writer edits

Author: haywoodsloan

support/power-platform/power-automate/desktop-flows/ui-automation/element-picker-cant-see-elements.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
-title: UI automation fails and element picker or recorder can't see UI elements
-description: Resolves issues where UI automation doesn't work and no UI elements are shown in the element picker or recorder when Microsoft Accessory Center or DesktopBridge processes are running, or when applications use incompatible UI frameworks.
+title: Troubleshoot UI Automation and Element Detection in Power Automate for Desktop
+description: Troubleshoot UI automation issues in Power Automate for desktop. Learn how to fix problems with the element picker or recorder not detecting UI elements.
 ms.date: 12/02/2025
 ms.custom: sap:Desktop flows\UI or browser automation
 ms.reviewer: iomimtso, nimoutzo, v-shaywood
@@ -15,35 +15,29 @@ This article provides troubleshooting guidance for issues where Power Automate f
 
 When you try to use UI automation in Power Automate for desktop, you might experience the following issues:
 
-- **During design time**: The element picker or recorder doesn't show any UI elements when you try to capture elements for automation.
-- **During runtime**: UI automation actions fail to execute correctly in both attended and unattended desktop flow runs.
+- _During design time_: The element picker or recorder doesn't show any UI elements when you try to capture elements for automation.
+- _During runtime_: UI automation actions fail to execute correctly in both attended and unattended desktop flow runs.
 
-## Causes
+## Cause 1: Interfering background processes
 
-UI automation issues in Power Automate for desktop can occur due to the following reasons:
+Some background processes interfere with UI automation functionality in Power Automate for desktop. Specifically, the **Microsoft Accessory Center** or **DesktopBridge** processes prevent UI automation from working correctly.
 
-### Cause 1: Interfering background processes
+### Solution: Terminate interfering processes
 
-Certain background processes interfere with UI automation functionality in Power Automate for desktop. Specifically, the **Microsoft Accessory Center** or **DesktopBridge** processes can prevent UI automation from working correctly.
+To resolve this issue, terminate the interfering processes and disable them from running in the future.
 
-### Cause 2: Incompatible UI frameworks
+## Cause 2: Incompatible UI frameworks
 
-Some desktop applications use custom UI frameworks or rendering methods that aren't compatible with the standard accessibility APIs that Power Automate for desktop relies on. This incompatibility can make certain elements invisible to the element picker.
+Some desktop applications use custom UI frameworks or rendering methods that aren't compatible with the standard accessibility APIs that Power Automate for desktop relies on. This incompatibility makes certain elements invisible to the element picker.
 
 > [!IMPORTANT]
-> For coordinate-based solutions (Solutions [4](#solution-4-use-the-recorder-with-coordinates) and [5](#solution-5-use-move-mouse-and-send-mouse-click-actions)) to work reliably:
+> For coordinate-based solutions (Solutions [3](#solution-3-use-the-recorder-with-coordinates) and [4](#solution-4-use-move-mouse-and-send-mouse-click-actions)) to work reliably:
 >
 > - The screen configuration (resolution, DPI settings, scaling) must remain static at runtime and match the configuration used during development.
 > - Changes to the application's user interface structure might affect the effectiveness of these workarounds.
 > - Test your flows thoroughly when deploying to different machines or environments.
->
-> Solutions [2](#solution-2-use-move-mouse-to-image-action) through [5](#solution-5-use-move-mouse-and-send-mouse-click-actions) are workarounds for applications with incompatible UI frameworks (see [Cause 2](#cause-2-incompatible-ui-frameworks)). If your issue is caused by interfering processes, try [Solution 1](#solution-1-terminate-interfering-processes) first.
-
-## Solution 1: Terminate interfering processes
-
-To resolve this issue, terminate the interfering processes and prevent them from running in the future.
 
-## Solution 2: Use Move mouse to image action
+### Solution 1: Use Move mouse to image action
 
 1. Add a **Move mouse to image** action to your flow.
 1. Capture an image of the UI element you want to interact with.
@@ -52,7 +46,7 @@ To resolve this issue, terminate the interfering processes and prevent them from
 
 This action moves the mouse to the first occurrence of the specified image and sends a left click.
 
-## Solution 3: Use Move mouse to text on screen (OCR) action
+## Solution 2: Use Move mouse to text on screen (OCR) action
 
 1. Add a **Move mouse to text on screen (OCR)** action to your flow.
 1. Specify the text that appears on or near the UI element you want to interact with.
@@ -61,7 +55,7 @@ This action moves the mouse to the first occurrence of the specified image and s
 
 This action uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to locate text on the screen or foreground window and sends a mouse click to that location.
 
-## Solution 4: Use the recorder with coordinates
+## Solution 3: Use the recorder with coordinates
 
 1. Open Power Automate for desktop and create a new flow.
 1. Select **Recorder** from the toolbar.
@@ -70,7 +64,7 @@ This action uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to locate text on the scree
 
 The recorder creates a **Click UI element in window** action with coordinate-based input parameters populated by using the respective values from your click action.
 
-## Solution 5: Use Move mouse and Send mouse click actions
+## Solution 4: Use Move mouse and Send mouse click actions
 
 1. Add a **Move mouse** action to your flow.
 1. Configure the action to move the mouse to the specific coordinates of the target element.