Key Takeaways
- Microsoft Loop offers unique project management features, allowing users to brainstorm, manage tasks, and collaborate seamlessly with team members.
- Loop facilitates note-taking with text editing options and allows users to create a business directory, track expenses, and collaborate in style using Loop components.
- While Loop is a solid Notion alternative for Microsoft 365 users, it has room for improvement with more template options, offline mode, third-party app integration, and refined mobile apps.
Although Microsoft announced Loop in November 2021, the company took its sweet time and released the first preview only in March 2023. While Microsoft’s Notion alternative was barebones at the launch, it received a steady stream of updates in the last few months. If you are still confused about Microsoft’s new collaborative hub, check out the top reasons to use Microsoft Loop on your laptop.
The Windows-maker’s newest offering – Microsoft Loop, may puzzle many. Users have been comparing it with the company’s other apps like OneNote, Planner, Lists and To-Do. Microsoft Loop goes way beyond these individual apps and offers a unique way to manage tasks, projects and documents with team members.
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6 Brainstorm ideas with team members
Whether creating a project brief, product wiki, marketing plan, or writing a proposal for a client, you can create a page in Loop and invite your team members to brainstorm ideas.
Your Loop document or page won’t be limited to large blocks of text only. You can use tables and different column types such as number, date, person, vote and label and assign your members to specific tasks and even insert a Word or Excel file using the / command. Since Microsoft Loop is tightly integrated with your OneDrive account, you can simply enter / and start typing the document name to insert it.
Once your Loop document is ready, copy the page or workspace link and invite others with editing access.
5 Manage projects like a pro
While Microsoft Loop doesn’t rival established project management solutions like Asana, Jira and Airtable, it can replace your standard Trello board to manage small projects on the go. You can simply insert a Kanban board using the / command and start adding tasks under relevant columns.
You can add task owner, due date, subitems, notes, comments and other related content for each task. Microsoft Loop also lets you change between tablet and board view with a single click. Along with the project board, you can complete your Loop page with relevant company or client documents and other details.
Once your project board is ready, invite your team members and collaborate in style.
4 For taking notes
Microsoft Loop comes with decent note-taking features to jot down ideas on the go. For starters, it has an Ideas tab at the top, which is universal and easily accessible from any workspace. You can enter your quick ideas and decorate the page with a favicon and a banner picture at the top.
As for text editing options, Loop ditches a standard toolbar and hides all the options under the right-click menu. You can select text and right-click to check different heading styles, lists, colors and highlighter options.
Understandably, Microsoft Loop doesn’t come close to OneNote or Evernote in terms of features. It lacks tags, math equations, audio recording, drawing tools and more. That said, the features on offer should be sufficient for many to replace their existing note-taking app.
3 Create a business directory
Microsoft Loop can be an excellent tool for businesses and startups. You can create a team homepage and stuff all the relevant company details with relevant links on a single page. It can be a go-to material for newly hired employees.
You can enter details like company vision, walk them through company members and the current hierarchy in a team, share company materials, communication channels, FAQs, mention upcoming events and more. The admin can share a view-only Loop page and update it frequently with the latest announcements.
2 Track expenses
Microsoft Loop can function as a budget management and expense tracker tool, too. You can create a table and add different columns to manage monthly budgets like a pro. You can change the column type to label to add expense categories and use the number column to enter expenses for an item.
You can glance over a number of categories and total expenses from the bottom menu. Check the screenshot above for reference. It’s up to you to customize the expense table to your preferences.
1 Collaborate in style with Loop components
Loop component is the USP of Microsoft Loop. You can copy a specific block or page as a component and share it across other pages and Microsoft 365 apps like OneNote, Outlook or Teams.
When someone makes edits to a Loop component, the changes get synced across all apps in real-time. If you frequently communicate with your colleagues over Microsoft Teams or Outlook, you must try Loop components to sync data in no time.
Optimize your workflow with Microsoft Loop
Although Microsoft Loop made commendable progress after a rocky start, it still has a long way to go before it becomes the ultimate productivity software. That said, it’s still a solid Notion clone for Microsoft 365 users. I would like to see more template options, offline mode, integration with third-party apps, reminders, an infinite blank canvas like Microsoft Whiteboard and refined mobile apps on iOS and Android.
Microsoft Loop is still a newbie in the productivity space. Check our dedicated guide if you want to explore top productivity apps on Windows.