How do you validate tooltip text on hover in Selenium?

Answer

Validating Tooltip Text on Hover

Tooltips appear on mouse hover. Selenium''s Actions class simulates real mouse movement to trigger them.

Method 1 — Read title Attribute (Native HTML Tooltip)

Native tooltips use the title attribute — no hover simulation needed:

Java

WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.id("helpIcon"));

// Read tooltip directly from attribute
String tooltipText = element.getAttribute("title");
System.out.println("Tooltip: " + tooltipText);
Assert.assertEquals(tooltipText, "Click here for help");

Method 2 — Hover + Read Tooltip Element (CSS/JS Tooltip)

Modern UI libraries show a separate DOM element on hover:

Java

WebElement hoverTarget = driver.findElement(By.cssSelector(".tooltip-trigger"));

// Hover over element
Actions actions = new Actions(driver);
actions.moveToElement(hoverTarget).perform();

// Wait for tooltip to appear
WebDriverWait wait = new WebDriverWait(driver, Duration.ofSeconds(5));
WebElement tooltip = wait.until(
    ExpectedConditions.visibilityOfElementLocated(By.cssSelector(".tooltip-content"))
);

String tooltipText = tooltip.getText();
Assert.assertEquals(tooltipText, "This field is required");

Method 3 — JavaScript Tooltip (aria-label or data attribute)

Java

// Some tooltips use aria-label
String tooltip = element.getAttribute("aria-label");

// Some use data-tooltip attribute
String tooltip2 = element.getAttribute("data-tooltip");

Method 4 — Peek Into Shadow DOM / JS tooltip

Java

JavascriptExecutor js = (JavascriptExecutor) driver;
String tooltipText = (String) js.executeScript(
    "return arguments[0].getAttribute('data-original-title');", element
);

Tooltip Type Quick Guide

Tooltip Type	Approach
Native `title` attribute	`element.getAttribute("title")`
CSS tooltip (::before/::after)	Hover + read `content` via JS
Bootstrap/Material tooltip	Hover + wait for `.tooltip` element
aria-label	`getAttribute("aria-label")`
JS tooltip	`data-original-title` attribute