pywinauto

Spec sheet

Purpose

pywinauto is a set of Python modules for automating the Microsoft Windows GUI, including mouse and keyboard actions on dialogs and controls.Read 7 Oct 2026 · pywinauto.readthedocs.io

Support

The repository points users to Stack Overflow and a mailing list for questions, and welcomes feature requests and discussions through GitHub issues.Read 7 Oct 2026 · github.com

License

The repository states that pywinauto is distributed under the BSD 3-clause license.Read 7 Oct 2026 · github.com

Founded

2006Read 28 Sep 2026 · pywinauto.readthedocs.io

Actions and data

The library can send mouse and keyboard actions to controls and can retrieve text data from applications.Read 7 Oct 2026 · github.com

Backends

It supports the Win32 API backend and Microsoft UI Automation backend.Read 7 Oct 2026 · pywinauto.readthedocs.io

Cross-process access

A Desktop object can be used to navigate across process boundaries.Read 7 Oct 2026 · pywinauto.readthedocs.io

Dependencies

Manual Windows installation lists pyWin32 and comtypes; Pillow is optional for screenshots.Read 7 Oct 2026 · github.com

Installation

The project documents installation with pip or conda.Read 7 Oct 2026 · pywinauto.readthedocs.io

Linux limits

The docs say Linux accessibility support is in the long-term plans; mouse and keyboard input emulation modules are described as working on Linux.Read 7 Oct 2026 · pywinauto.readthedocs.io

macOS limits

The docs say Apple Accessibility API support is in the long-term plans.Read 7 Oct 2026 · pywinauto.readthedocs.io

Process control

An Application object can start an application or connect to one that is already running.Read 7 Oct 2026 · pywinauto.readthedocs.io

Project history

The repository says native Windows pywinauto was initially written by Mark Mc Mahon and continued by contributors.Read 7 Oct 2026 · github.com

Supported app types

The docs list MFC, VB6, VCL, simple WinForms and legacy apps for Win32, and WinForms, WPF, Store apps, Qt5 and browsers for UI Automation.Read 7 Oct 2026 · pywinauto.readthedocs.io

UI Automation limitation

The docs state that custom properties and controls are unsupported because of comtypes Python library restrictions.Read 7 Oct 2026 · pywinauto.readthedocs.io

Plans and prices

Every pywinauto plan and price →

Where Specifiction places it

• GUI Testing Software#30 of 347.4