Playwright: expect(locator).toBeVisible() failed

A web-first assertion in Playwright Test retried for its whole timeout and the condition never became true. Assertions have their own timeout, 5 seconds by default, separate from the 30-second test timeout. The block below the headline tells you what was checked: the locator, what was expected, how long it waited, and, if nothing matched, element(s) not found.

Older Playwright versions printed this as Timed out 5000ms waiting for expect(locator).toBeVisible(); current versions use the ... failed format shown here, so you may see either in search results.

What is not wrong: the assertion mechanism. If element(s) not found appears, the locator matched nothing. If it shows a received value such as hidden, the element exists but is not visible. The fix differs for each.

import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';

test('login', async ({ page }) => {
  await page.goto('/login');
  await page.getByLabel('Email').fill('[email protected]');
  await page.getByLabel('Password').fill(process.env.PASSWORD!);
  await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Sign in' }).click();
  await expect(page).toHaveURL(/dashboard/);
  await expect(page.getByRole('heading', { name: 'Welcome back' }))
    .toBeVisible({ timeout: 15_000 });
});

Use web-first assertions (expect(locator)...) instead of reading values and comparing them yourself; they retry and produce these detailed messages. Assert intermediate states so a failure points at the step that broke. Configure expect.timeout once for your app's realistic latency instead of sprinkling ad-hoc waits.