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Power Automate for desktop - Build 2206.1

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This article describes the new features, improvements and fixes to existing functionality that are included in this build.

Visit the Power Automate Blog to stay up-to-date on the latest news!

Version 2.21.244.22174 updates

New Features

  • Users can now pass more input/output variable data types in desktop flows, including Numbers, Boolean values, Custom Objects, Lists and Datatables, apart from the existing Text values.

  • Premium users that are signed into Power Automate for desktop can trigger a desktop flow through its console run URL. With this new feature, users can run desktop flows outside of the console and without opening it at all.

  • The window for editing the selectors of a UI element has been redesigned, to offer an improved experience and more space for greater element visibility. Additionally:

    • The two former screens have been merged into one, to enable fast and concurrent editing among multiple selectors.
    • Friendly names can now be used for selectors to enhance distinction between them.
    • Disabling selectors is also now available, to allow temporary but reversible removal.

  • Power Automate for desktop now supports Java-specific UI automation in Java apps and applets that are built on SWT framework.

Enhancements & Improvements

  • If Power Automate can’t sign in automatically on machine startup (i.e. no Internet connection or connectivity issue with a cloud service), the console now does not pop up on its own with the respective error, to avoid user disruption, while the system tray icon is adjusted accordingly.

  • To enable the use of an unlimited number of characters (more than 65500), when needed on an action’s input text field, the respective limit has been lifted in the action ‘Set variable’, so that the said variable can be used where applicable, instead of adding the text directly.

  • The experience of pasting UI elements in a target flow designer, via pasting their associated actions, has been enhanced in the following way:

    • If the name of the UI element to be pasted (in combination with the name of its parent window) does not exist in the target flow, it is normally added in the UI elements list.
    • If there is already a UI element with the same name (and the same parent window name), the selectors of the element and the parent window are then checked. If the selectors are also the same, then the existing UI element is used for the pasted action. If the selectors are not the same, an increment is added to the name of the UI element to be pasted (or the parent window name, based on whose selector was different), so that it is added as a new unique option.

  • The UI and web automation actions’ description has been simplified in the recorder window, to become shorter and easier to read.

  • The actions ‘Move window’ and ‘Resize window’ are now properly captured and created by the recorder.

  • The ability to use regular expressions has now been added in the ‘Set drop-down list value’ actions, both for UI and web automation, when selecting an option by name.

  • The recorder’s performance has been improved, when being used in the Excel application.

  • The console now supports multiple message bars / notifications to be displayed to the user.

  • Premium features in the Power Automate for desktop console are now visible to free users, to offer them an easy path to upgrade their license.

  • New notifications were added to the Power Automate for desktop console to help free/trial users upgrade their license.

  • The console performance has been improved when there are many flows available to display.

Repaired Functionality

The following list details issues in Power Automate for desktop that are now resolved:

  • The action ‘Extract data from web page’ now provides a list of available browser instances to use, as was already the case with the rest of the browser automation actions.

  • An issue was fixed with the option ‘View’ in the context menu of variables in the variables pane, which is now disabled for variables that are added after a previous run has taken place.

  • The option ‘Collapse all’ in the UI elements pane now collapses only the UI elements that are leaves in the tree structure, not the available screens as well.

  • The ‘Computer’ element at the top of the UI elements structure is no longer selectable for UI automation actions.

  • The button ‘Add UI element’, in the menu of the UI automation actions’ corresponding field, is now always enabled as expected.

  • The ‘Width/Position X’ and ‘Height/Position Y’ parameters of the actions ‘Move window’ and ‘Resize window’ can now accept variables.

  • The selected position of the mouse is now properly saved and visible during action editing, in actions that include the advanced parameter ‘Mouse position relative to UI element’.

  • An issue has been resolved on undoing the activity of moving an action from one subflow to another.

  • An issue on handling the pop-up dialog when launching a browser has been fixed, so that the user’s selection is respected, rather than always closing the dialog.

  • The pop-up notification about the missing web extension has now been restored for Google Chrome.

  • The issue with the right-click context menu of the recorder not being triggered sometimes, when the user right clicks while recording, has been fixed.

  • The Java installation logs folder is now always created after Power Automate is installed, ensuring that there are no errors in UI automation in Java applets because of this.

  • The ‘Use desktop’ action now properly works with taskbar icons on Windows 11 as expected.

  • An issue with Power Automate, not being able to be installed from Microsoft Store on some Windows machines (version 1909), has been fixed.

  • An issue with the recorder asking for the web extension on the Edge browser, although it was already installed, has been fixed.

  • A fix has been implemented for Java applets on Edge that used to stop working at runtime.

  • The option index value in the corresponding field of the action ‘Set drop-down list value in window’ is no longer set to -1, when the action is produced by the recorder while using a Java application.

  • In the action ‘Extract data from web page’, when the user hovers over the info icons in the Advanced settings screen of the ‘Live web helper’ window, the tooltips are now properly displayed.

  • The issue of failing to interact with a combobox and selecting an option by name during runtime, while the combobox is not focusable, has been fixed.

  • While using the recorder to launch an Internet Explorer instance, pausing the recording and closing the browser no longer records the respective action.

  • UI automation actions on Java and SAP applications now work as expected, when there are multiple monitors used with different DPI settings.

  • Web page parent elements are now captured correctly, when working on the Edge browser in Internet Explorer mode.

  • Supporting interaction with UI elements in the ‘Settings and more’ menu of the Edge browser has been restored for version 100 or later, via the use of UI automation actions.

  • A UI has been added to the console requesting user consent to use WLAN data before activation on CTA devices.

  • An issue with the level missing in the Examples section of the console has now been fixed.

  • The registry key RestrictNoLicenseOrgIDAccountsSignIns has now been fixed to work as expected.

  • The action ‘Wait for window content’ has been fixed, so that it does not return true when the UI element is not visible.

  • An issue with a button not being pressed in the SAP app when scrolling was needed has been fixed.

  • An issue with the recorder has been resolved, which occurred when the user paused the recording, closed a window and started the recording again.

  • Populating a ‘JText’ field in a Java app is now properly captured by the recorder, after capturing other input fields.

  • Extracting an entire HTML table now works as expected, when tables with a specific HTML structure are referenced, which were previously not handled properly.

  • Moving a window fast while using the recorder now does not lock the mouse on the window toolbar.

  • Power Automate can now properly interact with icons that are added manually in the notification area, which were not previously located there by default in Windows 11.

  • Hovering over desktop elements in a web page now does not trigger the ‘Get extension’ pop-up notification during recording.

  • The action ‘Click link on webpage’ now does not fail in Internet Explorer, when the option ‘Wait for page to load’ is enabled.


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