Automating Multiple PDF Downloads from Web Pages with Microsoft Power Automate Desktop

Web automation can significantly reduce the time spent on repetitive tasks like downloading multiple files from a website. Microsoft Power Automate Desktop offers powerful capabilities for both web and UI automation that make this process seamless and efficient.

The Challenge: Downloading Multiple PDF Files

Consider a scenario where you need to download numerous PDF files from a web page containing thousands of decisions or documents. Manually right-clicking each item and saving it would be incredibly time-consuming. This is where automation becomes invaluable.

Setting Up the Automation Framework

When building an automation solution in Power Automate Desktop, it’s best to follow some key practices that make your flows maintainable:

• Organize your flow into sub-flows for better structure
• Set appropriate run delays during development (1 second is recommended)
• Create clear variable naming conventions
• Make paths dynamic to improve portability

Initialization: Setting Up Variables and Opening the Browser

The first step is to create an initialization sub-flow that will:

1. Set the URL variable pointing to the target website
2. Define a folder path variable where files will be saved
3. Launch the browser (Microsoft Edge, Firefox, or Chrome)

By storing these values as variables, you make your flow much easier to maintain if anything changes in the future.

Data Extraction: Getting the File Information

Before downloading, you need to extract the identifying information for each file. Using the “Extract data from web page” action allows you to:

1. Define a pattern by selecting representative elements
2. Extract all matching elements into a data table
3. Use this data to dynamically generate selectors for each file

If the web page uses pagination or “load more” functionality, you’ll need to handle that by creating a loop that:

1. Checks if a “Get more decisions” button exists
2. Clicks it if found
3. Continues until the button no longer appears or a set limit is reached

Creating Dynamic Selectors

A critical aspect of robust web automation is creating reliable selectors that:

1. Don’t rely on temporary IDs that change between sessions
2. Are specific enough to target exactly the right element
3. Can be dynamically populated with values from your data table

For example, rather than hardcoding “148” in a selector, use your looping variable to insert the current decision number.

The Download Process

With the data extracted, you can now implement the download sub-flow that:

1. Iterates through each item in your data table
2. Right-clicks the appropriate element
3. Uses UI automation to interact with the save dialog
4. Populates the filename field with the decision number and .PDF extension
5. Clicks the save button

Troubleshooting Common Issues

When working with UI automation, you may encounter issues with selectors. Some helpful troubleshooting tips:

• Disable name attributes in selectors if they’re causing issues
• Test selectors to ensure they uniquely identify elements (green indicates uniqueness)
• Maximize the browser window to make elements more consistently visible
• Add appropriate waits if the UI is slow to respond

Scaling the Solution

While the demonstration limited the downloads to a manageable number for testing, you can easily scale this solution to handle thousands of files by:

1. Adjusting or removing the loop index limit
2. Adding error handling for resilience
3. Potentially implementing batching if needed

With Microsoft Power Automate Desktop, what would take hours or days of manual work can be accomplished automatically while you focus on more valuable tasks.