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Power Platform Community / Forums / Power Automate / Power Automate Desktop...
Power Automate
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Power Automate Desktop does not detect a Windows window

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Posted on by 37

Please, I’m having difficulty getting PAD to “see” a Windows window.

 

The selector is very simple:

:desktop > window[Process="sisbb"]

 

The computers at the company are almost all identical, with the same operating system and model. On my computer, the flow works perfectly. It also works for other users. However, on one specific user’s computer, PAD is not detecting this window.

 

I tried using the UI Selector Debugger, but it doesn’t work. I also tried recapturing the window on her computer, and that didn’t work either.

 

Has anyone experienced this problem before?

Do you have any tips on how to solve it?

 

The operating system is Windows 11, 64-bit.

Just to emphasize: on my computer, with exactly the same system, it works.

 

Thank you!

Ricardo.

I have the same question (0)
  • Verified answer
    Robu1 Profile Picture
    1,621 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
     
    Thank your for choosing Power Platform Community.
     
    The issue is almost always caused by one of three things:
     
    Process mismatch — the process name on that machine isn’t identical.
    Elevation mismatch — PAD and the target app aren’t running at the same privilege level.
    UI Automation blocked — security software or system configuration is preventing PAD from reading UI elements.
     
     
    Issue Symptom Quick test
    Process mismatch Selector works on other machines but not this one Compare process names in Task Manager
    Elevation mismatch PAD can’t see the window at all Run both PAD and the app as admin or both as standard
    UIA blocked PAD can’t detect any elements or only this app Try capturing Notepad
     
    These three account for the majority of “PAD can’t detect a window” cases.
     
     
     
     
     
    🏷️ Please tag me @Robu1 if you still have any queries related to the solution or issue persists.
    ✅ Please click Accept as solution if my post helped you solve your issue and help others who will face the similar issue in future.
    ❤️ Please consider giving it a Like, If the solution was useful in other ways.
     
    Happy to help 
    Robu1
    SuperUser|Moderator
    Season 2:2025
  • Suggested answer
    rickmarcello Profile Picture
    37 on at
    @Robu1

    Thank you very much for answering my question so quickly and efficiently.

     

    I checked the permission levels of the applications involved in the process, and they were the same. In our company, obtaining administrative privileges is a rather bureaucratic process, so there would be no possibility for the user to have two different permission levels. In addition, the issue occurred on different days, which further supports this conclusion.

     

    The system name and path used to identify the window were quite simple, as previously described.

     

    I was not able to test for possible UIA blocking, but I eventually resolved the issue as follows: I re-captured, on the user’s own computer, the screens required for the flow. Surprisingly, after doing this, PAD was able to correctly identify the windows.

     

    I still do not fully understand why PAD, on the user’s computer, could not recognize the windows that had been previously captured, but worked once they were captured locally. I verified that all element names were the same, and they were. The only difference was that I had renamed the element captured on my computer, which apparently may have affected PAD’s behavior. I assumed that renaming elements was merely a cosmetic change, but I am not certain whether this was the root cause of the issue. In any case, the most important thing is that the solution worked.

     

    Thank you very much.

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