Testing Two Tabs at Once? Playwright Makes It Possible

Modern web applications don’t live in one browser tab anymore. Users click a link, and a new tab opens for login, payment, or a third-party service. Traditional testing tools struggle to manage this. Most can’t switch tabs reliably or track them in real time. But Playwright solves that problem with clean multi-tab support. In fact, working professionals who learn this through Playwright Automation Online Training often find it one of the most job-relevant features in end-to-end testing today.

Let’s take an example from Delhi NCR. Here, fast-growing startups are creating super apps with nested dashboards, account links, and chat portals—all in separate tabs. These flows break easily if testing tools can’t follow tab transitions. As automation roles grow in this region, Playwright’s support for testing multiple tabs at once is becoming a high-demand skill.

Playwright runs tabs as separate “pages” inside one browser context. It doesn’t treat a tab as a separate session like Selenium. Every new tab or popup is linked to the parent browser. You can even set event listeners for detecting when a new tab appears, and then interact with it directly using Playwright's page object.

Here’s how it works:

const { chromium } = require('playwright');

(async () => {

const browser = await chromium.launch();

const context = await browser.newContext();

const page1 = await context.newPage();

await page1.goto('https://your-app.com');

const [page2] = await Promise.all([

context.waitForEvent('page'),

page1.click('#open-tab') // this opens a new tab

]);

await page2.waitForLoadState();

await page2.fill('#email', 'user@example.com');

})();

You can now test login in one tab and monitor dashboard responses in the other.

Let’s see how Playwright compares with other automation frameworks.

Tab Handling Built-in support Limited (Window handles) Not supported

Cross-tab Communication Easy Manual Not available

Popup and Modal Support Yes Clunky Partial

Performance with Tabs Fast Slower Not supported

Scripting Style Async/Await Promise Chains Sync (with wrappers)

Selenium does offer window switching, but it lacks real-time tab event tracking. Cypress does not support multiple tabs at all.

Those enrolled in Playwright Certification programs usually notice the time-saving benefits of Playwright when dealing with multiple tabs or popups in enterprise apps.

In Pune, many fintech startups are testing user flows involving payment gateways like Razorpay or PayU. These usually open in a new tab or popup. Testers taking the Playwright Automation with Javascript Course often face issues handling this unless they understand Playwright’s waitForEvent() and context model.

Here’s a real-world test case:

Visit dashboard Load profile settings –

Trigger tab open Click 'Pay Now' Razorpay page loads

Enter payment details – Fill card info, Submit

Confirm success Check order confirmation Validate response URL

You don’t have to close tabs manually. You can use page.close() if needed, or just let them run in the background. To test in parallel, just switch focus with await page.bringToFront().

Below is a simplified view of the lifecycle.

[User Click]

↓

[Playwright: Track tab event]

↓

[Get new tab as `page` object]

↓

[Perform actions on new tab]

↓

[Switch back to first tab if needed]

This entire flow can be done in 15–20 lines of JavaScript. No manual switching or waiting for handles.

Those joining a Playwright Automation Online Training program are advised to practice this early. Most real-world UIs today have embedded flows that open new pages or modals. Without handling these, your test coverage remains weak.

Playwright supports testing two or more tabs at once with simple async code. It tracks tabs as page objects under one context, no extra session handling. This is ideal for real-world flows like login popups, social logins, payment gateways. Tabs are opened using event listeners like context.waitForEvent('page'). In places like Delhi and Pune, tab-based automation is now a standard interview topic. It performs better than Selenium and offers more flexibility than Cypress. Testing multiple tabs is critical for full-stack testers and SDET roles.