Power Automate Desktop November 2020 update
We are very excited to announce that the Power Automate Desktop November 2020 update has been released! Important updates have taken place in this release, including improved productivity, development capabilities and accessibility.
Productivity enhancements
There have been some key updates that enhance the productivity of Power Automate Desktop.
A system tray icon is now available for Power Automate Desktop
Power Automate Desktop now has its own system tray icon, which allows the console to remain closed and still keep the application up and running. Through this icon, you can open the console, immediately stop all running flows, or exit Power Automate Desktop.
Runtime notifications are available during flow execution
When you start a flow, a notification popup appears informing you that the flow is running. You also have the option to cancel its execution, which brings up the corresponding popup. Notifications are available as well for flows that complete successfully or throw out an error.
Changing environments in the console is now possible even when having the flow designer open
You are now able to select another environment to retrieve flows from and work on in the console, without having to close any flow designer you have already opened. This means that you are able to work on multiple Power Automate Desktop flows that belong to different environments at the same time.
For this purpose, the environment that a flow belongs to is now visible at the top right of the flow designer.
Running a flow from the console is now possible when its flow designer is open
Even if the flow designer is opened to edit a specific flow, you are now able to run the same flow from the console. In this case, the last saved version of the flow will be the one to run.
Erroneous flows are now properly handled in the console
When the user tries to run a flow which contains design time errors and has been saved as such, the proper indication is now displayed in the console, disallowing its execution.
Development enhancements
Updates that are associated with development enhancements in Power Automate Desktop are also available.
A second level of error handling is introduced in the flow designer
A new action, called ‘On block error’, is now available to be used in flows, allowing you to handle potential errors that derive from a block of actions in a single, uniform way.
This offers a second level of error handling, after the default one which is associated with the actions’ individual error handling.
Web element images are now captured properly during web recording
While using the web recorder to create a flow on a web page, the images of the web UI elements are now properly captured and shown in the UI elements repository, enabling you to easily identify them.
Command bar icons are now always visible
When resizing the flow designer, the command bar icons at the top (Save, Run, Stop, Recorder icons etc.) are not hidden anymore, but instead their text label disappears and the icons themselves remain available to be used, without needing to expand the designer’s width again.
Power Automate Desktop is now accessible for everyone
Most accessibility related improvements have already been implemented, both in the console and the flow designer, allowing users to work on Power Automate Desktop using the screen reader/narrator, high contrast settings or keyboard navigation without the mouse.
We hope that you will find the above updates useful, please feel free to provide your questions and feedback in the Power Automate Community. If you want to learn more about Power Automate Desktop, get started with the below resources: