Keyboard Shortcut Issue in Unattended Mode (Excel Data Refresh)

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Posted on by chay0k

Hi everyone,

I'm experiencing a strange issue with keyboard shortcuts in unattended mode. I've built a simple PAD flow to refresh data in an Excel file (Data -> Refresh All).

Here's the situation:

Attended Mode: The flow works perfectly, clicking the "Refresh All" button as expected.
Unattended Mode (Initial Attempt): When running unattended, the flow throws a UIPI error when trying to interact with the button.
Unattended Mode (Workaround Attempt): To avoid the UIPI error, I replaced the button click with a keyboard shortcut (e.g., Ctrl+Alt+F5 or whatever shortcut maps to "Refresh All"). The error is gone, but the data is not actually refreshing in the Excel file.

It seems like keyboard shortcuts should work in unattended mode. I'm stumped as to why this isn't working.

Has anyone else encountered this issue or have any suggestions on how to resolve it?

Thanks in advance for your help!

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Power Automate Desktop

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CU16071609-1 6,255 Moderator on at

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Hi There,

Could you please share exactly how your flow throwing UIPI error? If possible please share the screenshot
Amlan Sahoo 4 on at

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You can do it using code stagecinstead of doing it through shortcut. Either you can run a macro or convert the same macro to VB.net and use. Excel and shortcuts never work properly.
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eetuRobo 4,607 Super User 2026 Season 2 on at

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Have you tried the keyboard shortcut workaround attempt with attended mode? Does it work normally then?
Make sure the Send keys -actions Ctrl + Alt + F5 is correct syntax: {Control}({Alt}({F5}))

Do you have Focus window -action before the keyboard shortcut send keys so that the shortcut will be pressed on the Excel window?