The clear() method

The clear action is similar to the sendKeys() method, which is applicable for the textbox and textarea elements. This is used to erase the text entered in a WebElement using the sendKeys() method. This can be achieved using the Keys.BACK_SPACE enum, but WebDriver has given us an explicit method to clear the text easily. The API syntax for the clear() method is as follows:

void clear()

This method doesn't take any input and doesn't return any output. It is simply executed on the target text-entry element.

Now, let's see how we can clear text that is entered in the Search box. The code example for it is as follows:

@Test
public void elementClearExample() {
    WebElement searchBox = driver.findElement(By.name("q"));
    searchBox.sendKeys(Keys.chord(Keys.SHIFT,"phones"));
    searchBox.clear();
}

We have used the WebElement's clear() method to clear the text after typing phones into the Search box.