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Questions about moving from free to premium

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Posted on by LogicSmith

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I plan on using Power Automate as a test automation tool. I have developed a handful of flows with the free version. The company is going to get me a Premium subscription. I cannot find a web page detailing the transition...

Can our Azure DevOps manager just "turn this on" for me, like he did for Office 365 and Azure's test management features? Or do we need to sign up separately (and get billed separately)?

Will I just run Power Automate and magically notice it's now more capable?

Can I easily port my existing flows into Premium?

When we add another QA person, will they have access to run and build these flows?

Do the wealth of connectors (~400?) just magically show up in my actions list?

Are there any more neat features I won't find until I upgrade?

Thanks in advance!

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Power Automate Desktop

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Pstork1 69,661 Most Valuable Professional on at

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Are you actually using the Free version and signing in with a Microsoft account? Or the "seeded" Office 365 version and signing in with a Work or School account? The Premium license will be assigned to your Office 365 login. If that's what you've been using then there is nothing to do. You'll just be able to use the Premium connectors in addition to the standard ones. If you have been using the Free version with a Microsoft Account you'll need to Export all your existing Flows and import them to the new environment (the one that uses your Office 365 login.) Either way the connectors are all available already. Its just if you use a Premium connector it will prompt you to buy a license or get a trial. That won't happen anymore since you have a license. But there is no upgrade process. If you add another QA person they will also need a license to use flows that have Premium connectors.
LogicSmithHome 2 on at

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I was using the free version from the MS Store, logged in with my Azure/MS account. I did follow a link that took me to flow.microsoft.com, which is apparently part of my O365 subscription? There, it looked like I could create cloud and desktop flows. The free version seems to have no export capability, but apparently copy/paste between them may work. I assume cloud flows run in the cloud while desktop flows run on my laptop? For now, my flows to test console apps and APIs require they be run on my laptop, while the UI flows could run anywhere with a web browser.
Pstork1 69,661 Most Valuable Professional on at

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You can log in to flow.microsoft.com with either a Microsoft or Organization (o365) account. So it depends on what login you were using at the time. The Free version has the same Export functionality as the O365 seeded or the Premium licensed version. In the screenshot below I'm logged in as a Microsoft Account (Free), but you can see I have an Export link when I'm in the details of a Flow I created.
LogicSmith 225 on at

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OK, then I suspect the license hasn't been updated yet. When I go to flow.microsoft.com, I get this screen.
If I click the blue link, my desktop PA comes up.
So I assume I'm still missing a card or two from the deck.
Pstork1 69,661 Most Valuable Professional on at

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Power Automate (Free) and Power Automate Desktop are two different things. Yes, there is a link in the Power Automate website that will open Power Automate Desktop, but its the same place that you get to if you just start Power Automate Desktop on your computer. Desktop flows are related to, but completely different from regular cloud flows. In your first screen click on Cloud Flows to see the screen I was showing you. This article talks about the different types of flows.

Overview of the types of flows in Power Automate(contains video) - Power Automate | Microsoft Docs Overview of the types of flows in Power Automate(contains video) - Power Automate | Microsoft Docs
LogicSmith 225 on at

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When I click on Cloud Flows in my flow login, I get this page, looks fairly different from yours.
The Power Automate I got was from the MS Store on Windows 10, and then I found an update (the May update) and installed that. Here's the version...
LogicSmith 225 on at

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Thanks for the link - learned a few things. OK, currently I have Desktop flows. Some use the web site, some run console apps, some will eventually call APIs. I trigger by hand, they run locally. What I plan to do is apparently all Cloud flows. I would like the Automated flows triggered by an Azure build to our QA system. I would like Scheduled flows executed every night at x AM. And finally, I would like to be able to trigger any of them as an Instant flow. Sounds like I can do this, maybe I'll have to rewrite all my existing flows? Or copy/paste?
Pstork1 69,661 Most Valuable Professional on at

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The only real difference in the cloud flows on mine is that I have existing cloud flows which pushes what you see down. My screenshot was after I opened one of my cloud flows for editing.

If all you have now are desktop flows then you shouldn't need to move them anywhere. But if you want to be able to use cloud flows to trigger desktop flows you have written then that requires a Power Automate Premium license with RPA. The with RPA is the critical part.

If you are logged in with a Microsoft account you will need to cut and paste the Desktop flows into new desktop flows created while logged in using your licensed Organizational account.
LogicSmith 225 on at

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I guess my question for our people is which login I have. When I login to Azure DevOps, Visual Studio, or Office 365, I use myname @ mycompany.com. So, not a Microsoft account, but an Organizational account? As far as I know, I only have the one here. At home I can use myname @ hotmail.com but I have not yet done any automation at home.
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Pstork1 69,661 Most Valuable Professional on at

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Sounds like it should all be on your organizational account then. That would mean you still need the license to call desktop flows from a cloud flow, but won't have to migrate anything.