Create a New Python File:


Open VS Code → New File → Save as test_selenium.py


Set Up Python Environment:


Install the Python extension for VS Code (if not installed)


Open a terminal in VS Code:


bash

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pip install selenium

Write a Sample Script (same as above)


Run the Script:


In terminal: python test_selenium.py


Or click the Run button in VS Code


5. Sample Selenium Script

python

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from selenium import webdriver

from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By

import time


driver = webdriver.Chrome(executable_path='path/to/chromedriver')  # Use full path or put chromedriver in PATH

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


search_box = driver.find_element(By.NAME, "q")

search_box.send_keys("Selenium Python")

search_box.submit()


time.sleep(3)  # Let page load

print(driver.title)


driver.quit()

Note: Starting with Selenium 4, executable_path is deprecated if ChromeDriver is in PATH. Use:


python

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driver = webdriver.Chrome()

✅ Tips & Best Practices

Always match the WebDriver version to your browser version.


Use webdriver-manager to avoid manual driver downloads:


bash

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pip install webdriver-manager

Then use:


python

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from selenium import webdriver

from webdriver_manager.chrome import ChromeDriverManager


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

Handle delays using WebDriverWait instead of time.sleep().


Close your driver with driver.quit() to free resources.


✅ Conclusion

Setting up Selenium in PyCharm or VS Code is straightforward. With just a few steps, you can begin writing powerful browser automation scripts. Choose the IDE that suits your workflow best, and leverage Selenium’s features for testing, scraping, or automating web tasks. 

Learn Selenium Python Training in Hyderabad

Read More

Top Tools You Need to Start Selenium with Python

How to Automate Web Testing Using Selenium and Python

Python vs Other Languages for Selenium: Pros & Cons

Understanding the Role of WebDriver in Automation

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