[Solved] Selenium 4.25 opens Chrome 136 with existing profile to “New Tab” instead of navigating with driver.get()

Ever encountered a puzzling scenario where Selenium, especially when using an existing Chrome profile, launches your target URL in a new tab rather than navigating the current one? This behavior has been observed, particularly with Selenium 4.25 and Chrome 136. Let’s break down the problem and the solutions to get your automation back on track.

The Problem: An Unexpected New Tab

You’ve configured your Selenium script to leverage an existing Chrome user profile—a common practice for maintaining login states, cookies, and extensions. Your setup might look like this:

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.service import Service
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.options import Options

chrome_options = Options()
# Path to your user data directory
chrome_options.add_argument(r"user-data-dir=C:\Users\YourUser\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data")
# Specify the profile folder (e.g., "Default", "Profile 1")
chrome_options.add_argument(r"profile-directory=Profile 1")

# Assuming chromedriver is in your PATH or specify its service
# service = Service(executable_path=r"C:\path\to\chromedriver.exe")
# driver = webdriver.Chrome(service=service, options=chrome_options)
driver = webdriver.Chrome(options=chrome_options) # Simpler if chromedriver is in PATH

driver.get("https://www.example.com")
# Expected: Navigates the current window/tab to example.com
# Actual: Opens example.com in a brand new tab, leaving the initial tab blank or on 'data:,'

When driver.get("some-url.com") executes, instead of the browser navigating in the window Selenium just opened, it opens a new tab for the URL. This deviation can disrupt subsequent automation steps that rely on interacting with elements in the originally intended tab.

Why Does This Happen?

The issue often stems from how Selenium and ChromeDriver interact with an already running Chrome browser instance that is utilizing the same profile. If Chrome is already open with “Profile 1,” launching a new Selenium session with that identical profile can trigger this “new tab” behavior for the initial get() command. ChromeDriver might attach to the existing browser session in a way that defaults the first navigation to a new tab.

The Primary Fix: Detach for Consistent Navigation

The most reliable solution is to incorporate an experimental option into your Chrome options: detach.

Setting detach to True instructs ChromeDriver to leave the browser window open even after the Python script (and the ChromeDriver process itself) has concluded. While its main function is to keep the browser available for inspection after the script finishes, it has a valuable side effect in this situation: it helps ensure driver.get() behaves as anticipated, navigating within the current tab.

Here’s the corrected code:

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.service import Service
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.options import Options

chrome_options = Options()
chrome_options.add_argument(r"user-data-dir=C:\Users\YourUser\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data")
chrome_options.add_argument(r"profile-directory=Profile 1")

# The Fix: Add the detach option
chrome_options.add_experimental_option("detach", True)

# driver = webdriver.Chrome(service=service, options=chrome_options)
driver = webdriver.Chrome(options=chrome_options)

driver.get("https://www.example.com")
# Now, this should navigate the current tab to example.com!

By adding chrome_options.add_experimental_option("detach", True), you modify how Selenium manages the browser’s lifecycle, which, in this instance, resolves the new tab navigation anomaly.

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Alternative Solutions to Consider

While detach=True is a strong fix, other approaches can also address this behavior:

1. Use a Dedicated Test Profile (Copied Profile):
The ChromeDriver (versions ≥ v113 with “Chrome for Testing”) may intentionally limit automation on “default” or regular live profiles for security and stability reasons. This can manifest as a warning like “DevTools remote debugging requires a non-default data directory.”
To circumvent this, create a copy of your existing profile into a separate dedicated folder for Selenium to use. For example, on Windows

mkdir "C:\SeleniumChromeProfile"
xcopy /E /I "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default" "C:\SeleniumChromeProfile\Default"

Then, update your script to point to this new directory, omitting the profile-directory argument:

chrome_options = Options()
chrome_options.add_argument(r"--user-data-dir=C:\SeleniumChromeProfile")
# Omit: chrome_options.add_argument(r"--profile-directory=Default")
driver = webdriver.Chrome(options=chrome_options)
driver.get("https://www.example.com")

This method gives ChromeDriver fuller control over the profile, potentially avoiding the protections that interfere with driver.get(). Note that using a copied profile might sometimes lead to “Failed to decrypt” errors for existing logins if Chrome’s encryption keys are tied to the original profile in a way that doesn’t transfer perfectly.

2. Use “Chrome for Testing” with a Fresh Profile Setup:
A different strategy involves using the special “Chrome for Testing” browser.

• Download “Chrome for Testing” that matches your ChromeDriver version.Point chrome_options.binary_location to the chrome.exe of “Chrome for Testing.”
• Manually open this “Chrome for Testing” browser once and set up a new profile within it (log in, install extensions, etc.). This profile will be created in a separate location (e.g., Google/Chrome for Testing/User Data/... on Windows instead of Google/Chrome/User Data/...)
• Then, point your Selenium script’s user-data-dir to this new profile directory associated with “Chrome for Testing.”

chrome_options = Options()
chrome_options.binary_location = r"C:\path\to\chrome-for-testing\chrome.exe"
# Path to the profile you set up within "Chrome for Testing"
chrome_options.add_argument(r"user-data-dir=C:\Users\YourUser\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome for Testing\User Data\Profile 1")
# It might be 'Default' or 'Profile 1' etc. depending on how it was created in Chrome for Testing
# chrome_options.add_argument(r"profile-directory=Profile 1") # May or may not be needed, test this.

chrome_options.add_experimental_option("detach", True) # Still good to keep

driver = webdriver.Chrome(options=chrome_options)
driver.get("https://www.example.com")language-ps

This approach isolates the testing environment more completely.

3. Ensure No Other Chrome Instances Use the Profile:
A simpler, though less robust, workaround is to diligently ensure no other Chrome windows or background processes are using the exact same profile before executing your Selenium script. This can sometimes, but not always, prevent the new tab issue. This often means thoroughly checking Task Manager.

If you’ve been battling unexpected new tabs in Selenium when working with Chrome profiles, the detach option is your first line of defense. For more complex scenarios or persistent issues, exploring dedicated test profiles or “Chrome for Testing” provides more isolated and potentially stable alternatives.