What is Power Automate Desktop?
Power Automate Desktop is Microsoft's robotic process automation (RPA) tool. It automates tasks on your Windows desktop by interacting with applications the same way a person would: reading what is on the screen and simulating keyboard and mouse input. Unlike cloud flows, it does not require an API and works with any application you can open on your screen, including legacy software.
Power Automate Desktop automates tasks on your Windows screen: clicking buttons, filling forms, copying data between applications. It works even with legacy software that has no API.
Cloud flows vs desktop flows
Regular Power Automate flows work through connectors and APIs. They require the target system to have a supported integration. Power Automate Desktop does not need an API. It interacts with applications the same way a person would: by reading what is on the screen and simulating keyboard and mouse input. This makes it useful for legacy software that has no modern API and for tasks that span multiple local applications that cannot be connected any other way.
What you can automate
Desktop flows can handle a wide range of tasks. Browser automation lets you extract data from websites, fill in web forms, and navigate through multi-step online processes. Desktop application automation works with any Windows application: reading data from a proprietary system, copying it to Excel, then pasting it into another tool. Excel automation goes beyond what cloud flows can do, including formatting, formula injection, and reading sheets with variable structure. File and folder operations include renaming, moving, archiving, and processing batches of files on a scheduled basis.
Free vs paid
Power Automate Desktop is free to download and use for attended automation on Windows 11. Attended means a person must be logged in and present when the flow runs. Unattended automation, where flows run on a scheduled basis in the background without anyone present, requires a Power Automate Process licence. For occasional internal use, the free attended version is often sufficient. For high-volume or overnight processing, unattended is the better fit.
Typical use cases
Common scenarios include exporting data from an accounting system that has no API, processing a batch of PDF invoices into a spreadsheet, logging into a legacy web portal to pull a weekly report, and filling in an online form with data from an Excel file. Desktop flows are often combined with cloud flows: a cloud flow handles the trigger and data processing, and a desktop flow handles the part that only works through a screen interface.
For the cloud automation side, see how to create a scheduled flow in Power Automate and how to set up error handling to keep your flows reliable.
Our tip: Before building a desktop flow from scratch, use the built-in recorder. Start a new flow, click “Record,” and perform the manual steps yourself. The recorder captures each action. You then edit those recorded steps rather than building from zero, which cuts initial build time significantly.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Power Automate Desktop and regular Power Automate?
Regular Power Automate (cloud flows) connects services and systems through APIs and connectors. It works in the cloud and does not require a desktop application. Power Automate Desktop works on your Windows screen: it interacts with whatever is visible on the monitor, simulating mouse clicks and keyboard input. You use Desktop for applications that have no modern API, for tasks that require navigating a user interface, or for processes that span multiple local applications.
Is Power Automate Desktop free?
Power Automate Desktop is free to download and use for attended automation on Windows 11. Attended means a person must be logged in and present while the flow runs. Unattended automation, where flows run on a schedule in the background without anyone logged in, requires a Power Automate Process licence. For occasional internal use, the free attended version is often sufficient.
What is attended vs unattended automation?
Attended automation requires a person to be logged into the computer when the flow runs. The flow may trigger automatically, but it runs in the foreground and the user can see it. Unattended automation runs in the background on a schedule, without anyone present: the machine executes the flow, saves the results, and stops. Unattended requires a paid licence and a machine configured to run flows without user interaction.
Can Power Automate Desktop work with web browsers?
Yes. Power Automate Desktop includes browser automation for Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, and Firefox. You can record interactions on websites, extract data from web pages, fill in web forms, and navigate through multi-step online processes. The browser automation actions work even on websites that have no public API.