I am writing UI tests using Selenium WebDriver (Java) and frequently encounter an ElementClickInterceptedException. When trying to click a button or link, the element is covered by overlay components such as a cookie consent banner or Google One Tap popup. I have tried using WebDriverWait with elementToBeClickable, as well as scrolling the element into view with scrollIntoView, but the issue still occurs intermittently. Sometimes using JavaScript click works, but it feels like a workaround rather than a proper solution.

What is the recommended approach to handle such overlays in a reliable and maintainable way while keeping the tests close to real user behavior?

解决方案

Long ago I ran into a similar situation and this is what I came up with to handle it. Basically I keep trying to click the element until it's either successful or the timeout is hit. If I run into ElementClickInterceptedException or StaleElementReferenceException, I ignore them and keep trying. This solved most of the random intermittent failures I had been experiencing.

/**
 * Clicks the element.
 * 
 * @param locator The By locator for the desired element.
 * @param timeOutSeconds How long to wait for the element in seconds.
 * @throws Exception If the element is not clickable within the timeout period.
 */
public void click(By locator, int timeOutSeconds) throws Exception {
    LocalDateTime expire = LocalDateTime.now().plusSeconds(timeOutSeconds);
    WebDriverWait wait = new WebDriverWait(driver, Duration.ofSeconds(timeOutSeconds));
    while (LocalDateTime.now().compareTo(expire) < 0) {
        try {
            wait.until(ExpectedConditions.elementToBeClickable(locator)).click();

            return;
        } catch (ElementClickInterceptedException | StaleElementReferenceException e) {
            // do nothing, loop again
        }
    }

    throw new Exception(String.format("Not able to click element <%s> within %ss.", locator, timeOutSeconds));
}

You can do this for all the common Selenium methods other than click(). I put them in BasePage.java and all my page objects extend it. Your page object would look something like this...

import org.openqa.selenium.By;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;

public class LoginPage extends BasePage {
    private final By usernameLocator = By.id("username");
    private final By passwordLocator = By.id("password");
    private final By submitButtonLocator = By.cssSelector("button[type='submit']");

    public LoginPage(WebDriver driver) {
        super(driver);
    }

    public void login(String username, String password) {
        type(usernameLocator, username);
        type(passwordLocator, password);
        click(submitButtonLocator);
    }
}