How to handle hidden elements in Selenium WebDriver?

Hidden elements (those with display:none or visibility:hidden) are present in the DOM but not visible. Selenium''s standard click() or sendKeys() throw ElementNotInteractableException on them.

JavascriptExecutor js = (JavascriptExecutor) driver;
js.executeScript("document.getElementsByClassName(''ElementLocator'').click();");

Or using an element reference:

WebElement hiddenBtn = driver.findElement(By.id("hiddenButton"));
JavascriptExecutor js = (JavascriptExecutor) driver;
js.executeScript("arguments[0].click();", hiddenBtn);

Method 2: Make element visible via JS, then interact:

WebElement el = driver.findElement(By.id("hiddenInput"));
js.executeScript("arguments[0].style.display=''block'';", el);
el.sendKeys("text value");

Method 3: Set value directly via JS (bypass the UI):

WebElement input = driver.findElement(By.id("hiddenInput"));
js.executeScript("arguments[0].value=''my value'';", input);

When does an element become hidden?

• ✓CSS: display: none or visibility: hidden
• ✓HTML attribute: type="hidden"
• ✓Conditional rendering (shown only after user action)

Best Practice: Prefer arguments[0].click() via JS executor rather than changing element visibility, since visibility changes alter the DOM and may cause different behavior than a real user action.