What is the difference between driver.close() and driver.quit() in Selenium?

Answer

driver.close() vs driver.quit()

This is a very commonly asked interview question. The difference is critical in multi-window tests.

driver.close()

✓Closes only the currently focused browser window/tab
✓The WebDriver session remains alive
✓Other open windows stay open
✓Must switch to another window after closing to continue

Java

String mainWindow = driver.getWindowHandle();

// Open a new tab
driver.switchTo().newWindow(WindowType.TAB);
driver.get("https://google.com");

// Close only this tab
driver.close();

// Switch back to main window — session still active
driver.switchTo().window(mainWindow);
driver.findElement(By.id("element")).click(); // still works

driver.quit()

✓Closes ALL browser windows opened by this WebDriver session
✓Ends the WebDriver session completely
✓Kills the browser driver process (chromedriver.exe, geckodriver.exe)
✓Releases all resources — no memory leak

Java

// Close all windows and end session
driver.quit();

// After quit(), driver is null — any call throws exception
// driver.findElement(...) → SessionNotCreatedException

Comparison Table

Aspect	`driver.close()`	`driver.quit()`
Windows closed	Current window only	All windows
WebDriver session	Still alive	Terminated
Driver process	Still running	Killed
Memory	Partial release	Full release
After call	Can continue on other window	Cannot use driver

Common Mistake — Memory Leak

Java

// BAD — close() leaves driver process running if only one window
@AfterMethod
public void tearDown() {
    driver.close(); // WRONG — chromedriver.exe still running!
}

// CORRECT — always quit() in teardown
@AfterMethod(alwaysRun = true)
public void tearDown() {
    if (driver != null) {
        driver.quit(); // closes all + kills chromedriver.exe
    }
}

When to Use close()

Java

// Multi-window test: open popup, verify, close it, return to main
String main = driver.getWindowHandle();
driver.findElement(By.linkText("Open Terms")).click();

// Wait for new window
new WebDriverWait(driver, Duration.ofSeconds(5))
    .until(ExpectedConditions.numberOfWindowsToBe(2));

// Work in popup
driver.getWindowHandles().stream()
    .filter(h -> !h.equals(main))
    .forEach(h -> driver.switchTo().window(h));

// Verify content, then close popup
Assert.assertTrue(driver.getTitle().contains("Terms"));
driver.close(); // close just the popup

// Switch back to main
driver.switchTo().window(main);

Rule of thumb: Use close() during test execution to close popup windows. Use quit() in @AfterMethod/@AfterTest to clean up.