The goal of this guide is to give you a clean, functional setup that you can reuse when automating more complex Windows applications. This tutorial is beginner-friendly and does not require any prior experience with desktop automation.<\/p>\n
\n
1. Prerequisites and Setup:<\/h4>\n
Before we start writing automation for a Windows desktop app, we need to install and configure a few tools. Follow the steps below to prepare your environment.<\/p>\n
1.1 Python Installation and Environment Setup<\/h5>\n
a. Install Python:<\/strong><\/p>\n b. Create and Activate a Virtual Environment:<\/strong><\/p>\n Creating a virtual environment keeps your dependencies clean and isolated.<\/p>\n You should now see (venv-notepad-automated-test) in your terminal prompt.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n c. Install Appium Python Client<\/strong> This library allows your Python scripts to communicate with the Appium server.<\/p>\n Head over to the WinAppDriver Releases page<\/a> and download the latest stable build. Install it just like any other Windows application. Download the Windows installer from the official Node.js website<\/a>. Once Node.js is ready, install Appium globally using npm:<\/p>\n This sets up the Appium command-line server that powers your automation. Install Appium windows driver to add support for Windows desktop automation by running:<\/p>\n Verify the Windows driver installation by running following command:<\/p>\n The output should confirm that the Windows driver is installed.<\/p>\n Run following command on terminal to start the Appium Server:<\/p>\n Keep this terminal window running during your tests.<\/p>\n You will need locator tools to inspect UI elements and identify attributes such as AutomationId, Name, ClassName, and NativeWindowHandle. These tools are required for writing reliable selectors for desktop automation.<\/p>\n Windows Inspector (Inspect.exe)<\/strong> Appium Inspector<\/strong> If you are new to these tools, refer to the earlier posts for detailed guidance:<\/p>\n How to use Windows Inspector to write selectors for Windows UI or Desktop App<\/a><\/p>\n How to use Appium Inspector along with Windows Inspector<\/a><\/p>\n These tools together will help you build stable and accurate locators before writing automation scripts.<\/p>\n Before writing our automation script, we need to tell Appium which Windows application we want to launch and how to interact with it. This configuration is done using desired capabilities.<\/p>\n Desired capabilities are sent to the Appium server when a new session is created. They describe the target platform, the application to launch, and the device we are testing on. For Windows desktop automation, the set of capabilities is small and easy to understand.<\/p>\n Below are the capabilities used in our Notepad example.<\/p>\n This tells Appium which Windows application to launch.<\/p>\n You can provide:<\/p>\n In our example, “notepad.exe” is enough.<\/p>\n This is always “Windows” for desktop automation.<\/p>\n This value is required but not validated. You can put any string here.<\/p>\n Putting it all together.<\/p>\n Here is the exact configuration from your working script:<\/p>\n These three capabilities are enough to launch Notepad through Appium and WinAppDriver.<\/p>\n In the next section, we will look at how to use these capabilities inside a simple Python script to automate a Windows desktop application.<\/p>\n Now that you understand the setup and desired capabilities, let’s walk through creating your first python Windows desktop automation script using Appium and WinAppDriver. We will automate a simple workflow in Notepad. First, we will build the script step by step, and then you will see the complete working example. The goal is to understand how each part of the script works before running the final example.<\/p>\n We will follow a simple test flow:<\/p>\n Let us walk through the script step by step. <\/p>\n We begin by defining the capabilities required for Appium to launch the Notepad application. These capabilities tell Appium which app to start and on which device.<\/p>\n To interact with the application, we open a session using Appium that connects to the WinAppDriver server.<\/p>\n Using the name attribute of Notepad’s editable area, we fetch the main text control where input operations will be performed.<\/p>\n Refer to the screenshot below to see how we obtained the locator values for the text area. We used Windows Inspector to inspect the element. Before adding new content, the script selects all existing text and deletes it.<\/p>\n To ensure the clear operation worked, the script checks the value of the text field. A cleared text area reports a None value.<\/p>\n Now we type the new text into Notepad. This confirms that Appium can send keystrokes to a Windows application.<\/p>\n To validate correctness, the script reads back the text and checks whether it matches what was typed.<\/p>\n Once all validations are complete, the script ends the session by closing Notepad.<\/p>\n Below is the complete test script. You can save this file as test_notepad.py and run it directly. Once your script is ready, running the test is straightforward. Before executing the test, make sure the following components are running correctly.<\/p>\n Appium must be started manually and running in the background. Open a new command prompt and run:<\/p>\n You should see a message saying the server is listening on port 4723. Look at the screenshot below. Navigate to the folder containing your test script and execute:<\/p>\n Expected outcome:\n
\r\npython --version\r\npip --version<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
\n
python -m venv venv-notepad-automated-test<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n
venv\\Scripts\\activate<\/pre>\n
\nInside the activated virtual environment, install the Appium Python client:<\/p>\npip install Appium-Python-Client<\/pre>\n
1.2 Install Windows App Driver (WinAppDriver):<\/h5>\n
\nWinAppDriver provides the communication bridge that Appium uses to control Windows desktop applications.<\/p>\n1.3 Install Node.js and npm:<\/h5>\n
\nThe installer automatically includes npm, and you’ll need npm to install and run Appium.<\/p>\n1.4 Install Appium Server:<\/h5>\n
npm install -g appium<\/pre>\n
\nFor more details, refer Appium Quickstart Guide<\/a>. <\/p>\n1.5 Install the Appium Windows Driver:<\/h5>\n
appium driver install windows<\/pre>\n
appium driver list<\/pre>\n
1.6 Start the Appium server:<\/h5>\n
appium<\/pre>\n
1.7 Install Locator Tools:<\/h5>\n
\nThis tool is required. It is the primary utility for inspecting Windows UI Automation elements. You will use it to read attributes, verify tree hierarchy, and extract the NativeWindowHandle when attaching to a running app.<\/p>\n
\nThis tool is highly recommended. It helps you preview elements through an Appium session, validate XPath expressions, and explore the UI structure more easily. Appium Inspector is especially useful when working with legacy apps where attributes are not unique.<\/p>\n
\n2. Understanding Desired Capabilities for Windows Desktop Apps<\/h4>\n
“app” Capability:<\/h5>\n
options.set_capability(\"app\", \"notepad.exe\")<\/pre>\n
\n
“platformName” Capability:<\/h5>\n
options.set_capability(\"platformName\", \"Windows\")<\/pre>\n
“deviceName” Capability:<\/h5>\n
options.set_capability(\"deviceName\", \"WindowsPC\")<\/pre>\n
\r\noptions = WindowsOptions()\r\noptions.set_capability(\"app\", \"notepad.exe\")\r\noptions.set_capability(\"platformName\", \"Windows\")\r\noptions.set_capability(\"deviceName\", \"WindowsPC\")\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n3. Writing Your First Desktop Automation Script (Python):<\/h4>\n
\n
Step 1: Create Windows options and set capabilities<\/h5>\n
\r\noptions = WindowsOptions()\r\noptions.set_capability(\"app\", \"notepad.exe\")\r\noptions.set_capability(\"platformName\", \"Windows\")\r\noptions.set_capability(\"deviceName\", \"WindowsPC\")\r\n<\/pre>\n
Step 2: Start the automation session<\/h5>\n
\r\ndriver = webdriver.Remote(\r\n command_executor=\"http:\/\/127.0.0.1:4723\",\r\n options=options\r\n)\r\n<\/pre>\n
Step 3: Locate the Notepad text input area<\/h5>\n
\r\ntext_area = driver.find_element(\"name\", \"Text editor\")\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n![\"Get](\"https:\/\/qxf2.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Get-Notepads-test-area-locator-with-Windows-Inspector-1024x430.png\")
<\/a>Step 4: Clear existing content<\/h5>\n
\r\ntext_area.send_keys(Keys.CONTROL, 'a')\r\ntext_area.send_keys(Keys.DELETE)\r\n<\/pre>\n
Step 5: Verify the text cleared successfully<\/h5>\n
\r\ncleared_value = text_area.get_attribute(\"Value.Value\")\r\nassert cleared_value == None, \"Text area not cleared properly!\"\r\n<\/pre>\n
Step 6: Add new text<\/h5>\n
\r\nnew_text = \"Writing text using Appium with WinAppDriver\"\r\ntext_area.send_keys(new_text)\r\n<\/pre>\n
Step 7: Verify the new text<\/h5>\n
\r\nadded_value = text_area.get_attribute(\"Value.Value\")\r\nassert added_value == new_text, \"Text not added correctly!\"\r\n<\/pre>\n
Step 8: Close the application<\/h5>\n
\r\ndriver.quit()\r\n<\/pre>\n
Full Working Example<\/h5>\n
\nNote:<\/strong> This is highly simplified code to make this post illustrative. We do not use this quality of the code at clients.<\/p>\n\r\n#test_notepad.py\r\nfrom appium import webdriver\r\nfrom appium.options.windows import WindowsOptions\r\nfrom selenium.webdriver.common.keys import Keys\r\nimport time\r\n\r\ndef test_notepad_app():\r\n # --- Appium Windows Options ---\r\n options = WindowsOptions()\r\n options.set_capability(\"app\", \"notepad.exe\")\r\n options.set_capability(\"platformName\", \"Windows\")\r\n options.set_capability(\"deviceName\", \"WindowsPC\")\r\n\r\n # --- Start session (Appium must be running) ---\r\n driver = webdriver.Remote(\r\n command_executor=\"http:\/\/127.0.0.1:4723\",\r\n options=options\r\n )\r\n\r\n time.sleep(1)\r\n\r\n # --- Locate the Notepad text area ---\r\n text_area = driver.find_element(\"name\", \"Text editor\")\r\n\r\n # --- Step 1: Clear existing content ---\r\n text_area.send_keys(Keys.CONTROL, 'a')\r\n text_area.send_keys(Keys.DELETE)\r\n\r\n # --- Step 2: Verify content is cleared ---\r\n cleared_value = text_area.get_attribute(\"Value.Value\")\r\n assert cleared_value == None, \"Text area not cleared properly!\"\r\n print(\"\u2713 Cleared existing text if any and verified it\")\r\n\r\n # --- Step 3: Add new text ---\r\n new_text = \"Writing text using Appium with WinAppDriver\"\r\n text_area.send_keys(new_text)\r\n\r\n # --- Step 4: Verify text added ---\r\n added_value = text_area.get_attribute(\"Value.Value\")\r\n assert added_value == new_text, \"Text not added correctly!\"\r\n print(\"\u2713 Added text and verified it\")\r\n\r\n # --- Step 5: Close Notepad ---\r\n driver.quit()\r\n print(\"\u2713 Test completed successfully\")\r\n\r\nif __name__ == \"__main__\":\r\n test_notepad_app()\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n4. Running Your Test<\/h4>\n
Step 1: Start the Appium server<\/h5>\n
appium<\/pre>\n
\n![\"Start](\"https:\/\/qxf2.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Start-Appuim-Server-1024x435.png\")
<\/a>
\nIn background, it starts WinAppDriver.<\/p>\nStep 2: Run the Python test<\/h5>\n
python test_notepad_app.py<\/pre>\n
\nIf everything is configured correctly, you will see Notepad open, clear any existing text, type new content, verify it, and close automatically.
\nThe console will display success messages such as:<\/p>\n\r\n\u2713 Cleared existing text if any and verified it\r\n\u2713 Added text and verified it\r\n\u2713 Test completed successfully\r\n<\/pre>\n
![\"Run](\"https:\/\/qxf2.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Run-the-test-Expected-Output.png\")
<\/a>