Microsoft has changed the behavior of IE11, and broken the IE driver in the process.
The problem is with the browser's behavior change. There is no clear-cut workaround
yet. You could try setting the initialBrowserUrl capability via the InternetExplorerOptions
class, but there's no guarantee that will work.

According to Jim Evans:

"I've had a little more time to look at this now. I've tested it against the Windows
8.1 preview build available for download from Microsoft.

The good news is that it looks like the IE driver *mostly* works with IE11, provided
that (a) all security zones are set to the same Protected Mode setting and (b) Enhanced
Protected Mode is turned off. Note that the standard registry checks that the IE driver
uses to test for Protected Mode settings in IE7-10 are broken for IE11, and we've never
made any attempt to check for Enhanced Protected Mode, so there's no warning (yet)
if you don't have these settings properly set.

The bad news is that cookie manipulation is broken. Badly. If you attempt to set or
retrieve cookies, there's a chance that you'll end up with the "Unable to get browser"
error encountered before. At the moment, there is no workaround for that. Matt, looking
at the log you posted earlier, it looks like you were doing some cookie manipulation
before you got into the bad state."

I can confirm that this also occurs on 64 Windows 7 Professional SP1 with the Python
bindings.

IE version: 11.0.9600.16428 (Update Versions: RTM (KB2841134))

I tested with multiple versions of the Python bindings and IEDriverServer.exe (32 bit):
 * Selenium 2.35.0/IEDriver 2.35.3, Selenium 2.36.0/IEDriver 2.36.0, Selenium 2.37.0/IEDriver
2.37.0

I also tested with Selenium 2.38.3/IEDriver 2.38.0, but get a different exception there.
I will open a new issue for this (if there isn't one already).

This situation prevents me from running any of my Selenium tests on IE. I am not normally
one to say this but I think this is pretty serious!

I've had yet more time to look into this issue, and I can confirm that it is a change
in browser behavior. Microsoft has made a change in Internet Explorer 11 that can cause
a crossing of Protected Mode boundaries, even if your Protected Mode settings are set
properly. This is not something that can be worked around in the driver code.

I don't argue the seriousness of the issue; I consider it to be critical. However,
you have to realize the problem is not in the driver, but rather in the browser itself.
Until we are given a workaround from Microsoft for this problem, it cannot be resolved.

I understand and I'm sure you are doing everything you can to speed up resolution of
this issue.

I suppose there is no way to change the settings in IE to overcome this problem, but
thought I had to ask. Is there?

Many thanks!

Sorry, no. If it were as simple as a browser setting, the workaround would've been published
by now.

I did some more testing with the latest versions (Selenium Python bindings 2.39.0, 32
bit IEDriverServer 2.39.0.0, 64 bit Windows 7, IE 11.0.9600.16476 Update Versions 11.0.2
(KB2898785)). Here's my sample script: 

    from selenium.webdriver import Ie
    from selenium.common.exceptions import NoAlertPresentException
    import selenium
    print 'Selenium version is %s' % selenium.__version__
    ie = Ie()
    ie.get("http://www.wikipedia.org")
    try:
        ie.switch_to_alert().text
    except NoAlertPresentException:
        print 'Success!'

One thing is interesting: When I save this script in a file 'tst.py' and execute the
file via python.exe, I get the following output:

    c:\Users\Michael\Temp>python tst.py
    Selenium version is 2.39.0
    Traceback (most recent call last):
      File "tst.py", line 8, in <module>
        ie.switch_to_alert().text
      File "c:\Program Files (x86)\Python275\lib\site-packages\selenium\webdriver\common\alert.py",
line 63, in text
        return self.driver.execute(Command.GET_ALERT_TEXT)["value"]
      File "c:\Program Files (x86)\Python275\lib\site-packages\selenium\webdriver\re
    mote\webdriver.py", line 164, in execute
        self.error_handler.check_response(response)
      File "c:\Program Files (x86)\Python275\lib\site-packages\selenium\webdriver\remote\errorhandler.py",
line 164, in check_response
        raise exception_class(message, screen, stacktrace)
    selenium.common.exceptions.NoSuchWindowException: Message: u'Unable to get browser'

However, when I open the interactive Python console (C:\Python27\python.exe) and type
in the script line by line by hand, I get:

    Python 2.7.5 (default, May 15 2013, 22:43:36) [MSC v.1500 32 bit (Intel)] on win
    32
    Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
    >>> from selenium.webdriver import Ie
    >>> from selenium.common.exceptions import NoAlertPresentException
    >>> import selenium
    >>> print 'Selenium version is %s' % selenium.__version__
    Selenium version is 2.39.0
    >>> ie = Ie()
    >>> ie.get("http://www.wikipedia.org")
    >>> try:
    ...     ie.switch_to_alert().text
    ... except NoAlertPresentException:
    ...     print 'Success!'
    ...
    Success!

So the problem does not occur when typing in manually! I played around a little. When
I copy-paste the entire script into the Python console window so it gets executed in
a batch, the problem again occurs. I suspected that the reason why the problem goes
away when typing in the script manually was because I was switching back and forth
between IE and the Python console window via ALT-TAB. To see whether this suspicion
holds true, I next interspersed the script with sleep(2) statements and ran via "python.exe
tst.py". As the script was running, I pressed ALT-TAB repeatedly to switch back and
forth between the windows, just as I did when typing in manually. The problem still
occurred.

I don't know anything about the driver so please forgive me if my idea sounds stupid.
But judging from the above, it appears to me that the problem I am experiencing might
be related to Window/focus events being sent to IE when typing into the console and
switching back and forth to IE. Could that be the case at all?

The problem is entirely due to the change in browser behavior. It does not have anything
to do with window focus.

Thank you very much for the quick reply. I am amazed how quickly issues are being addressed
here. Many thanks.

It's a pity that it's entirely up to Microsoft now. Do you know how long it might take
them to address this?

Thanks,
Michael

I apologize if this is "me too!" , but I am able to reproduce this issue. We see the
'unable to get browser' in IE 11 on Windows Server 2008 R2 DataCenter, x64 IEDriverServer,
Selenium 2.35. Specifically, when we attempt to use the .NET Selenium driver and call
the GetScreenshot method on an InternetExplorerDriver. 

Cheers!

Same issue, looks like webdriver loses connection with browser
When I do inject of javascript 
C# code
 try
            {
                IJavaScriptExecutor js = driver as IJavaScriptExecutor;          
                js.ExecuteScript("window.onload = function() {alert('Hello')} "); 
            }
            catch (Exception e)
            {
                MessageBox.Show("can't execute java " + e.Message);
            }

environment
Win 7 Pro x64 IE11

Just an FYI:
using 2.39 (C# and webdriver, x64) on a Win8.1 IE11 machine, we discovered that manually
adding the domain of the site (or sites) being tested to IE's list of Trusted Sites
seems to resolve many (if not most) issues.

I am seeing this issue as well (or a similar one) where the IEDriver launches the browser
but then fails to connect to it, and all subsequent messages to the browser window
are dropped (including the close operations)

Adding a link to a gist with a reduced test case for the underlying problem with IE:
https://gist.github.com/jimevans/7268760

1) Run that app on a Windows 8 machine
2) Manually start IE and provide its window handle to the app
3) In IE, manually navigate to a few websites

Bug: The InternetExplorer app will incorrectly fire OnQuit.

Have same issue with IE11 using Geb framework:
WebDriver instance loses connection with the actual browser instance.

Workaround with addind sites too be tested to the list of trusted ones
didn't help:(

Capabilities:
Win7,WebDriver 2.36 (running by Geb)and IEDriverService 64-bit

Project members, please,
could you provide any info about when this defect will be fixed?

Thanks,
Vsevolod

The Connection seems to work in a 32bit Win 8.1. 

Hi,

I have checked on latest version of IE11 and scripts are executing fine, I couldn't
reproduce this bug. Is it got resolved ? can you please provide any confirmation ?

Selenium server : 2.39 IEdriverserver: 2.39; OS: windows7;

Regards,
Prabhu,N

I still met this issue on selenium grid and ie11 on windows 7. On windows 8.1, the issue
also exists. Adding the website to trusted sites works. But it didn't work on windows
7. 

I am able to get IE 11 working on all OSs except Win 7x64 at this point.

While seeing reports from people saying they are able to get it "working" are gratifying,
I'm going to reiterate that there is no workaround for this issue. Let me repeat that
again. There is no workaround for this issue. Full stop. It is possible to get extremely
lucky and never manage to hit the reproduction. If you happen to be in that scenario,
more power to you.

There is also nothing, zero, nada that the Selenium team can do to rectify the situation.
There is no way to modify the behavior of IE11 to explicitly prevent the behavior that
causes the issue. Such a modification, via a registry setting, or a setting in the
browser's options UI, or some other mechanism, will have to come from Microsoft. The
IE team has been made aware of the issue directly, through several channels, official
and unofficial. The proverbial ball is very much in their court, and we are entirely
at their mercy regarding it. There will be no further status updates from the Selenium
team regarding this issue until such time as a response has been received from the
IE team at Microsoft.

The big players in Selenium hosting seem to get it to work. Browserstack for example
offer ie11 configurations. What is the difference there?

No, in point of fact, they haven't. How do I know? The WebDriver continuous integration
server runs the project's tests via a cloud provider, and they encounter the issue.
Every time. It's possible that since the issue is related to Protected Mode, and therefore
the pages one automates against will likely remain in the same zone, *and* if your
code never attempts to navigate backward or forward, you *may* be increasing your luck
at avoiding the issue. But the issue is still there, and it's still very possible to
encounter it even when using a cloud provider.

James, I was trying to diagnose an issue with IE11 and Windows 8.1 when I stumbled upon
this thread. The bug, as you have stated, is very alive and well. We are encountering
it with BrowserStack today, and we're trying to find our own workaround. Cloud providers
really haven't figured it out :). 

Selenium IEDriver does not work on IE11 Windows 8.1/Server 2012 R2, any resolution yet?
driver.findelement('id').click() does not work. version 2.42.

The new IE 11 dev channel builds are including the WebDriver API. See - http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2014/06/16/announcing-internet-explorer-developer-channel.aspx

And http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ie/dn725045(v=vs.85).aspx 

IE Developer Channel does not support Sever 2012 at this time.

Hi,

We are looking for Selenium IE WebDriver with fix for IE 11 on Windows 7.

As per the below statement, May I know the tentative date of the fix for IE 11 if any.

Internet Explorer
Versions 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 are supported. 11 is currently awaiting a fix for this issue.

Hi james,

The wiki document for IEDriver is not fully documented. It can be imporoved.

For IE 11 only, you will need to set a registry entry on the target computer so that
the driver can maintain a connection to the instance of Internet Explorer it creates.
For 32-bit Windows installations, the key you must examine in the registry editor is
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_BFCACHE.
For 64-bit Windows installations, the key is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Internet
Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_BFCACHE. Please note that the FEATURE_BFCACHE
subkey may or may not be present, and should be created if it is not present. Important:
Inside this key, create a DWORD value named iexplore.exe with the value of 0.

Here you need to specify DWORD value named iexplore.exe with the value of 0 has to
be set both for 64bit and 32 bit Windows.

I am encountering the same issue on Windows 8.1 with IE11.

I did the registry update as well. 

This is how I started the Selenium Server:
start cmd /c "java -jar C:\Users\hok.tong\Selenium\selenium.jar -role hub -browserTimeout
60 -browser browserName=InternetExplorer,version=11.0,maxInstances=1,platform=WINDOWS
&& pause"
start cmd /c "java -jar C:\Users\hok.tong\Selenium\selenium.jar -role node  -hub http://localhost:4444/grid/register
-trustAllSSLCertificates -Dwebdriver.chrome.driver=C:\Users\me\Selenium\chromedriver.exe
-ignore-certificate-errors false -Dwebdriver.ie.driver=C:\Users\me\Selenium\IEDriverServer.exe
&& pause"

I also have the PATH set for the IEDriver:
C:\Users\me\Selenium;

When I run tests from VirtualBox with:
driver = Selenium::WebDriver.for :ie

It gives me this error:
Selenium::WebDriver::Error::WebDriverError:
Unable to find standalone executable. Please download the IEDriverServer from http://selenium-release.storage.googleapis.com/index.html
and place the executable on your PATH.

Anyone has resolved this issue?

Also, with the IE Developer Channel with WebDriver API, is there any documentation
how to set up the driver to talk to the WebDriver API from IE Developer to run tests
there?

Thanks in advance!
Hok

Was getting "unable to get browser" error as well.
Completed;
1. Registry entries for 32 and 64 bit.
2. Adjusted "Protected Mode" to b the same for all security zones.
3. Turned off "Enhanced Protected Mode".
4. Even rebooted.
Was still getting the exception.
The thing that enabled the workaround to function was;
5. Added domain to list of "Trusted Sites" for i.e. in "Internet Options".
Works fine now, thanks for the help!

Added domain to list of "Trusted Sites" for i.e. in "Internet Options".  Confirmed in
IE11

Verified comment #48 to be true (added https to trusted sites, and http to local intranet);
IE11

Confirmed suggestion from #47-#49.

Hi everyone.

I am an active selenium WD programmer. Recently  ia m trying to leverage WD for Ie
testing and i am seeing exactly the same error "unable to locate browser. While i will
try all these tweaks, i run my tests on sauce labs where i have no way to update all
these reg changes. Is this issue resolved or is there any one actively working with
Microsoft to help prioritize this? We have a big production issue with IE that could
not be caught in testing because WD test dont run on Ie. Any help is much apprecitated

IE11 on sauce labs works ok for me.

For webdriver-sync, I ran npm update and npm update -g
Installed IE11
Set Protected Mode for all zones
Enabled Intranet settings
Added my test domains to the Intranet zone
Now working.

On IE 11.0.15 (KB3008923) and IEDriverServer x64 2.44.0 getElement() returns nothing
for all By() variants.

I have next issue with IE driver 2.44 *32. My environment is:
* Win 7 x64;
* __ IE 11 __!!!;
* Ruby 1.9.3;
* Watir, Cucumber, Page-Object.

A day yesterday I successfully executed my scenarios. And next morning I've got an
error:
   Selenium::WebDriver::Error::InvalidSelectorError: The xpath expression ...
No steps were updated, just re-execute.
I checked on other browsers, everything is fine.
I uninstalled IE11 and installed IE10. Everything is OK.

When you will provide stable IE driver for IE11? It is urgent needed.

I have the same problem likes #56 silver.z...@gmail.com,#55 jjcmontano@gmail.com faced.
My test case can be executed successfully at 12/18/2014,but all of them failed with
the error of org.openqa.selenium.InvalidSelectorException at 12/19/2014.
And these test case can be executed on IE9 normally.
I think this problem caused by IE 11.0.15 (KB3008923).

My environment info is below:

System info:
os.name: 'Windows 7', 
os.arch: 'amd64', 
os.version: '6.1', 
java.version: '1.6.0_45'
Driver info: org.openqa.selenium.ie.InternetExplorerDriver

I suppose I should have also posted my public service announcement here. Please see
https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/selenium-users/TdY_rRNF-gw for details.

Hi Jim, 
Thanks a bunch for the update notification, I ended up removing the windows update
KB3025390 (not optimal), and was able to run my selenium code exactly like it was prior
to the 12/16/2014 update, also rebooted for good measure.  Hoping there will be a MS
workaround soon.

System info:
os.name: 'Windows 8.1', 
os.arch: 'amd64', 
os.version: '6.3.9600', 
java.version: '1.7.0_67'
Driver info: org.openqa.selenium.ie.InternetExplorerDriver

I can also confirm that uninstalling the KB3025390 update enables the latest selenium
webdriver to run again on IE 11.0.15.

IE Driver version: 2.45.0
IE browser version: 11.0.9600
Windows 7 Enterprise SP1

I still get this error "Unable to get browser" after clicking on a button and the page
navigate to another page of the site.

This is the error:

org.openqa.selenium.NoSuchWindowException: Unable to get browser (WARNING: The server
did not provide any stacktrace information)
Command duration or timeout: 20 milliseconds
Build info: version: '2.45.0', revision: '5017cb8e7ca8e37638dc3091b2440b90a1d8686f',
time: '2015-02-27 09:10:26'
System info: host: 'SGH052QDT1', ip: '192.168.50.66', os.name: 'Windows 7', os.arch:
'amd64', os.version: '6.1', java.version: '1.7.0_55'
Session ID: 73b6380a-b1da-4d59-a507-43fc6e9e1955
Driver info: com.atc.engine.selenium.service.internetexplorer.EInternetExplorerDriver
Capabilities [{platform=WINDOWS, javascriptEnabled=true, elementScrollBehavior=0, ignoreZoomSetting=false,
enablePersistentHover=true, ie.ensureCleanSession=false, browserName=internet explorer,
enableElementCacheCleanup=true, unexpectedAlertBehaviour=accept, version=11, ie.usePerProcessProxy=false,
ignoreProtectedModeSettings=true, cssSelectorsEnabled=true, requireWindowFocus=false,
initialBrowserUrl=http://localhost:12898/, handlesAlerts=true, ie.forceCreateProcessApi=false,
nativeEvents=true, browserAttachTimeout=0, ie.browserCommandLineSwitches=, takesScreenshot=true}]

@#62 mr.liem 
Check this url to solve this problem: 
http://www.michael-whelan.net/selenium-webdriver-and-ie11/

I was able to resolve the issue after adding the site URL under trusted sites of IE.
The same worked for every other machine I tried running scripts on IE 11, forgive me
if I am talking a little out of context. But that actually has worked for me every
time.

Hi good morning. iam  clicking on the link  on the popup that is another site but my
firefox unable click.it and iam trying  to going from coupons.in to amazon .com the
operations on amazon.com  not working .i get this error browser has died .please help
me

Just a reminder to be diligent when applying the regedit entries.  I had accidentally
entered iexplorer.exe INSTEAD of iexplore.exe - I continued to fail after applying
the other suggested changes (adding to trusted sites, removing KB's).  

I am raising this as I believe I saw in one or two comments in this thread that applying
the changes had not worked.

Thank you all who contributed to this thread. 

Registry fix in post #29 fixed the issue for me. Thanks to everyone who contributed.

For me, the driver would just launch the initial starting page and then move onto the
next test without any kind of failure. 

Win7 Enterprise SP1, 64bit, IE11. I've got a bunch of other VM's with the same OS where
IE8, 9, 10, Chrome and Firefox are all working.