The latest May 2021 update of Microsoft Power Automate Desktop has been released! Today, we are going to highlight some of these new features.
To check the software version that you have, go to the Console and click on Help, then
The version installed will be displayed as shown below. The latest available version (as of this writing) is 2.9.29.21133.
If you have an older version and would like to upgrade to the latest version to enjoy the new features, go to this link to download the software installer.
Software updates
Users can now be automatically notified whenever a new version of Power Automate Desktop is available in Microsoft’s download center. To enable the update notification, click on Settings and navigate to the General tab.
Then, select the checkbox Show update notifications. That’s it. When a new version is available for download, you will receive a notification that looks like this:
Alternatively, you can also click on the Check for updates button to see if there’s a new release.
Additional options under the Help menu
Besides Documentation and About, the following online resources have been added to the Help menu:
- Support – See below.
- Learn – Microsoft Learn is a free online academy where you can learn new skills at your own pace through the step-by-step guidance provided. At last count, there are 34 modules and learning paths related to Power Automate Desktop, so you should be able to find something useful no matter your level of expertise.
- Community – This is the Power Automate Desktop forum board where you can post discussion and questions. There is a vibrant and growing online community of users, including practitioners and experts, whom you can seek guidance and advice. This is also a good starting point to look for solutions to problems or issues that you are facing, especially if you do not have access to (paid) support.
- Blog – Get all the latest product updates here.
- Troubleshoot (preview) – See below.
Raise new support requests
By clicking on Help, then Support, you will be redirected to the Power Platform portal. Thereafter, scroll down to the Ask for help section and click on Contact support.
You will be redirected to Power Platform admin center where you can create a new support request.
Do note that in order for you to perform the above steps, you need to have a security role that is enabled for creating support requests, as well as a valid support plan – Subscription Support, Professional Direct Support or Unified Support. To learn more, please go here.
Troubleshoot (preview)
The troubleshoot tool allows you to change the account which your machine’s cloud connectivity service (i.e. UIFlowService) is running as. By default, UIFlowService uses the virtual account NT SERVICE\UIFlowService. In the event your environment restricts the usage of this account, you can change the account using this tool. Do note that this account needs to be given the rights to “Logon as a service”.
In addition, the tool allows you to easily export all of your machine’s configuration and service logs to a single .zip file. This is useful as support may request for these machine logs when you raise a support request.
Enhancement to Launch new Browser actions
The Launch new Internet Explorer/Firefox/Chrome/Microsoft Edge actions have been enhanced to include a Timeout parameter which determines the maximum amount of time to wait for the browser to launch before the action fails. The default value is 60 seconds.
For this to work properly, do remember to also specify rules to execute when the action fails:
Language support
Finally, the UI of Power Automate Desktop has now been localized in 41 languages, while the Documentation is translated in 23 languages, reaching parity with Power Automate service supported languages.
Conclusion
By the way, the enhancements are not stopping here. Based on the 2021 Release Wave 1 Plan for the Microsoft Power Platform, there are a number of exciting new capabilities in the roadmap, including:
- Connect to desktop flows without the on-premises data gateway
- Support UI automation with Citrix
- Web automation to access cross-domain iFrames
- Power Automate Desktop inclusion with Windows
Now that you have learnt some of the new features and enhancements made in May 2021, why not download this latest version of Microsoft Power Automate Desktop and starting automating?
Tags
Robotic Process Automation, Microsoft Power Automate Desktop, Monthly Updates, May 2021
Learning Resources
https://flow.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/power-automate-desktop-may-2021-update/
Previous Updates
April 2021