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How to bypass captcha using Selenium in Python

How to Recognize, Solve, and Bypass Captcha Automatically Using Selenium

The article describes approaches to bypassing CAPTCHA using Selenium. A separate section contains links to working code examples for different types of CAPTCHA.

Selenium CAPTCHA Handling: Step-By-Step

The secret to conquering CAPTCHAs lies in making your script indistinguishable from a real human—think natural interactions and a convincing browser fingerprint. Enter Selenium, the go-to tool for developers seeking seamless browser automation. Pair it with 2Captcha, and you’ve got a powerhouse combo to tackle reCAPTCHAs, image CAPTCHAs, and more with ease.

In this part of the tutorial, you’ll discover how to dodge CAPTCHAs in Selenium using Python. Ready to make your script smarter? Let’s dive in!

Step #1: Set Up Your Python Project

Before diving into the world of CAPTCHA bypassing, ensure you have the following prerequisites ready:

  • Python 3 installed on your system.
  • Google Chrome browser available locally for testing.

If you already have a working Selenium web scraping or testing script, feel free to skip the setup steps. Otherwise, let’s build your project from scratch!

Open your terminal and run the following commands:

mkdir selenium_captcha_demo
cd selenium_captcha_demo

Add a new Python virtual environment inside it:

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # For macOS/Linux
venv\Scripts\activate     # For Windows

Open the project’s folder in your favorite Python IDE and create a new file named script.py.

Step #2: Install Selenium

First, activate the virtual environment you created earlier. Use the following command based on your operating system:

For Windows:

venv\Scripts\activate

For Linux/macOS:

source venv/bin/activate

Next, install Selenium using pip, Python’s package manager.
Run this command in your terminal:

pip install selenium

The installation process may take a few moments, so sit back and let it complete. You’ll soon have Selenium ready to power your automation script.

Step #3: Set Up Your Selenium Script

Set up a Selenium WebDriver instance in headless mode:

from selenium import webdriver

options = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
options.add_argument("--headless")
driver = webdriver.Chrome(options=options)

# Close the browser after tasks
driver.quit()

Not sure what headless mode is? It’s a way to run browsers programmatically without displaying their UI, making it perfect for automated tasks. You can explore more in guide on headless browsers.

Use the configured options to start a Chrome WebDriver instance.

Step #4: Solve CAPTCHAs With 2Captcha

Integrate 2Captcha into your Selenium script to handle CAPTCHA challenges seamlessly.

Part 1: Sending CAPTCHA to 2Captcha

from selenium import webdriver
import requests
import time

# Set up Selenium WebDriver
options = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
options.add_argument("--headless")
driver = webdriver.Chrome(options=options)

driver.get("https://example.com")  

# Extract CAPTCHA site key
captcha_site_key = driver.execute_script("return document.querySelector('[data-sitekey]').getAttribute('data-sitekey')")

API_KEY = "your_2captcha_api_key"
response = requests.post("http://2captcha.com/in.php", data={
    "key": API_KEY,
    "method": "userrecaptcha",
    "googlekey": captcha_site_key,
    "pageurl": "https://example.com"
})

captcha_id = response.text.split('|')[1]
print("Waiting for CAPTCHA solution...")

Part 2: Retrieving and Using the Solution

# Wait for the solution
time.sleep(20)  
result = requests.get(f"http://2captcha.com/res.php?key={API_KEY}&action=get&id={captcha_id}")

while "CAPCHA_NOT_READY" in result.text:
    time.sleep(5)
    result = requests.get(f"http://2captcha.com/res.php?key={API_KEY}&action=get&id={captcha_id}")

# Inject the solution
captcha_solution = result.text.split('|')[1]
driver.execute_script(f"document.getElementById('g-recaptcha-response').innerHTML = '{captcha_solution}';")

driver.find_element("id", "submit_button").click()  
driver.quit()

Step #5: Enhance With Selenium Stealth

Selenium Stealth is a Python package that makes Selenium-controlled browsers mimic real ones, reducing bot detection by hiding automation traces. It's a Python equivalent to Puppeteer Stealth for bypassing anti-bot mechanisms.

If you’re familiar with anti-bot solutions, think of this as a Python alternative to Puppeteer Stealth.

Install Selenium Stealth
Use pip to add the library to your project:

pip install selenium-stealth

Import Selenium Stealth
Include the library in your script by adding the following line to your script.py:

from selenium_stealth import stealth

What’s Next?
With the library installed and imported, the final step is to configure the stealth settings to enhance your browser’s invisibility. Let’s proceed!

Step #6: Configure Stealth Settings to Avoid CAPTCHAs

To enable Selenium Stealth and configure Chrome WebDriver to bypass CAPTCHAs, use the stealth() function as shown:

stealth(
    driver,
    user_agent="Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/126.0.0.0 Safari/537.36",
    languages=["en-US", "en"],
    vendor="Google Inc.",
    platform="Win32",
    webgl_vendor="Intel Inc.",
    renderer="Intel Iris OpenGL Engine",
    fix_hairline=True,
)

Feel free to adjust these arguments, but the provided values are sufficient to bypass most anti-bot systems.

Great work! Your Selenium-controlled browser now looks and behaves like a real browser used by a human.

Ready-to-Use Python + Selenium Examples

To help you get started quickly, we provide several ready-to-use examples demonstrating how to solve captchas with Python and Selenium:

Solving Captchas Using the 2Captcha API and Selenium in Other Languages

The 2Captcha API supports integration with Selenium in various programming languages. Below are links to documentation and modules for the most popular languages:

Conclusion

CAPTCHAs can feel like an insurmountable barrier, but with the right tools, they’re nothing more than a minor speed bump. While Selenium Stealth helps disguise automation, advanced CAPTCHA systems require a smarter, more efficient solution.

That’s where 2Captcha comes in. With our dedicated CAPTCHA-solving service, you can effortlessly handle reCAPTCHA, captcha, image CAPTCHAs, and many more. Whether you’re using Selenium or any other automation tool, our service integrates seamlessly, ensuring smooth and reliable CAPTCHA bypassing every time.

Don’t let CAPTCHAs slow you down—try 2Captcha today and experience effortless automation like never before!