Handle Dropdowns & Date Pickers in Selenium Python (The Tricky Parts)

Typing text into a standard input box is easy. But what happens when your automation bot encounters a Dropdown Menu or a complex, fancy Calendar Date Picker? Usually, the script crashes, and you are left wondering why .click() didn't work.

Modern websites use JavaScript frameworks that make standard interactions difficult. (If you haven't set up your environment yet, read my Basic Selenium Form Filling Guide first to get started).

In this tutorial, we will learn the advanced techniques to handle these stubborn elements.

Selenium script failing on "Select" menus or calendars? Learn how to use the Select class and JavaScript execution to handle complex form elements

1. The Dropdown (Using the Select Class)

You cannot just "click" a standard HTML <select> tag like a button. Selenium provides a specific Select helper class to handle the options cleanly.

from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import Select

# Locate the dropdown element
dropdown_element = driver.find_element(By.ID, "category_select")
select = Select(dropdown_element)

# Select by visible text (The text the user actually reads)
# This is safer than selecting by Index
select.select_by_visible_text("Technology")

2. The Date Picker (The JavaScript Hack)

Calendars are the worst. They often force you to click "Next Month" repeatedly or block manual typing with "Read Only" attributes. The smartest way to bypass the UI entirely is to inject the date directly via JavaScript.

# Force the value directly into the input field HTML
# This ignores the calendar popup and read-only restrictions
date_input = driver.find_element(By.ID, "birth_date")
driver.execute_script("arguments[0].value = '2025-12-25';", date_input)

This trick saves you hours of writing complex logic to navigate calendar widgets!

Conclusion

Don't fight the UI; bypass it when necessary. By using the Select class for dropdowns and execute_script for complex date pickers, you make your automation script robust and unbreakable against UI changes.

Author: Marg | Daily Innovate Tech