selenium.common.exceptions.WebDriverException: Message: chrome not reachable error while using find_element_by_id Selenium with ChromeDriver

The error says it all :

    raise exception_class(message, screen, stacktrace)
selenium.common.exceptions.WebDriverException: Message: chrome not reachable

This error is observed in case of version compatibility between the binaries which an user uses but definitely this is not your case as you are :

• Using chromedriver=2.36
• Using chrome=65.0

• Selenium version unknown

  Release Notes of chromedriver=2.36 clearly mentions :

  Supports Chrome v65-66

But, since the release of the latest Chromedriver 2.36 Selenium users had been facing issues with it. Here is one of the threads :

• We released the latest Chromedriver 2.36

The root cause is related to the commit regarding :

• Remove --disable-infobars

  So, a couple of possible solution will be to :

• To use ChromeOptions Class to maximize the browser.

• Remove the option disable-infobars

• An example :

  from selenium import webdriver
  from selenium.webdriver.chrome.options import Options
  
  options = Options()
  options.add_argument("start-maximized")
  driver = webdriver.Chrome(chrome_options=options, executable_path=r'C:\path\to\chromedriver.exe')
  driver.get('https://www.google.co.in')
  print("Page Title is : %s" %driver.title)
  

If your issue still persists consider the following :

• Upgrade Selenium Python Client to current levels Version 3.10.0.
• Upgrade ChromeDriver to stable ChromeDriver v2.35 level.
• Keep Chrome version at Chrome v64.x levels. (as per ChromeDriver v2.35 release notes)
• Clean your Project Workspace through your IDE and Rebuild your project with required dependencies only.
• Use CCleaner tool to wipe off all the OS chores before and after the execution of your test Suite.
• If your base Chrome version is too old, then uninstall it through Revo Uninstaller and install a recent GA and released version of Chrome.
• Execute your Test.

Your exception is not about finding an element. Selenium is not able to contact Chrome. You can do couple of things.

1. Downgrade/upgrade your chromedriver based on your selenium version.

2. Pass --no-sandbox to chrome options.

   chrome_options.add_argument('--no-sandbox')
   chrome = webdriver.Chrome('/usr/local/bin/chromedriver', chrome_options=chrome_options)