> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://qatesting.gitbook.io/qa/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://qatesting.gitbook.io/qa/automation-testing/flow/selenium/selenium-webdriver/webdriver-commands/webelement/locators/quick-reference-for-xpath-+-css.md).

# Quick Reference for XPath + CSS

## What are the different approaches to using XPath and CSS Selector?

<table data-full-width="true"><thead><tr><th>Description</th><th>XPath</th><th>CSS Selector</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Whole WebPage</td><td>/html</td><td>html</td></tr><tr><td>Whole WebPage body</td><td>/html/body</td><td>body</td></tr><tr><td>Image element</td><td>//img</td><td>img</td></tr><tr><td>Link</td><td>//a[@href = 'url']</td><td>a[href = 'url']</td></tr><tr><td>Direct Child</td><td>//div/a</td><td>div > a</td></tr><tr><td>Id</td><td>//tagName[@id=’idValue’]</td><td>tagName#idValue</td></tr><tr><td>Class</td><td>//tagName[@class=’classValue’]</td><td>tagName.Value of Class attribute</td></tr><tr><td>Attribute</td><td>//tagname[@attribute-name=’value1′]</td><td>tagName[attribute=Value of attribute]</td></tr><tr><td>Multiple Attributes</td><td>//input[@type='submit' and @name='btnLogin']</td><td>tagname[attribute1='value1'][attribute2='value2']</td></tr><tr><td>Contains</td><td>//*[contains(@type,'sub')]</td><td>tagname[attribute*=substring]</td></tr><tr><td>Starts with</td><td>//tagname[starts-with(@attribute, ‘Start value’)]</td><td>tagname[attribute^=prefix of the String]</td></tr><tr><td>Ends with</td><td>//tagname[ends-with(@attribute, ‘End value’)]</td><td>tagname[attribute$=suffix of the String]</td></tr><tr><td>Matches</td><td>//*[matches(@type,'value')]</td><td>N/A</td></tr><tr><td>First Child</td><td>//ul[@id=’list’]/li[1]</td><td>ul#list li:first-child</td></tr><tr><td>Last Child</td><td>//ul[@id=’list’]/li[last()]</td><td>ul#list li:last-child</td></tr><tr><td>nth Child</td><td>//ul[@id=’list’]/li[3]</td><td>ul#list li:nth-child(3)</td></tr><tr><td>Text Value</td><td>//td[text()=‘textname']</td><td>N/A</td></tr><tr><td>Element preceding some sibling</td><td>E2/preceding-sibling::E1</td><td>N/A</td></tr><tr><td>Sibling element immediately preceding</td><td>E/preceding-sibling::*[1]</td><td>N/A</td></tr><tr><td>User interface element that is disabled</td><td>E[@disabled]</td><td>E:disabled</td></tr><tr><td>Checkbox (or radio button) that is checked</td><td>//*[@checked]</td><td>*:checked</td></tr><tr><td>Text Value</td><td>//td[text()=‘textname']</td><td>N/A</td></tr></tbody></table>

## What are the differences between XPath and CSS locators?

### Traversal:

❎ XPath allows **bidirectional** traversal.

```java
//div[@id='id']//preceding::input
//div[@id='id']//following::input
```

➡️ CSS only moves forward.

```java
 div#id ~ input
```

👉 So XPath has more powerful traversal.

### Performance:

✅ CSS selectors are **faster** since browsers optimize CSS.

### Readability:

✅ CSS locators are more concise and readable.

```html
input[type='text']
```

```html
//input[@type='text']
```


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