UI Automation very slow/not working

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Posted on by EH-09080327-0

Hi,

I have a number of flows that rely on filling in fields on web pages. The "Browser Automation" features work very well. In particular, if I "Add UI Element" then the UI picker is very responsive, so after I Ctrl-Click in a field it creates the new UI element immediately. In contrast, the "UI Automation" features don't seem to work at all any more. Unfortunately I need to use these to populate a "Save As" dialog box that pops up. In the past this worked, but now the flow just hangs here. When I try to redefine the UI element, the UI picker takes at least 30 seconds to come back. When I test it in the selector it times out saying it is unable to find the element. This worked with a previous version (~3 months ago). I just installed a PAD update today (2.46.163.24194) and now it fails.

Any suggestions on how to proceed?

In case it matters, I'm running windows 11 on an i9 @ 2.5 GHz with 16 GB RAM. I've closed all other obvious processes (chrome and excel are open because I need them for the flow).

Thanks for any help you can offer

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Power Automate Desktop

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Sayan 818 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Hello,

This happens because you have not selected the Ui Element Properly. On the latest version some updates have come but it should not affect the flow.

If you are facing issue to click the Save as Button. If you are using Populate text field web page action, then go to Advance section of this and there is a property called if pop up appears it has 3 options you can try with this.

If the Ui Picker is taking time to identify, then you restart your device and close all the Application. If this does not work, then first define the widow and then elements.

As I also faced this issue in PAD sometimes it doesn't work properly in case of Browser Automation.

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If my suggestion helps you, please gives it a Like and Marks as a Solution. Which motivates to solve more problems.

Thanks,

Sayan Patra

RPA Developer

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WillSG 352 Moderator on at

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Hi @EH-09080327-0 I hope you are doing well.

Thank you for sharing the details of the issue you're experiencing.

It sounds like the recent update may have impacted the performance of the "UI Automation" features in Power Automate Desktop. Here are a few steps you can try to resolve the issue:

Adjust Timeout Settings: Increase the timeout settings in your UI automation actions to give elements more time to be recognized.

Refine Selectors: Check and refine the UI selectors to ensure they are robust enough to handle any changes in the UI.

Use Alternative Methods: Consider using "Send Keys" or image-based automation as a temporary workaround or as a fallback contingency method.

Test on Another Machine: If possible, try running the flow on a different machine to see if the issue is specific to your environment.

Please let me know if it works, happy automating!

If I have addressed your inquiry successfully, kindly consider marking my response as the preferred solution. If you found my assistance helpful, a 'Thumbs Up' would be greatly appreciated.

Additionally, I offer specialized consultancy and development services leveraging PAD. If you're interested in exploring these services further, feel free to DM me, and we can initiate a discussion.

Finally, here is my YOUTUBE CHANNEL please subscribe to my channel and connect with me on LinkedIn Profile.

Kind regards,

Will SG
Founder & Director
RAMSolutions
www.ramscr.com

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Agnius Bartninkas Most Valuable Professional on at

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I can't say I have been experiencing the same, but if it worked fine with a previous version, and now has stopped working after an update, it is very likely to be a bug in the new version. I suggest you report this to Microsoft support and get them to review your specific case. It might be related to some settings on your machine not working too well with the latest version of Power Automate Desktop.

You can try roll back to a previous version by uninstalling PAD and then downloading an installer for a previous version from this repo: https://github.com/jfevia/Power-Automate-Desktop/releases

Please note, however, that if you have modified your flow with the current version, it may not work on a previous version anymore, in which case your only options will basically be either waiting for an even newer version to be released with a fix for your issue, or rebuilding your flow from scratch on an earlier version.

In some cases Microsoft support actually does some local changes to your system that could fix issues like this without having to wait for the next release. So, my suggestion is still to report this to support as soon as possible.

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EH-09080327-0 4 on at

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As a work around I'm using send keys and a mouse push. Kind of painfully old school but it works (thanks for the suggestion Will SG). I have rebooted, closed all other apps, etc. and have also played with refining the selectors. The contrast between the web automation, which is super responsive, and the UI automation, which is incredibly slow, even when looking at the same UI elements (say a text box on a web page), is striking.

Agnius Bartninkas thanks for the suggestion to reach out to Microsoft - I'll do that.

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