How do I use proxies with Selenium?

You can use proxies with Selenium by configuring the browser instance to route traffic through the proxy server. The exact setup depends on the browser and whether the proxy needs authentication.

1) Basic proxy setup

Python + Chrome

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.options import Options

proxy = "http://proxy-host:proxy-port"

options = Options()
options.add_argument(f'--proxy-server={proxy}')

driver = webdriver.Chrome(options=options)
driver.get("https://example.com")

Python + Firefox

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.firefox.options import Options
from selenium.webdriver.common.proxy import Proxy, ProxyType

proxy = Proxy()
proxy.proxy_type = ProxyType.MANUAL
proxy.http_proxy = "proxy-host:proxy-port"
proxy.ssl_proxy = "proxy-host:proxy-port"

capabilities = webdriver.DesiredCapabilities.FIREFOX.copy()
proxy.add_to_capabilities(capabilities)

driver = webdriver.Firefox(desired_capabilities=capabilities)
driver.get("https://example.com")

2) Proxy with authentication

Chrome

Chrome does not handle proxy username/password well via simple command-line args. Common approaches:

• Use a Chrome extension to supply credentials
• Use a local proxy tool that injects credentials
• Use Selenium Wire or another library that supports authenticated proxies more easily

Example with selenium-wire:

from seleniumwire import webdriver

options = {
    'proxy': {
        'http': 'http://username:password@proxy-host:proxy-port',
        'https': 'https://username:password@proxy-host:proxy-port',
        'no_proxy': 'localhost,127.0.0.1'
    }
}

driver = webdriver.Chrome(seleniumwire_options=options)
driver.get("https://example.com")

Install:

pip install selenium-wire

3) SOCKS proxy

Chrome

options.add_argument('--proxy-server=socks5://proxy-host:proxy-port')

Firefox

proxy.socks_proxy = "proxy-host:proxy-port"
proxy.socks_version = 5

4) Check that the proxy is working

Use a site that shows your IP:

driver.get("https://api.ipify.org?format=json")
print(driver.page_source)

5) Notes / common issues

• If the site uses HTTPS, make sure your proxy supports HTTPS tunneling.
• If pages fail to load, test the proxy outside Selenium first.
• Some proxies require additional cert handling for HTTPS interception.
• Rotating proxies often need per-session configuration.

If you want, I can give you a ready-to-run example for Chrome, Firefox, or authenticated proxies in your preferred language.