Excel automation in Power Automate for desktop

We are going to practice about working on Excel automation with Power Automate for desktop. Entering, processing, and selecting data from an Excel document are algorithmic tasks that are often performed manually, which implies the possibility of numerous scenarios and use cases to automate these tasks.

But first of all it is important to know the differences between 2 types of Microsoft Power Automate solutions:

Power Automate Desktop: is a Windows-based desktop app that allows you to automate tasks on your local machine or on remote machines. It provides a graphical interface for creating workflows and can interact with a wide range of applications and services, including browsers, file systems, and databases.

Power Automate Cloud: on the other hand, is a cloud-based platform that provides a variety of automation capabilities for cloud-based applications and services. It allows you to create and manage workflows using a web-based interface and can integrate with a variety of cloud-based services, such as Microsoft Office 365, Dynamics 365, SharePoint, and OneDrive.

Excel and Power Automate Desktop processes

Excel in Power Automate desktop

We will introduce the topic of Excel in Power Automate Desktop. The category that encompasses Excel actions is called Excel Automation, and the examples you find include:

Excel automation in Power Automate for desktop
  • Launch Excel: in this case, you will be able to carry out the basic task of starting an Excel sheet.
  • Launch Excel and extract a table: This flow is used to extract tables from Excel files.
  • Search and Replace Excel Values: Quickly find and replace values in Excel spreadsheets.
  • Consolidate Excel reports: with this flow, you will be able to collect data and create reports in an automated way.
  • Manipulate Excel data with SQL: it helps us to create a SQL connection to the Excel file and use SQL queries to automate processes dealing with Excel spreadsheets´s data.

By simply clicking on the play icon, the actions are initiated and with a few steps, you can specify the details about your Excel files, rows, and columns. The actions are then executed automatically.

Next I am going to talk to you about the first three options, which are beginner level. In a later post we will talk about the other two and ways to create a flow with Power automate Desktop without having to use the examples.

 

Launch Excel

To customize the flow you simply have to click on the icon with the pencil, a new window will open and it will show you all the actions that exist in the flow. In this way you will be able to indicate in this example which spreadsheet is the Excel workbook that you want to open when you run the flow.

 

Launch Excel and extract a table

The most common way to store structured data in Excel is using tables. Power Automate allows you to extract data from whole tables and also from specifically selected rows and columns.

Power automate desktop can be edited so here you can see the different actions and changes that you can do to indicate the table you need to extract.

 

Search and Replace Excel Values

Searching and replacing values while working with spreadsheets is a time-consuming task that we can simplify by using this flow and thus reduce search time.

Excel and tasks Power Automate desktop

 

You can find additional information on the official Microsoft Power Automate Desktop site:

  1. Get Started Creating Desktop Flows Using Examples
  2. Create Desktop Flows Through the Console
  3. Create desktop flows through cloud flows
  4. Excel automation in Power Automate for desktop
  5. Excel actions
  6. Use copilot to analyze desktop flow activity (preview)

We would like to know your opinion about Excel in Power Automate desktop and for any questions or queries you can contact us.

And, if you need help with Power Automate or any other product in the Power Platform family, do not hesitate to contact us. We will be delighted to help you get the most out of this fantastic platform. 

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