To capture a monitor or the active window in Power Automate Desktop, add the Take screenshot action from the Workstation actions. Choose the screen scope, send the result to the clipboard or a file, and select an image format. For a webpage or a single application control, use the separate browser-automation or UI-automation screenshot action instead.
Choose the screenshot action that matches your target
Power Automate Desktop has three screenshot actions. Selecting the wrong one is the most common source of confusing results: the Workstation action captures a display or window, while the other actions understand webpages and application controls.
| What you need to capture | Action and location | Available scope | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| A monitor or the active window | Take screenshot in Workstation | All screens, primary screen, selected screen, or foreground window | Clipboard or file |
| One control in a desktop application | Take screenshot of UI element in UI automation | The UI element supplied to the action | Clipboard or file |
| A website | Take screenshot of web page in browser automation | Entire web page or a specific element | Clipboard or file |
Use the Workstation action for a screenshot of what is visibly on a display. Do not expect it to select a DOM element or automatically capture a complete webpage; those are the jobs of the other two actions.
Capture a screen or foreground window
- Open your desktop flow in Power Automate Desktop.
- In the actions pane, expand Workstation and add Take screenshot to the flow.
- In Capture, choose All screens, Primary screen, Select screen, or Foreground window. All screens is the documented default.
- If you chose Select screen, enter the numeric value for the screen in Screen to capture.
- Set Save screenshot to to File or Clipboard.
- For a file, enter the complete destination in Image file, including the filename and extension.
- Choose an Image format. BMP is the documented default; the available choices include EMF, EXIF, GIF, JPG, PNG, TIFF, and WMF.
- Save the action, run the flow, and inspect the selected destination.
For a repeatable flow, use an absolute path such as C:Automationevidencecheckout.png rather than relying on the current working directory. Create the destination folder before the screenshot step if the flow might run on a new machine or user profile.
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Capturing every display
All screens combines the displays visible to the session into one capture. This is useful for documenting a multi-monitor desktop, but the resulting image can be wide and larger than a single-screen file. If a report needs only the main monitor, choose Primary screen instead.
Capturing one selected display
Choose Select screen when the flow must target a particular monitor. Supply the screen’s numeric value in Screen to capture; do not substitute a monitor name or resolution. Keep the monitor arrangement stable if the flow depends on a particular number.
Capturing the active application
Foreground window captures the window that is active when the action executes. Put the intended application in the foreground immediately before the action and avoid steps that activate another window between the focus step and the capture.
Save the result to a file or the clipboard
File output
Choose File when another step, person, or system must consume a durable image. Enter a full path in Image file and select the format that downstream software expects. PNG is generally convenient for text-heavy evidence, JPG produces smaller photographic images, and BMP is the documented default if you leave the format unchanged.
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Use a unique filename when a loop takes several screenshots. A practical pattern is a date-time value plus the step name, for example 2026-09-29_login-before.png. The exact naming expression depends on the variables in your flow; the important points are that the directory exists and the path is writable by the account running the flow.
Clipboard output
Choose Clipboard when the next action will paste the image into an application or document. Clipboard output is session-specific: a later copy operation can replace it, and an unattended run may not have the same interactive clipboard context as an attended run. If the image must survive several steps or be attached to a ticket, file output is safer.
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Capture a desktop application control
For a button, dialog, grid, or other application control, add Take screenshot of UI element from UI automation. First identify or supply the UI element, then choose Clipboard or File. When saving to a file, provide the image path and select a format. The documented formats are BMP, EMF, EXIF, GIF, JPG, PNG, TIFF, and WMF, with BMP as the default.
This action captures the supplied control rather than the whole monitor. It is the better choice for a regression record that should show one field or dialog without unrelated desktop content.
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Capture a webpage or one web element
Use browser automation’s Take screenshot of web page action when the target is a page rendered in a supported browser instance. The action requires a browser instance already available to the flow.
- Start or attach to the browser and store its browser instance variable.
- Add Take screenshot of web page.
- Choose Entire web page for the page or Specific element for one web element.
- For a specific element, provide the element identified by your browser-automation step.
- Choose Clipboard or File, then set the image path and format when using a file.
- Run the flow after the page and target element are present.
A missing element, a failed file or clipboard save, or a failed capture is reported as an exception. Add a wait for the page or element before the screenshot when navigation or rendering is asynchronous.
Image-based automation is a different feature
Power Automate Desktop also lets you create a reference image for image-based automation. In the flow designer, open the Images tab, select Capture image, and drag over the area you want to reference. The capture menu also supports a timed capture or a custom delay.
This creates an image used by image-based automation. It is not a replacement for the Workstation screenshot action when your goal is to save an execution screenshot as evidence.
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Make screenshots useful in real flows
Capture at the right moment
Place the screenshot after the navigation, click, or data entry that you want to document. For a browser page, wait until the target element exists; for a desktop window, make sure the intended window is in the foreground. A screenshot action records the state at execution time, not the state you intended to reach.
Keep diagnostic files unambiguous
When a flow can fail, save files with names that identify the step and whether the capture is before or after it. For example, use separate before and after filenames around a risky click or navigation. Store them in a run-specific folder so one execution cannot make another execution’s evidence look current.
Choose scope deliberately
- Use Foreground window for a compact record of the active application.
- Use Primary screen when only the main display matters.
- Use All screens for multi-monitor incidents where context across displays is important.
- Use Take screenshot of UI element when unrelated desktop content should not appear.
- Use Take screenshot of web page for an entire webpage or a browser element.
Troubleshooting Power Automate Desktop screenshots
“Failed to take the screenshot”
Confirm that the selected capture scope is available to the running session. For Foreground window, activate the intended window immediately before the action. For Select screen, verify the numeric screen value and check that the unattended machine has the expected display arrangement.
“Failed to save to a file”
Check that Image file is a full path, the parent folder exists, and the account running the flow can write there. Try a local folder rather than a redirected, removable, or unavailable location. Also verify that the chosen extension and format match what the destination application accepts.
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“Failed to set the screenshot to the clipboard”
Use file output when the flow runs without an interactive desktop or when another action may overwrite the clipboard. If clipboard output is required, place the screenshot immediately before the paste operation and ensure the target application is ready to receive it.
Unattended run cannot access the screen
Microsoft documents an unattended-flow failure in which a security policy affecting the UAC administrative prompt prevents screen access. If the screenshot works interactively but fails unattended, investigate whether a UAC prompt is blocking UI automation and follow Microsoft’s policy-specific resolution guidance before changing machine policy. Do not assume that changing UAC settings is harmless; involve the administrator responsible for the run environment.
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Find the exact step that fails
For an unattended failure, add one screenshot immediately before and one immediately after the suspected step, saving them as files with clearly different before and after names. These captures show whether the expected window or page was present when the failure occurred. After diagnosing the issue, revert the temporary On error behavior you enabled for troubleshooting.
The webpage capture cannot find an element
Check that the browser instance is the one used to open the page, that the page has finished loading, and that the element supplied to Specific element still exists. Add an explicit wait before the screenshot rather than relying on a fixed delay that may be too short on a slower run.
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Can the Workstation action capture a webpage’s full scrollable height?
No. It captures a display scope or foreground window. Use browser automation’s Entire web page option when you need webpage content rather than the visible desktop.
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Why would I save diagnostic screenshots before and after a step?
The pair lets you determine whether the expected state existed before the failing action and whether the action changed it. Use distinct filenames and remove temporary error-handling changes after troubleshooting.
Is an Images-tab capture the same as a screenshot file?
No. Capture image creates a reference for image-based automation. The Workstation, UI-element, and webpage actions are the screenshot outputs intended for clipboard or file destinations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the Workstation action capture a webpage’s full scrollable height?
No. It captures a display scope or foreground window. Use browser automation’s Entire web page option when you need webpage content rather than the visible desktop.
Why would I save diagnostic screenshots before and after a step?
The pair lets you determine whether the expected state existed before the failing action and whether the action changed it. Use distinct filenames and remove temporary error-handling changes after troubleshooting.
Is an Images-tab capture the same as a screenshot file?
No. Capture image creates a reference for image-based automation. The Workstation, UI-element, and webpage actions are the screenshot outputs intended for clipboard or file destinations.
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