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Power Platform Community / Forums / Power Automate / How to recover a delet...
Power Automate
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How to recover a deleted Desktop flow (a day ago)?

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I'm seeking help with a critical issue I've encountered. Over the last two days, I have been diligently working on a Desktop Flow in PowerAutomate, fixing bugs and updating it. However, just before a crucial demo, the flow mysteriously disappeared from my "My flows" section in PowerAutomate Desktop.
Here are the details:
  • The tool previously showed 8 flows I’ve been working on for the past three weeks, but now one of them is missing.
  • I updated from MS Home to MS Pro two days ago and also updated PowerAutomate Desktop after upgrading to Pro. Everything was working fine until now.
  • I saved and executed the flow multiple times without issues, and suddenly it’s gone.
I’ve tried several recovery methods but have had no luck:
  1. Official Recovery Guide: Microsoft Documentation suggested checking %localappdata%\Microsoft\Power Automate Desktop\Console\Workspace\<deleted desktop flow id>\<random string>\script.robin, but the directory is empty.
  2. Community Suggestion: Power Platform Community Thread recommended looking in \AppData\Local\Microsoft\Power Automate Desktop\Designer\Temp, which is also empty.
  3. PowerShell Method: I tried the recovery steps outlined in this guide, including using PowerShell commands, but none of the commands produced any output. The tool asked for authentication but ultimately didn’t help with recovery.
I’ve heard that deleted Desktop Flows are retained for 28 days before permanent deletion. Is this true, and if so, where can I find them? Why is recovery so challenging? Also, some suggest only an admin can recover these flows—why is that the case?
Additionally, I’m concerned about preventing such issues in the future. Is there a way to:
  • Backup Desktop Flows locally to avoid data loss?
  • Implement version control, like using Git for regular commits?
Any guidance or suggestions on handling this situation or preventing future data loss would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance for your help!
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