---
title: Locators and actions
description: Locators are agent-browser's: find elements the way a user would describe them. Text matching is a case-insensitive substring with whitespace collapsed;...
url: https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/library/locators
---

# Locators and actions
Locators are agent-browser's: find elements the way a user would describe them.
```csharp
page.Role("button", "Add to basket")      
page.Text("3 results")                    
page.Label("Search")                      
page.Placeholder("Find a product")
page.Alt("A product photo")
page.Title("Close")
page.TestId("go")                         
page.Css("form .basket-count")
page.Css("li").Nth(2)                     
```

- Text matching is a case-insensitive substring with whitespace collapsed; pass `exact: true` to match the whole text,
  case-sensitively. A role always ignores case.
- A label locator finds the control of a `<label>`, then elements named by `aria-label` or `aria-labelledby`.
- A selector that does not parse is an error at once, not a timeout.


## Actions wait

```csharp
await page.Label("Search").FillAsync("lamp");
await page.Role("checkbox", "Only in stock").CheckAsync();
await page.Role("button", "Go").ClickAsync();
await page.Text("3 results").WaitAsync();
```

Every action polls until its element is ready, up to `page.ActionTimeout` (5 s): visible and enabled for clicks, fills
and keys, visible for hover, attached for reads. A timeout names the locator and says what it saw: no match, matches
that are not visible, or visible ones that are disabled.

| Locator                                                                             |                                                                            |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| `ClickAsync`, `DoubleClickAsync`, `HoverAsync`, `FocusAsync`                        | real mouse input at the element's centre, scrolled into view               |
| `FillAsync(text)`, `TypeAsync(text)`, `PressAsync(key)`                             | replace the value, type after it, press a key                              |
| `CheckAsync`, `UncheckAsync`                                                        | click only when the state differs; fail if it did not change               |
| `SelectAsync(values)`                                                               | by value, then label; fires `input` and `change`                           |
| `UploadAsync(files)`, `DragToAsync(target)`, `ScrollIntoViewAsync`, `ScrollByAsync` |                                                                            |
| `TextAsync`, `HtmlAsync`, `ValueAsync`, `BoxAsync`, `StylesAsync`, `CountAsync`     | reads                                                                      |
| `IsVisibleAsync`, `IsEnabledAsync`, `IsCheckedAsync`                                | now, without waiting                                                       |
| `WaitAsync(state)`                                                                  | until visible, or with `LocatorState.Attached` until it is in the document |
| `ScreenshotAsync()`                                                                 | a PNG of the element                                                       |


## Navigation after an action

A click or key press that starts a navigation waits for the new document's `load`; a navigation within the document
returns at once, and a cancelled one or a download stops the wait. Nothing started, nothing waited for.