Execute all PAD actions in the background

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Posted on by momolopu

Is there a way to run all PAD actions in the background so that you can do other things on the computer?

I imagine that it will not be possible, but as this program is so amazing just in case I ask.

Thank you very much for your time.

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Power Automate Desktop

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LogicSmith 225 on at

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It depends on what you're doing. I have some flows that execute console apps (DOS EXE's) that run in the background, as well as flows that execute API calls. If you have one that needs to interface with a browser or standard application, those will need to run in the foreground. That said, I'm able to run some browser flows in a browser on one display while I do other things in the other display. This could glitch if I needed to do keyboard entry in my flow, but I don't.

I've also been trying to run flows in a VM, with mixed results. In theory if you could run a flow on a VM, you may be able to just minimize the VM window and the flow will still execute.

Browsers have the ability to run "headless", which means don't actually have a display but pretend you do. Some tools take advantage of this (Jenkins comes to mind) but Power Automate does not.

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momolopu 34 on at

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@LogicSmith Thank you very much you have explained it very well and very detailed. Thank you very much for everything.

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huat-ah 4 on at

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Hello, may i ask what if to use PAD to extract the data from SAP? Could it be done in background instead of foreground window? By the way, any idea how to trigger the "automation windows" in the actions reside in Power Automate? Thanks for your time to read my queries.

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LogicSmith 225 on at

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I don't specifically know about SAP. However, when you start any window, be it browser or app, you have the choice of what type of window. I think the options are minimized, normal, or maximized. I typically maximize mine, but it may be possible, once it all works, to just set that window to be minimized, and have it still work. Give it a try.

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huat-ah 4 on at

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Thanks for your reply. Let me have a try & update you the status. Have a nice day ahead!

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FR_Sophie 2 on at

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Any news on this topic? I just used the recorder in PAD to start all my daily SAP exports in one Flow and I will be interested in having it running in background too. If not I'll have to do some coffee break while it runs 😉

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