Power Automate Desktop: Automating 'Next' Button Clicks

Introduction

• Purpose: Learn how to click a 'Next' button until it no longer exists using Power Automate Desktop.
• Scenario: Continuously clicking 'Next' on search results pages (e.g., Google search).

Steps to Automate

Setup

1. Launch Browser
   • Use the specific URL or attach to an already running browser window.
   • Example: Launch Chrome and attach to the window with the refrigerator search results.

Strategy

2. Loop Until 'Next' Button Disappears
   • Concept: Loop from page one and check for 'Next' button.
   • Process:
     1. Use a loop condition that is always true.
     2. Check for the 'Next' button on the webpage.
     3. If present, click the 'Next' button.
     4. If not present, break the loop.

Implementation

Creating the Loop

3. Loop Condition
   • Use a condition like true == true to keep the loop running.

Checking for 'Next' Button

4. Web Page Contains Next Button
   • Use 'If web page contains' to check for the 'Next' button UI element.
   • Create and rename the UI element to ensure clarity.

Clicking the 'Next' Button

5. Click Link on Web Page
   • Use the existing 'Next' button UI element to perform the click action.

Handling the End of Results

6. Breaking the Loop
   • Use an 'Else' condition to exit the loop if the 'Next' button is not found.
   • Optionally, display a message indicating the flow is done.

Additional Enhancements

Page Counter

7. Set Variable for Page Count
   • Initialize a variable page count to track the number of pages.
   • Increment the page count at the end of each loop iteration.
   • Display the page number in the message to validate the loop.

Running the Flow

8. Test the Flow
   • Ensure the browser is on the first page before running.
   • Run the flow and verify it clicks through all the pages and stops correctly.

Conclusion

• Result: Successfully automating the 'Next' button click task.
• Next Steps: Replace display messages with actual actions like data extraction.
• Call to Action: Leave any questions or comments for further assistance in RPA (e.g., UiPath, Power Automate).