How to open a new tab in Selenium

The keystrokes needed to open a new tab are platform-specific. In Windows, they are Control + T.
You can either:

  • Open a new, empty tab by sending these keystrokes to the body of the document, or
  • Open a link in a new tab by sending the keystrokes to the link

Opening a new, empty tab

Java

WebElement body = driver.findElement(By.tagName("body"));
body.sendKeys(Keys.chord(Keys.CONTROL,"t"));

Python

body = driver.find_element_by_tag_name("body")
body.send_keys(Keys.CONTROL + 't')

C#

IWebElement body = driver.FindElement(By.TagName("body"));
body.SendKeys(Keys.Control + 't');

Opening a link in a new tab

Java

WebElement link = driver.findElement(By.linkText("My link text"));
link.sendKeys(Keys.chord(Keys.CONTROL,"t"));

Python

link = driver.find_element_by_link_text("My link text")
link.send_keys(Keys.CONTROL + 't')

C#

IWebElement link = driver.FindElement(By.LinkText("My link text"));
link.SendKeys(Keys.Control + 't');