Explicit Wait in Selenium: How It Works (A Simple Guide)

Not all elements show up at once. Some need time to load. Some depend on JavaScript or AJAX calls before becoming available. That’s why smart wait strategies matter in test automation.

Explicit Wait in Selenium gives you control. It waits for specific conditions to be true before your script moves forward. You can wait for a button to become clickable, a form to appear, or an alert to pop up. All without guessing how long it will take.

In this article, we'll explore:

• What are wait commands in Selenium?
• Why do dynamic applications need them?
• How does Explicit Wait work compared to Implicit and Fluent Waits?
• When should you use Explicit Wait in Selenium testing?
• How Katalon helps simplify wait logic for faster scripting

Let’s get started.

Selenium wait commands: Implicit, explicit, and fluent wait

Selenium provides different wait commands to help your tests work smoothly with dynamic web pages. Each command serves a unique purpose depending on how your application loads content.

You will mostly work with three types of waits:

• Implicit wait: A general wait that applies to all elements in your test script.
• Explicit wait: A targeted wait that pauses until a specific condition is met.
• Fluent wait: A flexible version of explicit wait with polling intervals and custom exception handling.

All of them aim to synchronize your script with your app’s behavior. Among them, explicit wait in Selenium is often the most precise and adaptable choice. You decide what to wait for and how long to wait.

In the following sections, we’ll explore each wait type, where to use it, and how to write effective wait logic using Katalon or plain Selenium WebDriver.

What are Wait commands in Selenium?

Wait commands in Selenium tell the WebDriver to pause until a condition is met or a timeout finishes. These commands help align your test execution with the actual behavior of the application.

They are not just simple pauses. They listen for specific changes in the UI. For example, waiting until an element is visible, clickable, or present in the DOM.

This is different from Thread.sleep(). That method always waits the exact number of seconds you give it. Selenium waits are smarter. They respond to what the app is doing.With wait commands, your script checks for real conditions. That saves time and boosts reliability. If the element appears early, the test moves forward without waiting longer than needed.

Explicit wait in Selenium is one of the most used techniques for handling these real-time behaviors. It helps when working with dynamic content, AJAX calls, and interactive elements that change state based on user actions or server responses.

Why do you need Selenium WebDriver wait commands?

Modern web applications use JavaScript, AJAX, and dynamic content loading. Elements don’t always appear instantly. Some wait for user input. Others appear after a background request finishes.

That creates a timing gap. If your test script runs faster than the UI loads, it tries to click or read something that is not ready yet. This leads to flaky behavior.

Selenium WebDriver wait commands help fill that gap. They synchronize your test with what is happening on screen. This keeps the script stable even if the UI timing changes slightly.

Here are the core benefits of wait commands in Selenium:

• They synchronize test execution with UI behavior
• They reduce test flakiness caused by timing issues
• They improve test performance by avoiding unnecessary delays
• They ensure more reliable cross-browser automation

Explicit Wait in Selenium is the most powerful way to apply waits conditionally. It gives you fine control over how and when to pause.

Wait commands transform fragile scripts into stable test flows.

Implicit wait in selenium

An implicit wait is a global setting in Selenium WebDriver. It tells the driver to wait for a defined time when trying to locate an element. If the element is not found instantly, the driver keeps checking until the time runs out.

This wait applies to all element lookups throughout the WebDriver session. You set it once at the beginning of your test.

Here is how to set an implicit wait in Java:

driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);

And here is the Python version:

driver.implicitly_wait(10)

Implicit wait is ideal when your app has consistent load times. It provides a simple way to handle basic delays.

Mixing implicit and explicit waits is not recommended. This can lead to timing issues and make your test harder to debug. Use one strategy per test session for clean behavior.

Explicit Wait in selenium

Explicit wait is a smarter way to pause your test until a certain condition is met. It waits for things like element to be clickable, or visibility, or presence before moving on. That makes your script more reliable when content loads dynamically.

Here is how you use explicit wait with WebDriverWait in Java:

WebDriverWait wait = new WebDriverWait(driver, Duration.ofSeconds(10));
wait.until(ExpectedConditions.elementToBeClickable(By.id("login"))).click();

Here is how you write it in Python:

WebDriverWait(driver, 10).until(
    EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.ID, "login"))
).click()

That code waits until the login button is ready and interactive before clicking. Explicit wait gives you control over what to wait for. It can handle visibility, presence, alerts, text changes, or iframe switches.

It works best when apps use AJAX or dynamic loading. It avoids test errors like ElementNotInteractableException while keeping execution efficient and responsive.

Fluent Wait in selenium

Fluent wait is a customizable version of explicit wait. It lets you define how often Selenium checks for a condition, what exceptions to ignore, and how long to wait overall.

Here is an example in Java using FluentWait:

Wait wait = new FluentWait<>(driver)
    .withTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(20))
    .pollingEvery(Duration.ofSeconds(2))
    .ignoring(NoSuchElementException.class);

This code waits up to 20 seconds, checks every 2 seconds, and ignores NoSuchElementException when polling. It gives more control than explicit wait.

Fluent wait is useful when elements load unpredictably or when dynamic conditions affect the UI. It offers fine‑tuned polling and exception handling. That makes it ideal in complex scenarios where precise timing matters.

Although it is less common than explicit wait, it is powerful when you need advanced flexibility in your Selenium wait strategy.

Difference between Implicit and Explicit wait commands in selenium

Selenium gives you different wait options to handle dynamic web elements. The most common choices are implicit wait and explicit wait. Each works best in specific cases.

Here is a quick comparison of implicit and explicit wait in Selenium:

Each wait method has its strengths. Use implicit wait when you want to set a default delay for all element lookups. Choose explicit wait when you want to wait for a specific condition like element visibility or clickability.

Implicit waits handle general delays. Explicit waits handle precision timing.

Why use Katalon for selenium tests?

Katalon makes wait commands simpler. Instead of writing long Selenium code blocks, you use built-in keywords like WebUI.waitForElementVisible() and WebUI.waitForElementClickable(). These commands are easier to read, easier to maintain, and come with built-in retry logic.Katalon builds on top of Selenium and Appium. It offers a full automation testing platform with smart wait handling across web, mobile, API, and desktop apps. You get reliable results without extra effort.

• Built-in wait keywords: Use predefined commands like waitForElementPresent, waitForElementClickable, or waitForElementNotVisible without writing low-level Selenium code.
• Simplified scripting: Choose between scripting with WebUI or dragging and dropping keywords in Manual Mode.
• Object Repository integration: Define UI objects once. Reuse them across your test scripts to save time and avoid duplicates.
• Cross-browser execution: Run tests on Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and even mobile without changing your scripts.
• Error handling and retry logic: Katalon waits handle timeout and retry smoothly, which helps reduce flaky test results.
• CI/CD integration: Connect Katalon to Jenkins, GitHub Actions, or Azure DevOps to run wait-based tests automatically on every commit.

To learn more about wait keywords in Katalon, check out these resources:

• Using Built-in Keywords in Katalon
• Katalon WebUI Wait Commands

Katalon takes the complexity out of Selenium waits by providing pre-built, reliable commands. Whether you’re new to automation or scaling enterprise test suites, Katalon ensures your wait strategies are consistent, maintainable, and easier to learn.