Trigger a Desktop Flow from a Cloud Flow

A cloud flow in Power Automate runs entirely in the cloud and can talk directly to systems like SharePoint, Outlook, or Dataverse. But as soon as a classic Windows application without an API comes into play, an old ERP system, for example, or an Excel sheet with organically grown logic, the cloud layer alone is no longer enough. This is exactly where the action Run a flow built with Power Automate for desktop comes in. It builds the bridge between cloud automation and the RPA layer on the desktop, so a cloud flow can trigger a desktop flow and then process its result further.

This article shows how to build that bridge, what a machine needs to meet the requirements, and how data flows in both directions, following Microsoft's official Power Automate documentation. As of: July 2026.

What you need before you start

According to the documentation on triggering desktop flows from cloud flows you need four things before the first connection works:

• A registered machine or a machine group, which actually runs the triggered desktop flow. Machine groups let you treat several machines as a single unit and distribute the load.
• A work, school, or university account. A personal Microsoft account is not enough.
• A configured desktop flow connection to this machine.
• The right license: a regular license for attended runs or an unattended add-on for unattended runs. This license must be held by whoever created the connection, not necessarily by the person building the cloud flow.

Step by step: triggering a desktop flow from the cloud flow

The actual setup always follows the same pattern:

• Create a new cloud flow in Power Automate, either as an instant flow for manual triggering or as an automated flow with its own trigger.
• In the flow designer, select + New step, search for Power Automate for desktop and choose the action Run a flow built with Power Automate for desktop.
• If no desktop flow connection exists yet, the action prompts you directly to create one.
• Set the desired run mode, attended or unattended, and in the Desktop flow field choose either Create new desktop flow or an already existing flow.
• When you create a new desktop flow, the desktop flow designer opens automatically, where you build the actual RPA logic: clicks, text input, or data extraction from the target application.

Input and output variables: exchanging data between the layers

Desktop flows can define input and output variables so the cloud and desktop layers can actually talk to each other. Input variables pass data from the cloud flow to the desktop flow, for example a customer number or a file path. Output variables run the other way and return, for instance, a result from a legacy application back to the cloud flow, so it can continue working with it, say to send an email or update a record in Dataverse. As soon as a desktop flow has input variables, they automatically appear as separate fields in the action in the Power Automate portal. Two points worth keeping in mind:

• If an input variable contains sensitive data, such as a password, you should mask it in the logs or leave it out entirely.
• The input size per desktop flow is limited to 2 MB, and to 1 MB for China regions.

Attended or unattended: choosing the right mode

Whether a desktop flow runs attended or unattended largely determines the architecture behind it. With attended, the automation runs while someone is sitting at the computer, is usually started manually, and may also include human decision points along the way. With unattended, according to the documentation on running unattended desktop flows, Power Automate runs the entire process on its own, without any human involvement, and automatically signs in to the target machine using the credentials stored in the connection. There are a few specifics to keep in mind:

• For unattended runs, Power Automate sets up a remote desktop (RDP) session; a connection to the normal console session is not supported for this.
• The target machine's screen stays locked during execution, so no one can watch it live.
• Windows 10 and Windows 11 cannot start an unattended desktop flow while an active user session exists, even a locked one.
• For unattended runs, you additionally need the Power Automate process plan or the corresponding unattended add-on.

Important for planning: attended and unattended should not be mixed on the same machine, since attended automation requires an already signed-in session, while unattended automation instead requires a signed-out or disconnected state.

Connection types: how Power Automate connects to your machine

Before a desktop flow can even be started from the cloud, the connection to the machine has to be in place. The documentation on desktop flow connections describes two basic approaches for this:

• Connect with username and password: you either store saved credentials, for example from Azure Key Vault, or enter the domain, username, and password directly.
• Connect with attended credentials: here you instead sign in with a Microsoft Entra account, without storing a password in the connection. However, this only works for attended runs; for unattended runs, this connection type fails.

Important for governance: according to the documentation, a desktop flow connection cannot be shared with other people, and before you make a machine available for cloud-driven desktop flows at all, you should make sure it is secured and its administrators are trustworthy.

Known limitations to keep in mind

For production use, it is worth taking a look at the documented limits before they catch you off guard in operation:

• Currently, up to 70 desktop flow runs per minute are possible per connection.
• If someone cancels the parent cloud flow, this does not automatically stop the associated desktop flow, provided the Asynchronous Pattern setting is disabled in the action.
• For unattended runs that fail, you can optionally enable video logs that record the last 60 seconds before the error, helping with troubleshooting, for example when a UI element cannot be found.

This bridge between the cloud and desktop layers is therefore not a side issue, but often the crucial piece that makes an automation complete. You retain control over which steps run in the cloud and which on the Windows interface, and can cleanly connect both worlds via input and output variables.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a cloud flow and a desktop flow?

A cloud flow runs entirely on Microsoft's servers and talks to services via APIs and connectors. A desktop flow, on the other hand, runs on an actual Windows computer and controls applications there just as a human would, via clicks, keyboard input, or screen recognition. The action for running a desktop flow connects both worlds, with the cloud flow triggering the desktop flow and waiting for its result.

How many desktop flow runs are possible per connection?

According to the official documentation, Power Automate currently supports up to 70 desktop flow runs per minute for each individual connection. For larger volumes of parallel runs, it is worth using several connections or a machine group to distribute the load.

Can I mix attended and unattended runs on the same machine?

Technically, this is not advisable, because both modes require different session states. Attended automation needs an already signed-in, active session, while unattended automation needs a machine from which all users are signed out. On Windows 10 and Windows 11, an active session even actively prevents an unattended run from starting. Plan for a consistent mode per machine or machine group instead.

What happens if I cancel the parent cloud flow?

By default, the desktop flow keeps running in this case, provided the Asynchronous Pattern setting is disabled in the action. The cloud flow and the desktop flow are therefore not necessarily tightly coupled. If you want to make sure that cancelling on the cloud side also ends the desktop flow, you should account for this specifically when designing the flow.

Do I need an additional license for unattended desktop flows?

Yes. For unattended runs, in addition to the regular Power Automate license, an unattended add-on or the Power Automate process plan is required. This license must be held by the person who created the desktop flow connection, not necessarily by the person designing the cloud flow. If the right entitlement is missing, the cloud flow is automatically locked when saved until the add-on is assigned.