Power Automate desktop flows are triggered from Power Automate in the cloud and can return multiple types of indications that something is not right. First of all, a little bit of vocabulary:
A cloud flow runs only in the Power Automate cloud. No installation of software is required.
A desktop flow only runs on a machine of a user (attended RPA) or on virtual machines (unattended RPA) using the Power Automate Desktop software. The newest way to connect Power Automate in the cloud to the software on a machine (virtual machine or desktop/laptop of a user) is using machines & direct connectivity.
In the case of unattended mode, it can happen that you get the error “There’s an issue starting your desktop flow. There is a user session on the target machine. Cannot execute unattended desktop flow. Check for errors and try running again”.
![](https://www.imenos.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/error-pad-desktop-flow-unattended-1024x226.jpg)
To avoid this type of error, make sure that you always “Sign out” of the VM, not “Lock” or “Disconnect” which are also options.
![](https://www.imenos.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/image.png)
If you make it a habit to sign out after you’ve worked on your desktop flow in Power Automate Desktop, you should not get this error anymore.