This article describes Microsoft Loop and some recommendations on how to use it to enhance your group’s collaboration and productivity.

What is Microsoft Loop

Loop is a feature within Microsoft 365 that provides a collaborative experience for groups to work together in a shared flexible canvas called a Loop Component or simply “a loop”. Benefits of Loop include

• The loop can be accessed and updated across multiple apps (Words, PowerPoint, Teams, OneNote, etc.).
• Changes are synced in real time. 
• Links to the canvas can be shared with others.

Learn more about Microsoft Loop at Microsoft Loop: Collaborative App | Microsoft 365.

What are some ways that Loop can be used

Example 1: A meeting coordinator can send a loop to a Microsoft Teams channel and ask participants to contribute their meeting topics to it through the chat interface.  This same loop is then inserted into their meeting’s OneNote or Word doc to track notes related to the agenda, and all updates will synchronize between the two locations.

Example 2: A Loop Component can be used to keep track of tasks, their assignments, and their progress for multiple users. If using the “/Task list” template in the loop, it will automatically sync with the Planner and To Do apps.

Tips on using Loop

It is important to understand where your Loop files are being stored when you create new Loops. 

• Loops created inside the Loop app or other productivity apps, like Word, Excel, OneNote, etc., are stored in your OneDrive
• Loops created in a Microsoft Teams channel chat are stored in the files section for that channel

Recommendation: We recommend using Microsoft Teams to create your Loop components, so they are stored in a shared resource instead of your personal OneDrive.  You can still share those loops in other apps like Word or OneNote when needed.

Steps to create a loop in Teams:

1. Go to the channel where you want the loop to be stored, for example, the General channel within a team.
2. Click Start a post or Reply as appropriate.
3. Click the Loop Component icon in the bottom toolbar of the dialog box.
4. Select which type of loop you want, for example, Bulleted list
5. Add the information to the loop including a description for the post.
6. Click Post.

Steps to embed the component in OneNote on the Web:

1. Go to the post in Teams where the loop was created or find the loop in the Loop app.
2. Click Copy Component (Teams) or Copy as Loop Component (Loop app).
   
3. Open a OneNote page in OneNote on the Web.
4. Click Paste.
5. Select Insert and share.

Steps to use Loop templates:

1. In the loop, type the forward slash, “/”.
2. Select a loop template, for example, Task list.
3. Hit enter.

For this template, all assigned tasks will automatically sync with Microsoft To Do and Microsoft Teams Planner so participants will be able to find all their assignments in a single location.

Recommendation: Use Loop templates within the loop for enhanced productivity and organization.