Junior QASeleniumFree question

How do you take a screenshot in Selenium?

60-second answer

I cast the driver to the TakesScreenshot interface and call getScreenshotAs, with OutputType FILE, BYTES or BASE64, then save the file with a meaningful name like the test name and a timestamp. Selenium 4 can also take a screenshot of a single element using element.getScreenshotAs. In a framework I don't call this in every test; I put it in a TestNG listener's onTestFailure method or an AfterMethod that checks the result, and attach it to the report like Extent or Allure.

Explanation

OutputType.FILE → save to disk (use Files.copy or Apache Commons FileUtils).
OutputType.BASE64 → embed directly in HTML reports.
OutputType.BYTES → attach to Allure.
Full-page screenshots: Firefox supports getFullPageScreenshotAs; for Chrome use CDP or a library.

Example

On failure, a listener saves screenshots/checkoutTest_2026-11-06_10-15-02.png and embeds it into the Extent report.

Sample code

File src = ((TakesScreenshot) driver).getScreenshotAs(OutputType.FILE);
Files.copy(src.toPath(), Paths.get("screenshots", testName + ".png"),
           StandardCopyOption.REPLACE_EXISTING);

// Element screenshot (Selenium 4)
File logo = driver.findElement(By.id("logo")).getScreenshotAs(OutputType.FILE);

// In a listener
@Override
public void onTestFailure(ITestResult result) {
    String b64 = ((TakesScreenshot) driver).getScreenshotAs(OutputType.BASE64);
    ExtentManager.getTest().fail("Failed").addScreenCaptureFromBase64String(b64);
}