Last Updated on March 19, 2024
Like all productivity and office giants out there, Microsoft is rolling out exciting features to the Microsoft suite.
Many of these updates are caused by the drastic change in the workplace, with communication and collaboration topping the list.
One of the updates Microsoft Office is looking to release is Microsoft Loop, which I’ll be introducing to you in this article.
Table of Contents:
What is Microsoft Loop?
The truth is, Microsoft Loop isn’t really a new product or feature. It’s more of a rebranding of Microsoft Fluid, which is a real-time collaboration framework.
Microsoft Loop is a feature or an application in Microsoft 365 that adds a collaboration interface that can be ported to any applications within the Microsoft suite.
Think of it as Google Docs on steroids where you can centralize the work in your organization and enable everyone to edit the blocks in real-time.
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What are the three Loop elements?
Since it’s a rebrand of Microsoft Fluid, you will also find here the same main elements:
Loop Components
Dubbed by Microsoft as “atomic units of productivity”, components are the blocks you can use to collaborate with your team.
The components also vary — lists, notes, tables, to more complicated components like those that can be used in Dynamics 365.
For example, in the GIF below, you will see a dynamic table where everyone in the team can put in their ideas and decide together.
Microsoft also teased another component — a status tracker — a dynamic table where everyone in the team can put in the details of the status for easy tracking.
Third-party developers can also build components for their apps, though this may take a while to happen as Microsoft should share additional details with developers first.
You can then bring these components to almost anything within the Microsoft ecosystem like in chat, meetings, documents, meetings, and many others.
Loop components live in the Microsoft apps you use. That means you don’t need to open another app or page to use them.
Loop Pages
Think of Loop pages as whiteboards or canvasses that expand to match the size of your project.
It’s literally an empty board where you can put in Loop components and any file your team needs to work together easily and effectively.
Naturally, anyone in the team can edit the components at the same time and see what everyone is doing by seeing the cursors as they move around.
Aside from being able to see everyone’s mouse cursor, you can also react or even comment on any part of the page to show how you feel about that element.
Loop Workspace
If you have used Notion before, then the Loop workspace will look familiar since both workspaces look the same.
It’s a place in the Loop app where you can keep all Loop pages and information related to a project (very much how Notion works).
You can access the pages from the left-hand navigation bar like Notion. But once you’re inside a page, things look different as you can see what everyone is currently doing.
The Loop app itself also shows notifications when a member mentions you. You can also see everyone who is online at the moment.
What benefits can you expect with Microsoft Loop?
There are other apps right now that enable you to work with others simultaneously. However, nothing is as robust as Microsoft Loop as of the moment.
Some of the benefits you can expect with this new update include:
- Increased sense of cooperation. Even with team members around the globe, you will get an increased sense of collaboration as you can literally see where their mouse cursors are at or what they’re typing at the moment.
- Organize project pages in one place. The Loop Workspace enables you to organize everything that’s part of the project — from files to third-party data — and enables everyone to find and use every element.
- More efficient synchronous work. Organizations and teams that work synchronously will appreciate the fact that you can track everyone’s progress in real-time and interact with each other’s work easily.
When will Microsoft Loop be released?
Microsoft introduced Microsoft Loop in their November 2, 2021 update posts and went into detail on what you can expect from it.
However, the release will still be in the summer of 2022, with Loop components becoming available on all Microsoft Office apps.
Microsoft Loop is coming to Outlook, Teams, and OneNote first — but the exact date on when it will be available on these apps is still a mystery.
On the upside, expect me to share more details about it when it goes live and how using it actually feels like (if you don’t beat me to it first).
Share your thoughts or questions in the comment section below especially on how you feel about Microsoft Loop (will it beat Notion?).
For inquiries and concerns, please send a message via my website’s contact form and I’ll get in touch with you shortly.
I will never understand how companies can grossly and openly copy one another. That literally is the exact same design as Notion’s template. The title of this article has Notion’s name in it, but on “steroids”? How is this innovative, original, or different from anything else? Notion is not really a true PM tool anyway- it’s more for….well, notes, just like Evernote and Bear (not saying it can’t be done). Why not compare to Monday.com, Asana, Clickup, Airtable? Microsoft already has OneNote, Planner, Project, each limited in their own way still for the role they are meant to be utilized… Read more »
Not saying it’s not true, that it’s a copy of Notion, but not really. Microsoft Sharepoint Lists has existed for a long while. This is your airtable component. Add “views” to it, which is what Asana and Monday.com did (from table to kandan, to calendar, etc) and you get a nicer looking product… but not a different one. Now, let is also have long text formatting in a row, disguise it as not a row but a note, and you have Notion or Coda. Add emojis for an extra touch, and yea. What I’m trying to say is, MS had… Read more »