Use UiPath’s Take Screenshot activity. Choose the Classic activity when your workflow uses the Classic project model and an Image variable; choose the Modern activity when you need explicit control over whether the capture covers an element, an application window, or the desktop. Before configuring properties, confirm your project type and installed UI Automation package because activity names and available output options differ.
Which UiPath screenshot activity should you use?
| Need | Recommended activity | Important behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Classic workflow or an Image-variable pattern | UiPath.Core.Activities.TakeScreenshot |
Captures a target selected by a selector or UiElement. With no selector, it captures the entire screen. The result is a Screenshot field suitable for Image variables. |
| Modern Windows or cross-platform workflow | UiPath.UIAutomationNext.Activities.NTakeScreenshot |
Lets you choose Element, Main window, or Desktop capture and configure File, Image, or (where supported) Clipboard output. |
Modern is available inside or outside Use Application/Browser. Inside an application card it normally targets that application; outside the card, with no target, it can capture the desktop. The Modern activity is documented for Windows – Legacy, Windows, and cross-platform projects, although individual targeting and output features can be project-specific.
Take a screenshot with the Classic activity
1. Add and target the activity
- Open the workflow in UiPath Studio and add Take Screenshot from the UI Automation activities.
- Use the indication tool to select the control or region you need, or assign a
UiElementproduced by another activity. - Leave the selector empty only when you intentionally want the whole screen. A selector identifies the element to capture; a clipping region can crop relative to that element.
2. Store the result
Assign the activity’s Screenshot output to an Image variable when a later step will inspect, resize, compare, or insert the picture into a report. If you need a durable artifact, add a file-saving step after the capture and write it to an access-controlled folder.
3. Set timing and error behavior
- WaitBefore: the documented default is 300 milliseconds. Increase it only for a known rendering delay; a fixed sleep is not a substitute for target readiness.
- Target.TimeoutMS: the documented default is 30,000 milliseconds. Raise it when a slow application genuinely needs more time, but investigate selectors that routinely time out.
- Target.WaitForReady: choose None, Interactive, or Complete according to the application. Interactive or Complete can prevent a capture before the target is usable.
- ContinueOnError: the default is False. If it is True inside a Try Catch, UiPath notes that the error is not caught, so use it deliberately.
Take a screenshot with the Modern activity
1. Choose the capture container
Add UiPath.UIAutomationNext.Activities.NTakeScreenshot. In its Screenshot container select one of these scopes:
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- Main window: the main active window of the attached application. This is the default.
- Element: an indicated UI element, using the targeting methods available to your project and environment.
- Desktop: the entire desktop. UiPath documents this option inside an Application Card starting with UIAutomation package version 25.10.32; if it is missing, check the installed package version.
Inside Use Application/Browser, the application card supplies context for the target. Outside it, a Modern activity with no target can capture the entire desktop. Make the scope explicit when a workflow may later be moved between applications.
2. Select an output
Modern output choices can include File, Image, and Clipboard. UiPath qualifies this selector as Windows-project-only, so do not assume Clipboard is available in a cross-platform project.
- File: use for audit evidence, attachments, or post-run diagnostics. Set the filename and the auto-increment policy so parallel or repeated runs do not overwrite evidence.
- Image: use when the next activity processes the picture in memory.
- Clipboard: use only when a subsequent step explicitly consumes clipboard content and the option is supported by the project.
For an element capture, indicate the target and review visibility and selector settings. Strict and fuzzy selectors are common choices; image, native-text, Computer Vision, and semantic-selector methods depend on project conditions. Computer Vision also depends on its server configuration, and semantic selectors use an LLM-generated human-readable description. Treat these as environment-dependent rather than universally available.
Common screenshot patterns
Capture a button, form, or table
- Place the activity inside the application scope that owns the control.
- Choose Element (Modern) or indicate the control (Classic).
- Wait for the control to be visible and ready before taking the screenshot.
- Save with a run identifier and timestamp, or pass the Image to the next reporting activity.
Capture an application window
Attach the workflow to the application, then select Main window in Modern. In Classic, target the application’s root element rather than relying on a full-screen capture. This avoids including unrelated windows, notifications, or sensitive information on another monitor.
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Capture the entire desktop
Modern users can select Desktop where the package supports it. Classic users omit the selector to request a whole-screen capture. A desktop screenshot may include every visible monitor, notification, credential, and chat window, so restrict the runtime session and storage location.
Use the image inside the workflow
Choose Image output (Modern) or assign Classic’s Screenshot output to an Image variable. This is preferable when the picture is temporary or will be embedded immediately, because it avoids creating unmanaged files that require later cleanup.
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Rendering readiness matters more than a long delay
A screenshot records what is visible at the instant the activity executes. A page can have a matching selector while its chart, invoice, or lazy-loaded image is still rendering. Prefer a condition that proves the target is ready: wait for a visible element, a state change, or application-specific completion signal. Use Classic’s WaitForReady and WaitBefore, or Modern page-load and visibility checks, based on the target application. If a delay is unavoidable, keep it short and document why it exists.
Recording screenshots are not runtime screenshots
Studio’s recording feature adds informative screenshots while it records user actions. UiPath documents these as PNG files in a project screenshot folder; the page refers to the folder as .screenshots in one place and .screenshot in another, so verify the actual folder in your project. Recording has limits, including keyboard shortcuts, modifier keys, right-click, and mouse hover. If your process must deliberately save evidence during execution, use the screenshot activity instead of relying on recording output.
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UiPath guidance warns that Take Screenshot needs an interactive session. An unattended Robot with no display may fail or silently produce no file. For unattended post-mortem evidence, UiPath recommends Orchestrator session recording for Robot 2023.2 and later; validate that recommendation against the Robot, Orchestrator, and execution mode you operate.
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Run a small diagnostic workflow in the same execution context as production. Confirm that a desktop session exists, the application is actually visible, and the robot account can write to the destination folder. A successful attended test does not prove that the same workflow can capture an unattended session.
Privacy, retention, and file naming
- Assume a screenshot can contain personal information, credentials, invoices, tokens, or an open customer session.
- Write images to access-controlled storage, not a broadly shared log directory.
- Define retention and cleanup rules before enabling high-volume diagnostic captures.
- Use names that identify the process, run, step, and time, such as
OrderProcess_2026-09-30_143012_Checkout.png. - Do not attach raw images to widely distributed logs unless the content has been reviewed or redacted.
Troubleshooting checklist
The activity times out
- Verify that the indicated element belongs to the current Application Card or Work scope.
- Re-indicate the control and inspect strict versus fuzzy selector attributes.
- Check visibility and page-load readiness settings.
- Increase the timeout only after confirming that the application is genuinely slow.
The image is blank or stale
- Confirm that the workflow runs after the target has rendered, not merely after navigation.
- Use a readiness condition or visibility check instead of adding several arbitrary delays.
- Check whether the target is covered by a modal dialog, minimized window, or another desktop.
- For unattended execution, verify an interactive display session.
The wrong region is captured
- Modern: check whether the container is Main window, Element, or Desktop.
- Classic: check the selector, supplied UiElement, and clipping region.
- Confirm that the correct Application Card is in scope and that a similarly named control was not selected.
No file is written
- Check the output type, full path, folder permissions, and auto-increment setting.
- Ensure the destination exists on the robot machine, not only on your development computer.
- Inspect whether ContinueOnError masked a failure; remember that errors configured this way may bypass a surrounding Try Catch.
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FAQ
Can I capture only one control?
Yes. Use Modern’s Element container or Classic’s indicated target, selector, or UiElement. A clipping region can further crop a Classic target.
Does Modern always offer Clipboard output?
No. UiPath documents the output selector as Windows-project-only, so availability depends on the project type and installed activity package.
Why is my Desktop option missing?
UiPath documents Desktop inside an Application Card starting with UIAutomation package version 25.10.32. Check and update the installed package only after confirming project compatibility.
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No when you need deliberate runtime evidence. Recording screenshots document recorded actions and have input limitations; the dedicated activity gives you explicit scope, output, and timing control.
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