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Power Automate
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browser Tabs

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Posted on by 5

I am using PAD to automate multiple browser tabs. The tabs are just duplicates of the current tab but they need to be filled with variables from excel. I can navigate through the tabs using ctrl tab but when I start populating the data it only automates the first tab only, it then moves to the second tab(does nothing) and back to the first tab. Is there a way I can choose to a automate a certain tab based on its index in the browser?

  • Nived_Nambiar Profile Picture
    18,138 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

    Hi @Jackson_Wahome 

     

    Try this option 

     

    Nived_Nambiar_0-1695262544994.png

     

     

    First launch the first tab/ attach to first tab using launch chrome (any other browser action), Then use send keys to send Ctrl+tab to navigate to next tab.

     

    Then use Launch Chrome action to attach to current foreground window like below

    Nived_Nambiar_1-1695262635751.png

     

    Then the output of that will be saved Browser2 variable. Then use the Browser2 variable to do UI Automations on that browser tab like click , typing etc. take the below example:

    Nived_Nambiar_2-1695262695407.png

     

     

    Hope it helps !

    Thanks & Regards,

    Nived N 🚀

    LinkedIn: Nived N's LinkedIn
    YouTube: Nived N's YouTube Channel

    🔍 Found my answer helpful? Please consider marking it as the solution!
    Your appreciation keeps me motivated. Thank you! 🙌

  • Agnius Bartninkas Profile Picture
    Most Valuable Professional on at

    The reason this is happening is because of the Browser Instance variable that is being used in the web UI automation actions. The browser instance targets a specific tab in your browser, and not necessarily the active one. 

     

    So, as @Nived_Nambiar  suggested, you need to attach to the tab you want to target before you can use its instance in web UI actions.

     

    My experience, however, is that attaching to it by using the foreground window usually fails. The best way to attach is by using the URL or the title of the page. However, if your tabs are all the same, this will cause issues. The flow will either fail, or attach to the first tab with a matching URL/title.

     

    Is it possible for you to not use several tabs at the same time and instead process them one by one?

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    If I have answered your question, please mark it as the preferred solution. If you like my response, please give it a Thumbs Up.

     

    I also provide paid consultancy and development services using Power Automate. If you're interested, DM me and we can discuss it.

  • Nived_Nambiar Profile Picture
    18,138 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

    Hi @Agnius  @Jackson_Wahome 

     

    Adding some more information after tryouts, one thing i observed is when two tabs are of simmilar webpages/titles/URLs, then even if we try to attach the second one by attach option, it will attach to it but it will do actions within first tab only even we set browser instance as of second browser in the Click/UI Actions 🙂

     

    Thanks & Regards,

    Nived N 🚀

    LinkedIn: Nived N's LinkedIn
    YouTube: Nived N's YouTube Channel

    🔍 Found my answer helpful? Please consider marking it as the solution!
    Your appreciation keeps me motivated. Thank you! 🙌

  • Jackson_Wahome Profile Picture
    5 on at

    Thanks @Nived_Nambiar . I tried everything but nothing worked. My idea was that looping through multiple duplicate tabs is practically faster than using one tab and waiting for it to load so that you can fill out some fields with data.  In the meantime, I will have to stick to one tab. But I hope the developers would fix this.

  • Agnius Bartninkas Profile Picture
    Most Valuable Professional on at

    I honestly don't think they will. There has never been a way to attach to a specific tab, if several tabs share the same name and URL. The only thing we could hope to get fixed is attaching to the foreground tab, which should technically use the one that is active. However, as mentioned, this usually fails for some reason. If enough people reported that as a bug, they might fix it.

     

    Anyhow, for the time being, I would suggest simply using a single tab if you do not absolutely need to have multiple of them open at the same time.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    If I have answered your question, please mark it as the preferred solution. If you like my response, please give it a Thumbs Up.

    I also provide paid consultancy and development services using Power Automate. If you're interested, DM me and we can discuss it.

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