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"Extract data from window" from Word or Power point using UI automation return blank values

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Posted on by Emmanuel9

Dear Community.

New user of Power Automate for Desktop, I am trying to extract some datas from either word tables or power point tables using UI automation and to store extracted datas as variables for later on usage.

I use "UI element picker" to pick the data that are recognized as "Data Item" and a tour in the "UI Elements" shows that everything seems fine.

My flow runs perfectly... but the variable is not filled with the data I try to get (Whatever text or numeric values).

See below the desperately blank value of my flow variables...

When I perform the same test with an Excel file it works perfectly fine (UI picker also show "Data Item").

I am wondering if it is a limitation of Power Automate or if I make something wrong.

Many thanks in advance for your help.

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Power Automate Desktop

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Nived_Nambiar 18,138 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hi @Emmanuel9

Does the same data to be extracted from word /powerpoint was shown in the extract data from webpage preview window ?

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Agnius Bartninkas Most Valuable Professional on at

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I would generally try to avoid using UI automation to extract data from files in general, but especially files related to Office applications, such as Word or PowerPoint. You can usually get those values with some scripting, such as PowerShell or VBscript using the appropriate action in the Scripting actions group. Then a script to extract certain values from a Word or PowerPoint document is quite easy to Google (or ask ChatGPT to generate).

But what you are describing might simply be a glitch with variable preview. Try a Display message action that would contain your variables in a message to see if there really was no data extracted. If it really does not get extracted at all, you might need to recapture those elements. But I really don't think doing it via the UI actions is a good idea. It is quite unstable and unreliable.
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Emmanuel9 41 on at

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Dear Agnius, I already tried to insert a Display message that should contain my variables and the result is.... a blank message. Let's dig into scripting. As I am a newbe, do you have any advice / tutoriel to share?
Many thanks in advance

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Emmanuel9 41 on at

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Dear Nived Nambiar, do you mean this view?

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Agnius Bartninkas Most Valuable Professional on at

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You can start with this blog post to read about how to extract specific values from a MS Word document by using PowerShell: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/scripting/hey-scripting-guy-how-can-i-extract-specific-information-from-a-word-document-and-then-use-that-information-to-rename-the-document/

You can invoke a PowerShell script in PAD by using the Run PowerShell script action. You might need to tweak the samples in the blog to work with your file, but read the blog first to understand how it works.

You can also ask ChatGPT to come back with a script for you, or do some Google search yourself. There are plenty of resources online on how to do it. No one will be able to give you an exact script, though, without you sharing the actual file and the data that you need extracted.
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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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Emmanuel9 41 on at

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Dear,
Thanks to find attached a ppt file sample from which I try to extract the Orange colored datas.
Following the link you shared I am currently learning PowerShell basics.
Many thanks for the push!

Presentation.pptx

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