Selenium Error — </button> is not clickable at point
Selenium’s element click intercepted error usually means the target element is outside the visible viewport or covered by another element. Maximizing the browser window is the quickest fix, but this post also covers the other common causes.
[01] The Error — Element Is Not Clickable at Point
When automating a browser with Selenium, a click action on a button can raise:
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Message: element click intercepted: Element <button type="button" class="btn_cancel">
...</button> is not clickable at point (337, 698).
Other element would receive the click: ...
Figure 1. Selenium WebDriver raising element click intercepted when the button is outside the visible area of a small browser window.
Why This Happens
Selenium calculates the click coordinates (x, y) relative to the browser viewport. If the browser window is too small — which is the default when ChromeDriver launches a new window — the target element may be:
- Below the fold — the element exists in the DOM but is scrolled out of view.
- Covered — a sticky header, a cookie banner, or another overlay sits on top of the coordinates Selenium is trying to click.
- Off-screen — the element’s calculated position is outside the current viewport dimensions entirely.
| Root cause | Description |
|---|---|
| Small default window size | ChromeDriver opens a compact window (~800×600) by default |
| Sticky/fixed overlay | A banner or nav bar covers the element at those coordinates |
| Element not yet rendered | JavaScript has not finished positioning the element |
| Wrong scroll position | Page has not scrolled to bring the element into view |
[02] Solutions
Fix 1 — Maximize the window (most common fix)
Call maximize_window() immediately after creating the driver. This expands the browser to the full screen size, making most elements reachable without scrolling.
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browser = webdriver.Chrome(options=options)
# Add this line right after driver creation
browser.maximize_window()
This one line resolves the error in the majority of cases where the window is simply too small.
Fix 2 — Set an explicit window size
If you are running in a headless environment where maximize_window() has no effect, set a fixed large size instead:
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browser = webdriver.Chrome(options=options)
browser.set_window_size(1920, 1080)
For headless Chrome, also pass the window size as a Chrome option:
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from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.options import Options
options = Options()
options.add_argument("--headless")
options.add_argument("--window-size=1920,1080")
browser = webdriver.Chrome(options=options)
Fix 3 — Scroll the element into view
If the element is below the fold and you cannot resize the window, scroll it into view before clicking:
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from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By
element = browser.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, "button.btn_cancel")
browser.execute_script("arguments[0].scrollIntoView(true);", element)
element.click()
Fix 4 — Use JavaScript click as a last resort
When an overlay is blocking the element and cannot be dismissed, a JavaScript-driven click bypasses Selenium’s coordinate check entirely:
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element = browser.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, "button.btn_cancel")
browser.execute_script("arguments[0].click();", element)
Note: JS click skips any pointer-event checks the browser normally enforces. Use it only when the element is genuinely interactive but physically obscured.
Fix 5 — Wait for overlays to disappear
If a loading spinner or cookie banner temporarily covers the button, wait for it to become invisible before clicking:
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from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait
from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC
from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By
wait = WebDriverWait(browser, 10)
# Wait until the overlay is gone
wait.until(EC.invisibility_of_element_located((By.ID, "loading-overlay")))
# Then click the button
button = wait.until(EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.CSS_SELECTOR, "button.btn_cancel")))
button.click()
[03] Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Recommended fix |
|---|---|
| Error on first click after page load |
maximize_window() or set --window-size
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| Error in headless mode only | Add --window-size=1920,1080 to Chrome options |
| Error due to sticky header | Scroll element into view with scrollIntoView
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| Click lands on wrong element | JS click via execute_script("arguments[0].click()")
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| Intermittent error (timing-dependent) | Add WebDriverWait + element_to_be_clickable
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For a broader reference on all causes of this error, see the Testim blog post on element-not-clickable.