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UIPI issues with UI and browser automation actions

This article provides guidance for resolving issues caused by User Interface Privacy Isolation (UIPI), a security feature in Windows, which might prevent UI or browser automation actions from executing successfully. UIPI blocks certain interactions between processes running at different integrity levels, which can interfere with automation tools or scripts. As these issues might occur due to multiple potential causes, we recommend reviewing each cause listed to ensure your system settings are properly configured for successful automation.

Symptoms

Actions performing UI or browser automation might fail with an error message similar to the following one:

System.Exception: Some simulated input commands were not sent successfully. The most common reason for this happening are the security features of Windows including User Interface Privacy Isolation (UIPI). Your application can only send commands to applications of the same or lower elevation. Similarly certain commands are restricted to Accessibility/UIAutomation applications. Refer to the project home page and the code samples for more information.

Cause 1: The desktop is locked during execution

Solution: Unlock the desktop to allow the automation process to proceed.

Cause 2: A UAC dialog is open during execution

Solution: Ensure that User Account Control (UAC) dialogs don't appear during automation. If necessary, temporarily adjust the UAC settings:

  1. Open the Control Panel.
  2. Navigate to System and Security > Change User Account Control settings.
  3. Adjust the slider to a lower setting temporarily to prevent UAC interruptions during automation.
  4. Restore the original settings after completing the automation process.

Cause 3: The RDP window is minimized during execution

Solution: Modify the system registry to prevent issues with minimized Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) sessions.

Important

This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For protection, back up the registry before you modify it so that you can restore it if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, see How to back up and restore the registry in Windows.

  1. Close the active Remote Desktop sessions.

  2. Press Win+R, type regedit, and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.

  3. Navigate to the following key:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Terminal Server Client

  4. Right-click inside the right panel and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.

  5. Name the new registry entry RemoteDesktop_SuppressWhenMinimized.

  6. Double-click the entry to open the Edit DWORD (32-bit) Value window.

  7. Set the Value data field to 2.

  8. Select OK to save the changes and close the Registry Editor.

Cause 4: The application being automated is running in elevated mode

Solution: Ensure that the application being automated isn't running with elevated privileges. If the application is set to run as an administrator, adjust its execution settings:

  1. Right-click the application shortcut and select Properties.
  2. Go to the Compatibility tab.
  3. Clear the Run this program as an administrator option.
  4. Select OK to save the changes.

Cause 5: The desktop screen saver is enabled

Solution: Disable the screen saver to prevent interruptions during automation:

  1. Open the Control Panel.
  2. Navigate to Appearance and Personalization > Change screen saver.
  3. Set the Screen saver option to None.
  4. Select Apply > OK.

Cause 6: Windows Server Manager starts automatically at logon, triggering UAC

Solution: Disable the automatic start feature of Server Manager to prevent UAC prompts:

  1. Open Server Manager.
  2. Go to Manage > Server Manager Properties.
  3. Select the Do not start Server Manager automatically at logon checkbox.
  4. Select OK to save the changes.

Cause 7: Windows updates or system configuration changes

Solution: Review recent Windows updates or system changes and revert them if necessary to resolve the issue.

More information

  • For web automation actions such as Click link on web page and Populate text field on webpage, ensure that physical interaction options are disabled in the action parameters.

    • Populate text field on web page: Disable the Populate text using physical keystrokes option.
    • Click link on web page: Disable the Send physical click option.

  • For UI automation, enable the Simulate action parameter for eligible UI Automation actions and UI elements.