Playwright: How to Remove or Disable Timeout (With Examples)

By default, Playwright applies timeouts to most actions like click(), waitForSelector(), and assertions. In some cases, you may want to remove, increase, or customize these timeouts — for example, when testing a slow-loading app or debugging flakiness.

This guide explains how to remove timeouts in Playwright, how to set them to 0 (infinite), and when to override them.

✅ Quick Answer: Set Timeout to 0

await page.locator('#my-element').click({ timeout: 0 });

This disables the timeout for the click() action — Playwright will wait indefinitely.

🧪 Method 1: Set Timeout Per Action

await page.click('#submit', { timeout: 0 }); // no timeout
await page.waitForSelector('.loading', { timeout: 15000 }); // 15 seconds

• ✅ Precise control
• 💡 Recommended for slow elements or debugging

🧪 Method 2: Set Timeout Per Locator

const button = page.locator('#my-button').setTimeout(0);
await button.click();

• ✅ Reusable locator without timeout
• ✅ Cleaner for page object models

🧪 Method 3: Set Timeout for Whole Test

If using Playwright Test:

test('long test', async ({ page }) => {
  test.setTimeout(0); // no timeout
  await page.goto('https://example.com');
  // long-running steps...
});

• ✅ Useful for long E2E flows
• ❗ Disables the entire test timeout — use with caution

🧪 Method 4: Override Global Timeout in Config

In playwright.config.ts:

import { defineConfig } from '@playwright/test';

export default defineConfig({
  timeout: 0, // disable test-level timeout globally
});

Or increase timeout globally:

timeout: 60000, // 60 seconds

🧪 Method 5: Page-Wide Timeout Override (Advanced)

page.setDefaultTimeout(0); // No timeout for all page actions
page.setDefaultNavigationTimeout(0); // For navigations only

Use when:

• Working with slow network
• Performing manual debugging
• Testing transitional UI

🧰 Comparison Table

🧠 Pro Tips

• Don’t forget to re-enable timeouts after debugging!
• Use longer timeouts instead of 0 in CI/CD to avoid hangs:

page.setDefaultTimeout(60000); // 60 seconds

• Use DEBUG=pw:api to trace actions and delays in development

❌ Common Mistakes

🏁 Conclusion

To remove or disable timeout in Playwright:

• Use timeout: 0 in action options or locator settings
• Use setTimeout(0) for tests or setDefaultTimeout(0) for global actions
• Prefer increased timeouts over total removal for stability in CI