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Power Automate Desktop won't run correctly when not active

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Posted on 12 Mar 2024 03:32:42 by JRussellmo

Trying to set up PAD on a clients system. I can get it all working using Remote Desktop. When I trigger the program through the computer and am logged in remotely it works fine. But if I disconnect RD but leave the user signed in, the PAD routine starts and then hangs. This is the attended version. Other things running on that computer (mostly backups) are fine either way but PAD seems to care. The odd thing (to me) is that it starts to run the script and then hangs up.

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eetuRobo 4,122 Super User 2025 Season 2 on 12 Mar 2024 at 06:46:52

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Re: Power Automate Desktop won't run correctly when not active

I don't think PAD can continue if you disconnect from the machine since its not unattended run.

This topic has good info on that:
https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Power-Automate-Desktop/Power-Automate-Desktop-flow-stops-when-the-Remote-Desktop-is/td-p/2251157

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Deenuji_Loganathan_ 6,206 Super User 2025 Season 2 on 12 Mar 2024 at 09:04:45

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Re: Power Automate Desktop won't run correctly when not active

@JRussellmo
During attended running, the bot anticipates an active user session and won't function if you simply disconnect your remote connection.

From what I understand from your scenario is, the bot doesn't consider it an active session after disconnecting from Remote Desktop (RD), and it operates only when the RD session remains connected.

If this technique proves effective, then individuals wouldn't need to purchase an unattended license, and everyone could utilize this workaround. This seems to be how Microsoft cleverly restricted it, I presume.

Thanks,
Deenuji Loganathan
🤖 Automation Evangelist
Deenuji - Follow me on LinkedIn

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JRussellmo 6 on 12 Mar 2024 at 14:56:39

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Re: Power Automate Desktop won't run correctly when not active

What is confusing is that the routine will start to run and then hang. I would expect it to not start at all, but that is not what is happening. Also, we have the proper license for Power Automate so I would still expect it to run if it needed the license. I remain confused, and disappointed that I am unable to find an answer.

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Deenuji_Loganathan_ 6,206 Super User 2025 Season 2 on 12 Mar 2024 at 15:04:23

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Re: Power Automate Desktop won't run correctly when not active

@JRussellmo

What type of license do you have in your environment? Is it for attended or unattended automation? Additionally, how have you scheduled your desktop flow from the cloud - is it attended or unattended?

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eetuRobo 4,122 Super User 2025 Season 2 on 12 Mar 2024 at 15:04:49

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Re: Power Automate Desktop won't run correctly when not active

I think you have misunderstood how unattended run works.
Firstly you need the Power Automate Process license.

Then when you run unattended Power Automate Desktop flow you need to not be signed in on the machine the bot will work on.
The way you start unattended run is from Power Automate Cloud

You cant be signed in on the virtual machine and hit run on the desktop app and then sign out. Then the flow will not succeed since the attended run you just started will be terminated because the session ended.
You either need to be signed in the whole time the flow runs (attended run) or not be signed in when the bot starts its work from the cloud using "Run a flow built with Power Automate Desktop" -aciton with Run mode "Unattended"

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Agnius Bartninkas Most Valuable Professional on 13 Mar 2024 at 13:47:03

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Re: Power Automate Desktop won't run correctly when not active

The way RDP works is that whenever you close the session (even if you do not sign out), the screen on the machine turns black. This is because RDP uses the hardware of the agent machine (the one you login from) for generating the screen view. As such, attended flows will hang/fail if any user interface interaction is needed, as the user interface will simply not be visible.

As suggested by others, in order for this to work, you need to use the Process license in unattended mode.

Alternatively, you could use the Premium license, but need to make sure to login to the machine via a different remote access software, such as TeamViewer or AnyDesk. This will force the target machine (the VM) to use its own hardware to initialize the session, and as such, the session will not turn black as soon as you close it.

However, for attended mode to work on the VM, you still need to make sure an active user session is on it when the flow runs, and the machine is not locked. You either need to sign in before starting the flow, and then close the remote session, or need to keep the machine signed in at all times, and make changes to the registry to prevent it from sleeping and locking.

Please note that using the Premium license for unattended automation is against the terms of use for Power Automate. If you want to build an unattended RPA solution, you need to use the Process license.

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