Interface Overview

A quick tour of what's on screen in Power Automate Desktop.

Toolbar & Flows Pane

The toolbar at the top has your main controls. Below it, the flows pane lists all your flows — click to open, right-click for copy/delete.

• New flow: Start a new automation.
• Run: Test a flow.
• Stop: Halt execution.
• Edit: Open the editor.

Actions Pane

On the right. All built-in RPA actions live here — drag them into the workspace to build your flow.

Common categories:

• UI automation: Click buttons, fill text fields, interact with app elements.
• Browser automation: Drive Edge, Chrome, etc.
• Files/Folders: File and directory operations.
• Excel: Read/write spreadsheet data.
• Loops: Repeat actions.
• Conditionals: If/else branching.
• Variables: Store data during execution.
• Email: Send or receive emails.

Workspace

The main area in the center. This is where you assemble your flow.

• Drag actions from the Actions Pane.
• Actions display in execution order, like a flowchart.
• Errors show up as red highlights.

Variables Pane

Holds dynamic data during execution — calculation results, file paths, scraped data, etc.

• Input/Output Variables: External input or returned results.
• Flow Variables: Everything generated during the run.

Output Pane

At the bottom. Shows runtime info.

• Log: Action and subflow count.
• Errors: Details when something fails.
• Action delay: Set a delay (ms) between actions so each step has time to finish.