To share a Power Automate desktop workflow, you primarily do so through the Power Automate portal, allowing others in your organization to run or co-develop the automation. This process enables seamless collaboration and deployment of your automated tasks.
Sharing Your Desktop Flow Step-by-Step
Sharing a desktop flow involves a straightforward process within the Power Automate portal. Follow these steps to grant access to your colleagues:
- Access the Power Automate Portal: Begin by signing in to the Power Automate portal. This is your central hub for managing all your flows, including desktop flows.
- Navigate to Desktop Flows: Once signed in, go to My flows on the left navigation pane, and then select Desktop flows. This will display all the desktop flows you have created or have access to.
- Select the Flow to Share: Locate the specific desktop flow you wish to share from the list. Click on the three dots (ellipses) next to its name, or select the flow and then choose the Share option from the command bar located at the top.
- Add People to Share With: A sharing pane will appear on the right side of your screen. Select Add people. In the search bar, enter the name or email address of the person in your organization with whom you'd like to share the desktop flow. You can add multiple individuals.
- Assign Roles and Confirm: After adding the individuals, you'll typically assign a role (e.g., Co-owner or User). Review the permissions associated with the chosen role and then confirm the sharing by selecting the appropriate button (e.g., "Share" or "Save").
Understanding Sharing Roles
When sharing a desktop flow, you assign specific roles that define the level of access and control others have over your automation. It's crucial to understand these roles to maintain proper governance and collaboration.
| Role | Description | Permissions |
|---|---|---|
| Owner | The original creator of the flow; has ultimate control. | Can edit, run, share, delete, and manage all connections associated with the flow. |
| Co-owner | A collaborator with significant control over the flow. | Can edit, run, share, and manage connections. Cannot delete the flow. |
| User | Can execute the flow but has no editing or sharing capabilities. | Can run the flow, but cannot modify, share, or delete it. (More common for cloud flows triggering desktop flows, or if explicitly given a run-only permission). |
Why Share Power Automate Desktop Flows?
Sharing desktop flows offers several advantages for teams and organizations:
- Collaboration: Enable team members to co-develop, debug, and collectively improve existing desktop flows, fostering a more efficient automation development process.
- Deployment: Allow other users or automated processes (e.g., cloud flows) to run the automation in their own environment or on designated machines, scaling the use of the automation.
- Maintenance: Ensure that flows can be managed, updated, and troubleshooted even if the original creator is unavailable, improving business continuity.
Important Considerations for Sharing
Before and during the sharing process, keep the following points in mind to ensure a smooth experience:
- Environment: All users who need to access or run the desktop flow must have access to the same Power Automate environment where the desktop flow resides.
- Connections and Credentials: Desktop flows often interact with local applications, web browsers, or specific system credentials.
- Each user running the flow will need their own connections configured for any cloud services (e.g., SharePoint, SQL Server) utilized within the desktop flow.
- For running desktop flows in unattended mode, a machine must be set up with an appropriate user account and configured as part of a machine group or a direct connection.
- Machine Connectivity: For others to run your desktop flow, they need access to the machine where it will execute. This typically involves installing the Power Automate machine runtime app on their local machine or a designated virtual machine.
- Licensing: Users running or co-owning desktop flows typically require the appropriate Power Automate licenses (e.g., Power Automate Premium per user with attended RPA, or Power Automate Process license for unattended RPA).
Best Practices for Shared Desktop Flows
To maximize the benefits of sharing and maintain healthy automation practices:
- Clear Documentation: Document the purpose, step-by-step logic, input/output parameters, and any prerequisites for the desktop flow. This aids in understanding and troubleshooting.
- Version Control: While Power Automate offers some versioning capabilities, for complex collaborative projects, consider external version control strategies for script-heavy components.
- Modular Design: Break down large, complex automations into smaller, reusable subflows. This makes collaboration easier, as different team members can work on different modules concurrently.
- Thorough Testing: Always ensure that shared flows are thoroughly tested across different user environments and configurations to guarantee consistent performance.
For more detailed information on managing and sharing desktop flows, refer to the official Microsoft Power Automate documentation on desktop flows.
