Power Automate Desktop: RPA to automate legacy processes

Power Automate Desktop (PAD) is Microsoft's RPA (Robotic Process Automation) solution included in Windows 11. It automates tasks in Windows applications, Excel, SAP and browsers without needing an API — the robot sees and interacts like a human.

Ideal use cases

• Data extraction from ERPs without an API (SAP, PHC, legacy Primavera).
• Copying data between Excel and web systems.
• Automatic generation of PDF reports from templates.
• Bulk upload to government portals (tax authority, social security).

Essential actions

// Example flow: extract data from SAP to Excel
1. Launch application: SAP Logon
2. Attach to running application: "SAP Easy Access"
3. Click UI element: Menu "Accounting > Reports > Trial Balance"
4. Set text field: Period = "01.2024" to "12.2024"
5. Click button: "Run"
6. Extract data from table: select the results table
7. Write to Excel worksheet: save to C:\Reports\trial_balance.xlsx
8. Save Excel: close and save

Web automation

// Fill in a web form automatically
1. Launch new Microsoft Edge
2. Navigate to: https://portal.at.gov.pt
3. Find element (CSS): #username → Set text: @{vars.user}
4. Find element (CSS): #password → Set text: @{vars.password}
5. Click element: button[type="submit"]
6. Wait for element: .dashboard-loaded
7. Click element: a[href="/declaracoes/nova"]
// Continue with filling in the form...

Integrate Desktop with Cloud Flows

// A cloud flow calls a Desktop flow via the connector
Action: "Run a flow built with Power Automate for desktop"
  Desktop flow: "Export_SAP_TrialBalance"
  Run mode: Attended / Unattended
  Inputs: { "period_start": "01.2024", "period_end": "12.2024" }
// Output: path of the generated Excel file

Conclusion

Power Automate Desktop is the pragmatic solution to automate legacy systems that will never have an API. Combined with Cloud Flows for orchestration, it lets you build end-to-end automations that save back-office teams hours every day.