This month marks the exciting launch of Microsoft Loop’s public preview. Loop introduces a fresh approach to collaboration and database solutions, featuring a user-friendly drag-and-drop editor. While it may initially sound a bit overwhelming, it shares some similarities with Notion’s capabilities. Although it may seem complex initially, Microsoft Loop has the potential to be a valuable tool depending on how you use it.
The primary goal of the Loop is to enhance collaboration by seamlessly integrating tasks, documents, and teams. An essential aspect of Loop is that it operates as a web-based application. Additionally, a mobile app is available for Android users, while the iOS version is currently undergoing beta testing. To assist you in getting started with Microsoft Loop, here’s a compilation of helpful tips.
WHAT IS MICROSOFT LOOP
Microsoft Loop is a centralized hub for your notes, tasks, projects, and documents. It allows you to create workspaces, add pages, and collaborate effortlessly with your team members. The best thing is that you can access tasks, content, and project updates without switching between various apps.
Using Microsoft Loop will come naturally if you’re familiar with software like Notion and Coda. However, if you’ve been accustomed to Evernote, Trello, and Asana, adjusting to Loop’s unique approach might take a little time.
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CREATING A WORKSPACE AND MANAGING PAGES IN MICROSOFT LOOP
Content organization in Microsoft Loop focuses on co-creation and collaboration. To get started, follow these steps to create a workspace and manage pages efficiently:
Step 1: Sign in to Microsoft Loop using your Microsoft account credentials.
Step 2: Once on the Microsoft Loop homepage, click on the ‘+’ icon at the top-right corner.
Step 3: Customize your workspace by adding a cover, emoji, and title. Then, click on “Create.”
Step 4: Use the ‘+’ icon from the left sidebar to add a new page inside your workspace. Enhance the differentiation by adding an icon and cover to each page.
Step 5: To further organize your content, right-click on the three horizontal dots menu beside a page and select “New subpage” to create subpages.
For instance, if you’re working on a company roadmap for 2023, you can name the primary page “Company Roadmap” and add specific months as subpages under it. This way, you can maintain a clear and structured project overview.
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EXPLORING TEXT EDITING IN MICROSOFT LOOP
Unlike OneNote or Word, Microsoft Loop doesn’t always have a standard toolbar visible. Instead, the text editing options are accessible through the ‘/’ command. To utilize these options, simply type ‘/’ and choose from various formatting choices such as headings, tables, checklists, bullet lists, numbered lists, and dividers.
Select the specific text or paragraph for more advanced editing, and then right-click on it. This action will open up additional options, allowing you to apply bold, italic, underline effects and change the text and background colours to suit your preferences.
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EXPLORING MICROSOFT LOOP TEMPLATES
Save time and effort in Microsoft Loop using pre-designed templates instead of starting from scratch. With ten templates to choose from, Microsoft offers a range of options for various purposes. You can easily customize these templates by removing unnecessary content while retaining essential information like tables and headings. Although the current template selection in Microsoft Loop may be slimmer than Notion, it still provides a convenient starting point for your projects.
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CAPTURE IDEAS IN MICROSOFT LOOP
To help you capture your thoughts swiftly, Microsoft Loop features a dedicated Ideas section. You can quickly jot down your ideas in this section by adding new pages and subpages. The best part is that you can move these pages from Ideas to a workspace in Loop whenever you’re ready to organize and develop them further. This streamlined process ensures your ideas are always within reach and ready to be transformed into actionable plans.
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ENJOY THE DARK THEME IN MICROSOFT LOOP
With its generous use of whitespace, Microsoft Loop can sometimes feel overwhelming, especially during late hours. But fear not! Loop provides a solution to reduce eye strain with its dark theme feature.
Follow these simple steps to enable the dark theme:
Step 1: Click the three horizontal dots menu at the top right corner and open Settings.
Step 2: Choose the Dark theme option to switch to a more eye-friendly interface.
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COMMENT AND SHARE REACTIONS IN MICROSOFT LOOP
In Microsoft Loop, you can add comments and share reactions on any content directly within the page. This eliminates the need for creating separate pages or interlinking, as all reactions and relevant comments are conveniently kept together on one page.
Here’s how you can do it:
Step 1: Select the specific content on the page you want to comment on and click the small ‘chat bubbles’ icon to access the comments section.
Step 2: Choose “Comment” and type in your response. You can also add reactions directly on the page.
Step 3: You and your team members can expand the comments and reply to create threaded conversations, making it easy to follow discussions and collaborate effectively.
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UTILIZE LOOP COMPONENTS IN MICROSOFT LOOP
Loop components are a convenient addition by Microsoft. Creating a Loop component allows you to share the same content across multiple pages. The advantage is that when you edit the component, those changes automatically apply to all the content where it is used. Moreover, you can share these versatile Loop components on Microsoft 365 apps, enhancing collaboration and consistency across your projects.
Step 1: To begin, open the desired Loop page, and at the top right corner, click “Share.” Then, select “Loop Component,” and the app will generate a shareable link.
Step 2: Paste the generated link on Microsoft Teams or another Loop page to share the component.
Step 3: If you wish to share specific content, simply select it and right-click.
Step 4: Choose “Create Loop component” and copy the link.
Microsoft has exciting plans to extend support for Loop components to Teams, Word, OneNote, and other Microsoft 365 apps in the future, offering even more versatile collaboration options.
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VIEW VERSION HISTORY
Keeping track of changes and reverting to previous versions is easy with Microsoft Loop’s version history feature. To access this, click on the three-dot menu at the top and select “Version History.” From there, you can review past iterations of the page and restore any older version as needed. This ensures you have complete control over your content and can confidently make updates without fearing losing previous work.
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ENHANCE TABLES AND CUSTOMIZE COLUMN TYPES IN LOOP
In Microsoft Loop, tables have received significant improvements. To add a table, simply use the ‘/’ command, and from there, you can easily customize the column types to suit your needs. Expanding the column menu allows you to choose from various column types, including text, number, date, person, voting, or label.
Additionally, Microsoft Loop offers the convenience of ready-to-use databases, such as task lists, voting tables, or progress trackers. This feature saves you time and effort, letting you quickly integrate these databases into your projects for enhanced organization and efficiency.
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SHARING A MICROSOFT LOOP WORKSPACE OR PAGE
Sharing your work in Microsoft Loop is simple, whether it’s an entire workspace or a specific page (including subpages).
Here’s how you can do it:
Step 1: Open the page you want to share in Microsoft Loop and click “Share.”
Step 2: Choose “Workspace” to share the entire workspace and invite up to 50 members to collaborate.
Step 3: Alternatively, you can share a specific page by generating a shareable link and setting editing permissions accordingly.
Additionally, Loop provides security options like adding a password and setting an expiry date to safeguard your content and prevent unauthorized access to the page. These features offer you peace of mind and control over who can view and edit your shared content.
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CREATING A MICROSOFT LOOP APP SHORTCUT
While Microsoft Loop is currently accessible online, you can install a convenient app shortcut on your PC or Mac.
Here’s how to do it:
Look for the app shortcut icon in the address bar and click on it.
Select “Install” to add the Loop shortcut to your Taskbar (Windows) or Mac Dock.
You can open Microsoft Loop quickly and efficiently with just a single click.
MICROSOFT LOOP: A PROMISING BEGINNING
Microsoft Loop is undoubtedly a promising tool from Microsoft. Although it shows great potential, it could benefit from catching up with features like Kanban boards and file support. However, considering Microsoft’s history of continuous updates with apps like Teams, we anticipate brisk improvements and enhancements for Loop in the coming months.
How do you plan to leverage Microsoft Loop? We’d love to hear your insights! Contact us so we can turn your ideas into reality!
