The latest addition to Microsoft’s comprehensive range of collaboration and productivity tools has finally arrived: Microsoft Loop.

For a while now, Microsoft has offered companies access to components of Microsoft Loop which can be embedded into existing apps like Microsoft Teams, and Outlook.

However, on the 22nd of March, the company officially announced the arrival of a new unified Loop experience: the Loop Microsoft app. This all-in-one app, now available in Public Preview, combines all of the core elements of the Loop ecosystem into one easy-to-use environment.

Since it’s still in public preview, administrators need to enable Microsoft Loop for their teams before they can gain access to the app and its features. Here’s everything business leaders need to know to get started with the new collaboration experience.

What is Microsoft Loop? The Microsoft Loop App

Microsoft Loop is a solution designed to help teams plan, think, and create together, regardless of where they are. It’s essentially a co-creation platform, unifying content and tasks across various tools and devices. The Microsoft Loop app combines the three central elements of Loop (Components, Workspaces, and Pages), into one space.

Microsoft designed Loop to empower organizations, and support teams in unlocking new levels of productivity in the age of hybrid and remote work. Loop users can create and share portable pieces of content (components) across platforms like Teams, Outlook, and Word for the web, which synchronize through the cloud.

Teams can create pages with templates, and drag and drop pages or blocks of content to create the ultimate workspace for hybrid teams. Plus, Microsoft Loop comes with progress trackers for tasks, custom labels, comments, nudges, reactions and emojis to keep everyone engaged. Microsoft is even embedding its AI Copilot solution into the Loop app, to provide companies with AI-powered suggestions on how to improve collaboration.

How to Enable Microsoft Loop: Step by Step

Learning how to enable Microsoft Loop is pretty simple.

Before you dive in, make sure connections to Cloud Policy and Loop services with Microsoft are enabled within any firewalls used by team members. There’s advice on Loop service requirements here for any business in search of extra support.

Once firewalls are configured, admins can enable Microsoft Loop with the following steps:

Step 1: Create a Microsoft 365 Group

Groups within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem allow companies to manage products, shared resources, and features for specific groups of people within an organization. There are different types of groups available, including “Dynamic Security groups” and “Static Security groups”. Microsoft offers a complete guide to group options here.

To create a Microsoft 365 group:

  • Log into the Microsoft 365 admin centre and expand the Groups
  • Click Groups then select Add a group.
  • Select Microsoft 365 on the “Choose a Group type” page.
  • On the Owners page, choose the name of the people who will be responsible for managing the group. Group owners can delete emails from the group inbox.
  • On the Members page, list the members of the group.
  • On the Settings page, create a unique email address for the group, select a a privacy option, and choose whether to connect Microsoft Teams.
  • Click Create group.

After a group is created, users can add themselves, or request approval to join a group from the team admin. Administrators can also add new members within the Members tab at any time.

Step 2: Create a Cloud Policy

Next, companies will need to ensure their Loop cloud settings are configured according to their specific security standards. To create a cloud policy, admins will need to log into the config.office.com website, and follow these steps:

  • Click on Customization then Policy management and
  • On the Basics page, add a name for the policy and click
  • On the Scope page, select the option to apply the policy configuration to members within a specific group, and choose the group you want to use the Loop app with.
  • In the Policies page, search for the Loop app policy.
  • Click Create and view Loop files in Loop.
  • In the configuration pane, enable the option to create and view Loop files.
  • Click

Step 3: Start Using Loop

After administrators enable Microsoft Loop, employees will be able to Download Microsoft Loop on their preferred device from the Loop home page, and start using the service.

Notably, it takes up to 24 hours for policy changes to be implemented in Microsoft 365, so the app may not be instantly available. Once users download the Loop app, they can log into the Loop service using an account that’s assigned to the group chosen for the app. Loop will only be accessible to user accounts that are pre-defined as members of the group.

After logging in, Loop members will be able to start experimenting with all of the core features of the app, including:

  • Loop workspaces: Shared spaces that allow teams to see and group everything they need into one environment for a project or task.
  • Loop pages: Flexible canvases for curating ideas, components, links, tasks, and data.
  • Loop components: Portable pieces of content that automatically sync and update across all environments. They include lists, tables, notes, bullet points, and more.

Getting Started with Microsoft Loop

This is only the beginning for the Microsoft Loop app, and already companies can access a huge range of amazing features within the solution.

The Loop app makes it easy to share pages with colleagues, track progress on a task, and even assign specific notifications to team members to boost productivity levels. Plus, with the Copilot solution within Loop, users can even access the power of generative AI to help streamline workflows.

Microsoft plans on continuing to upgrade and enhance Loop going forward, and is currently asking early adopters of the public preview app to share their feedback with the team. We’re sure to see some exciting changes in the months to come.



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