If you are unsure if you should be using Power Automate (web) or Power Automate Desktop, it’s a good idea to think about the system you want to connect to. You have access to 500+ cloud connectors, templates, and you can automate the tasks you do across all these more modern system. This is likely the tool you are already familiar with. Power Automate, as accessed in the web, is where you can build cloud flows and business process flows. Every time you need to perform the task, you can simply hit the “play” button and watch the task run on its own, ultimately saving you valuable time. Each click on the screen, what text you enter in, keyboard strokes, can all be recorded and modified based. Using Power Automate Desktop, you can record the actions you take performing these tasks.

Interacting with email messages from IMAP or Exchange server.

Could be something you use for invoice processing, sales orders, managing HR or customer information.

Entering details into / performing tasks on a legacy system (an old-school application you have on your desktop with no API to connect to other, modern systems).

Think about tasks you do on your desktop of perhaps a website.

It is a tool to enable robotic process automation (RPA). And if you’re on Windows 11, it even comes pre-installed for you. Power Automate Desktop is a program that is free to install for Windows 10 users.

But what is the difference between the two?

Power Automate and Power Automate Desktop (PAD) are both no-code/low-code tools used for working smarter by automating your repetitive, manual tasks.

Power automate desktop install