How can I ensure that only unchecked checkboxes are selected in Selenium Java?

General Discussions
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1

I want to check all unchecked checkboxes on this page: https://www.jquery-az.com/boots/demo.php?ex=63.0_2.

My current code loops through all checkboxes and clicks them if !isSelected(), but it ends up unchecking already checked boxes.

How can I modify the code to only select unchecked checkboxes without affecting the ones already checked?

2

This is the most straightforward approach. Only click checkboxes that are not selected:

List<WebElement> checkboxes = driver.findElements(By.cssSelector("input[type='checkbox']"));
for (WebElement checkbox : checkboxes) {
    if (!checkbox.isSelected()) {
        checkbox.click();
    }
}

:white_check_mark: This ensures already checked boxes remain checked. To get started with Selenium Java, follow this blog on Selenium with Java and get detail insights on smooth Selenium automation.

3

If you prefer a more modern approach with streams:

driver.findElements(By.cssSelector("input[type='checkbox']"))
      .stream()
      .filter(cb -> !cb.isSelected())
      .forEach(WebElement::click);

It does the same as the loop but is cleaner and expressive.

4

Sometimes, the page has checkboxes already checked by default with checked attribute. You can filter only those without it:

List<WebElement> unchecked = driver.findElements(
    By.cssSelector("input[type='checkbox']:not(:checked)")
);
for (WebElement cb : unchecked) {
    cb.click();
}

This uses a CSS pseudo-class to directly select unchecked checkboxes, so you don’t need to call isSelected().

5

You’re on the right track — you just need to check the box’s state before clicking it. Instead of toggling every checkbox, make your code target only unchecked ones. For example, in JavaScript:

document.querySelectorAll('input[type="checkbox"]').forEach(cb => {
  if (!cb.checked) cb.click();
});

This way, it only clicks unchecked boxes and leaves the checked ones untouched.