Attended and unattended automation

What is attended and unattended automation?

Attended and unattended automation are the two ways a software robot can run when it automates work across applications. The difference is whether a person is present at the machine while the robot works.

Attended automation runs on a signed-in employee's own session. The person starts it, hands over a repetitive stretch of clicking and typing, and stays available to check results or make a decision. It sits next to someone at their desk, like a co-pilot for a single task.

Unattended automation runs on its own, on a dedicated machine, with no one watching. A schedule, a new file, or a queue item sets it off, and it processes work in the background. This is the mode most people picture when they think of a robot doing back-office work overnight.

Both modes are common in RPA and in wider process automation. The same underlying flow can often run either way; what changes is how it starts and whether a human is in the loop.

How attended automation runs

An attended robot uses the employee's own logged-in Windows session and their access to applications. A button, a keyboard shortcut, or an action inside an app starts the flow. In Power Automate, an attended desktop flow needs an opened session on the machine to run, because it works through the same screen the person sees.

Because the human and the robot share one desktop, timing matters. Moving the mouse or typing during a fragile screen step can interfere with what the robot is doing. Well-built attended flows pause for input, show clear progress, and hand control back cleanly.

Attended automation fits front-office work: a call-centre agent who triggers a flow to pull a customer record from several systems while they talk, or a finance clerk who lets a robot fill a legacy screen and then reviews it before saving.

How unattended automation runs

An unattended robot runs with no one at the keyboard, usually on a machine set aside for it. In Power Automate, a cloud flow triggers an unattended desktop flow: the platform opens a remote desktop session on the target machine, signs in with a stored connection, runs the work, then signs out and reports what happened. The screen stays locked so no one can see the session while it runs.

The rules are stricter than attended mode. The machine must have all users signed out; even a locked session can block an unattended run on Windows 10 and 11. Unattended flows cannot run with elevated privileges, and logging in during a run can make it fail. Unattended desktop automation in Power Automate also needs the Process plan.

This mode suits high-volume, rule-based work that needs no judgement: processing supplier files overnight, keying batches into an old application, or clearing items from a work queue on a schedule.

Choosing between attended and unattended

The choice is not only technical. Ask where a person needs to stay responsible for the outcome, how fast the work must happen, and how exceptions get handled.

Use attended automation when a human interprets context or owns the decision, when the task starts on request, or when someone needs to step in the moment something looks wrong. Use unattended automation when many similar items follow fixed rules, when the work should run outside office hours, and when a shared, monitored machine makes more sense than tying up a desk.

Many processes mix both. A clerk starts an attended check on a single case, and once it is approved, an unattended flow processes the overnight batch. Some teams route exceptions from an unattended run back to a person as attended work, so the straightforward path stays automatic and people handle only the odd cases. This blend of software steps and human decisions is the heart of Intelligent Process Automation.

What to watch out for with attended and unattended automation

Screen changes break flows. Both modes often drive application screens, and an update that moves a field or renames a label can stop a robot. Prefer a stable interface such as an API or a custom connector for the system steps when one exists, and keep screen automation for the parts that have no other route.

Resolution and session differences bite unattended runs. The remote session may open at a different screen resolution than the one used when the flow was built, so an element can be missing or the wrong one gets clicked. Set the resolution deliberately and test against it.

Identity and permissions need care. An attended robot inherits the employee's access; an unattended robot runs under a configured account. Give each only the rights the task needs, and tie every account to a human owner.

Attended flows can block a desk. If a flow takes over the screen for minutes at a time or stalls often, it interrupts more than it helps. Measure saved effort, error rates, and whether people actually accept the assistant.

Keep a human in the loop where it counts. Unattended does not mean unowned. Decisions that carry real consequences should route to a person rather than disappear behind a robot account.