How to Use Microsoft Power Automate on Windows 10
Power Automate is a handy automation tool for Windows that was earlier exclusively available to enterprise users. Microsoft has recently made it available to all Windows 10 users at no extra cost. So, whether you’re a businessman looking to automate routine business processes or an average Joe, with this tool, you’re able to save yourself from the trouble of performing repetitive and time-consuming tasks. And instead, focus on creative work. Today, we’ll learn how you can use Microsoft Power Automate to automate tasks. Let’s get right into it.
Also Read:4 Best Free Time Tracking Apps for Windows 10 Users
Table of Contents
Getting Microsoft Power Automate
First, let’s see how you can download and install the Power Automate Desktop app on your PC. If you have already done that, you can skip this section.
1.you may download the Microsoft Power Automate app either from theMicrosoft Storeordownload EXE file.
2.Run the EXE file and follow the on-screen instructions toinstallPower Automate on your PC. Now you’ll be asked tolog inwith your Microsoft account.
That’s it. Your Power Automate setup is complete and you’re all set to automate tasks and processes.
Create a Flow in Microsoft Power Automate
Once you have the Power Automate app on your PC, you can use any combination of its 400 pre-loaded actions to create a task, better known as Flow.
Let’s see how we can use Power Automate to create a Flow with a couple of examples.
In the first example, I’ll be automating the task of extracting a zip file and then deleting the zip file using Power Automate.
1.Launch thePower Automate Desktopapp and click on the+ New flowbutton.
2.Now enter a name for the flow and click on theCreatebutton.
3.In the following window, underActionspane, go toCompression, and double-click on theUnzip filesoption.
4.In the Unzip file window, define thefile path of the zip fileand itsdestination folder(where the zip should be extracted). Next, if the zip file is password-protected, enter the password used for the archive. Lastly, click onSave.
5.Now in the Actions pane, expandFileand double-click on theDelete fileoption. In the resulting window, enter the filepath of the zip fileand click onSave.
6.Once you’ve prepared your flow, click on theRunbutton to execute the actions.
Wait for the process to finish and the zip file will be first extracted and then deleted.
Let’s see one more example. This time, we’ll be extracting images from a PDF file and then compress the folder containing the images. Let’s see how.
1.LaunchMicrosoft Power Automateand click on the+ New flowbutton. Now enter a name for the flow and click on theCreatebutton.
2.Find and expandPDFin the Actions pane and double-click onExtract images from PDFoption.
3.Under Select parameters, enter thefile pathof the PDF. Next, define anamefor the images. For instance, I wroteArticlein theImage namebox, so the images will be saved asArticle_0, Article_1, Article_2,and so on.
Now choose a folder where you’d like to save images and hitSave.
5.Next, use the Actions pane to expandCompressionand double-click on theZip filesoption.
6.InArchive path, simply navigate to the folder where you wish to store the zip file and give it a name such assample.zip.
Next, inFiles to zip, browse the path of the folder where images from PDFs are going to be extracted. Select your preferredcompression leveland hitSave.
7.Now click onRunto execute the created flow.
As you may see, images from the PDF are extracted and compressed in a ZIP file.
Additional Options in Power Automate
Now that you know how to create a flow in Power Automate, there’re also other features and options that you should know about to get the most out of it. For instance, if you want to make any changes to a particular action in a flow, click on thethree-dot menuicon next to the action and chooseEdit.
Similarly, if there are multiple actions in a flow, you can alsodisable or deletean action using the three-dot menu icon.
When it comes to performing actions, there are several ways to run a flow in Power Automate. You can either click on theRunbutton to execute all the actions in a flow at once or use theRun next actionbutton to execute each action one by one.
If you choose to run all the actions at once, you can also addtime intervalsbetween actions using the Run delay option.
If you wish to run the same flow in the future, simplysave the flow.
Wrap Up: Using Microsoft Power Automate
Microsoft Power Automate is a useful utility tool. The fact that you’re able to run a complicated set of tasks with a single click speaks volumes of potential. And with the number of actions it offers, you can save a ton of time by not performing repetitive tasks on a daily basis.
Also Read:How to Shutdown, Restart, Schedule Windows 10 with CMD
Pankil Shah
Pankil is a Civil Engineer by profession who started his journey as a writer back in 2016. He joined TechWiser in March 2021 as a freelance writer to cover buying guides, explainers, and tips & tricks for Android, iOS, Windows, and Web.
