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Automate your desktop with robotic process automation

Connect old and new systems and reduce repetitive tasks using UI-based automation with desktop flows—the robotic process automation (RPA) capability in Power Automate.

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Why use robotic process automation

Increase efficiency

Free your team from repetitive, time-consuming tasks with easy-to-use, low-code automation so they can focus on more important work.

Get unlimited possibilities

Connect with other products, link new and legacy systems, run on virtual machines, and take advantage of partner connectors in available cloud flows—or create your own.

Reduce costly mistakes and improve security

Automate more safely at every level with built-in exception handling and available governance, privacy, and data loss–prevention technology.

Streamline your business processes with RPA

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Create automated workflows quickly with a low-code visual designer that empowers everyone, regardless of technical expertise.

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Take advantage of hundreds of drag-and-drop actions that interact with your desktop’s user interface and apps. Use variables and conditionals, launch apps, copy and paste, and more.

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Save time by capturing your mouse and keyboard actions and importing them directly into the visual designer.

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Initiate desktop flows or respond to prompts in attended mode, or choose the available unattended mode to run your desktop flow autonomously in the background.

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Run desktop flows from available cloud flows, and use AI Builder to take advantage of hyperautomation.

What customers are saying about RPA in Power Automate

Illustration background for Coca-Cola Bottling Company
Coca-Cola Bottling Company United logo

“It was too costly to create APIs for our legacy applications… and we also had to navigate a third-party website. We used Power Automate RPA bots to fill these gaps and automate the process.”

Allan McDaniel
Manager of Development for BI and Master Data, Coca-Cola
Bottling Company United

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What analysts are saying about RPA in Power Automate

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Microsoft is named a Leader in the July 2021 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Robotic Process Automation (RPA).1

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Forrester logo

Microsoft is named a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Robotic Process Automation, Q1 2021.

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Explore RPA resources

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Learn how to boost productivity with RPA in Power Automate, now built into Windows 11.

Read the blog
An individual working with laptop for illustration purpose of using streamline processes

See an example of how RPA can be used to streamline processes.

Watch the demo
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Manage RPA workloads with greater ease using the new Azure Virtual Desktop starter kit (preview).

Get the kit
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Focus on important tasks by training RPA software bots to perform the repetitive ones.

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Get step-by-step guidance on how to use Microsoft Power Automate.

Start learning

Get started with desktop flows

Windows 10

Automate personal desktop flows on your machine for free.

Download free

Windows 11

Automate personal desktop flows on your machine for free using the app, available in the Start menu.

Launch the app

Power Automate

Experience everything Power Automate offers with access to all flows, add-ons, and apps.

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1 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Robotic Process Automation, 26 July 2021, Saikat Ray, Arthur Villa, et al.

GARTNER and Magic Quadrant are registered trademarks and service marks of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product, or service depicted in its research publications and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.