Protected Mode Settings different for different zones: Common issues Selenium Webdriver

During automation using Selenium Webdriver, we face challenges during execution of automation tests or during script creation. In this series of articles, we will discuss on different challenges/problems in Selenium Automation specific to Internet explorer.

Problem Statement : Protected Mode Settings different for different zones

Problem: Get following error on launching the IE browser:

Exception in thread "main"org.openqa.selenium.remote.SessionNotFoundException: Unexpected error launching Internet Explorer. Protected Mode settings are not the same for all zones. Enable Protected Mode must be set to the same value (enabled or disabled) for all zones. (WARNING: The server did not provide any stacktrace information).

Solution:  Well, the exception in this case tells the solution itself, i.e to set protected mode as enabled or disabled for all the internet zones. Below are the steps to set protected mode settings in internet explorer.

• Navigate to internet Options>Security.

• For all the internet zones, Internet, Local Intranet , Trusted Sites, and Restricted sites, Keep the protected mode settings same for all the zones. Either keep them protected mode as enabled or disabled.