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The recorder in Power Automate for desktop

Using the recorder function in Power Automate Desktop can make your life a lot easier. Especially in the beginning. Use it whenever you're in doubt of which…

Anders Jensen Automation & AI Instructor

Intro

Using the recorder function in Power Automate Desktop can make your life a lot easier. Especially in the beginning. Use it whenever you're in doubt of which activity to use.

What you will learn

  • Primarily:
    • The recorder function on
      • Browsers
      • Applications
  • Secondarily:
    • How to combine the recorder with our flows
    • Manipulate strings
    • Write text files

Client Name

Yourself

Process Name

Recorder

Description

Let's try the recorder with browser and applications:
  • Browser:
    • Use the recorder to open Edge
    • Navigate to https://google.com
    • Search for Microsoft Stock Price
    • Extract the number
    • Stop the recorder
    • Write the result to a text file
  • Applications:
    • Open the calculator (calc.exe)
    • Use the recorder to calculate 2+2 and click equal (=)
    • Extract the result
    • Close the recorder
    • Present the extracted result e.g. in a message box

Hints

  • Browser
    • Open the recorder
    • Click Record
    • Click the three dots
      • Launch new web browser - Microsoft Edge
    • Navigate to https://google.com by copy/pasting it into the address bar
    • Search for Microsoft Stock Price
    • Right-click on the result and Extract the stock price
    • Close the recorder
    • Write text to file
  • Desktop
    • Run application to open the calculator (calc.exe)
    • Open the recorder and record
    • Press C and then
    • 2 and then
    • + and then
    • 2 and then
    • =
    • Now right-click and get the result
    • Close the recorder
    • Present the result in a Display message
    • Try to run the flow
      • Can we present the result better? Hint: we can use a Get subtext

Video Guide

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