Looping you in: I wanted more from this Microsoft tool

Microsoft Loop offers templates, a minimalist UI, and block editing for immersive note-taking.

Loop functions as a project management tool with customizable columns and rule-based automation.

Loop's collaborative functions and integration with Microsoft products make it great for team use, but it falls short of standing out in a crowded productivity app market.

Microsoft Loop is one of those Microsoft products that I can see being great at some point in the future, but right now, it all feels a bit disappointing, especially when apps like Notion exist, which Loop seems to be a clone of in many ways.

Loop launched back in November 2023, and it didn't receive much fan fare at first. However, after two years of updates, I decided that it was time to pay it a visit once again and see what's changed for the better -- or worse.

Microsoft Loop

Microsoft Loop is a collaboration tool designed to help teams work together in real-time across Microsoft 365 apps, offering dynamic components like task lists, notes, and project boards that sync instantly across platforms.

Loop is a note-taking platform that also functions as a way to brainstorm ideas with the rest of your team, handle project management, and do more, all within a single app (or webpage). It should be noted that while anyone with a Microsoft account can use Loop, you'll need to be a Windows 11 Business user to access the dedicated app. There's also a mobile version from Microsoft that's available for Android.

Microsoft Loop offers a wide range of templates and the app itself comes with a clean, minimalist look. If you've used Notion before, you'll be very comfortable within the Loop UI, and it's a lot cleaner looking than Microsoft OneNote. There's an infinite-scroll canvas which allows you to create free-form notes or Kanban boards. Loop itself is a block editor that allows you to arrange blocks by dragging and dropping, making it a more immersive note-taking experience and similar to newer apps such as Craft.

Instead of having to hunt through a long toolbar or menus, Loop uses slash commands for formatting functions and content templates. When you type / into the body of text in Loop, a list of options will appear, including bulleted lists, numbered lists, tables, and more. This makes it easy to make on-the-fly adjustments to whatever project you're working on, and is one of my favorite features of Loop. Granted, it isn't unique to Loop -- it's a feature found in both Craft and Notion, too.

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In addition to note-taking and drafting, Microsoft Loop also functions as a project management tool. You can insert a Kanban into any file in the application, but there's a dedicated project management template that I recommend using if you are looking to replicate an app such as Jira, Asana, or Trello.

One thing I really liked about Loop is its integration into platforms in the Microsoft 365 suite, like Excel and Teams. Loop does allow you to fully create and manage a large project, but it's going to work best if you aren't using Slack and Gmail, and rather Teams and Outlook instead.

You can customize any column in Microsoft Loop to whatever suits your needs. Recently, Loop was updated to feature rule-based automation, so you can create alerts for important due dates in your columns. Again, while I'm glad to see these features being rolled out to Microsoft Loop, they've long been available in most, if not all, project management software out there.

You can share everything in Teams and sync your Outlook to Loop and vice versa, making a Loop a great option if you're already using the Microsoft ecosystem for most things.

Where Microsoft Loop really shines is in its collaborative functions. It's one of the better collaborative apps I've tried out from the company, and you can tell that Loop was designed to be used with a team. It's easy to invite anyone to a workspace by adding their Microsoft account email to the form, and it's a great way to tie everything together if you work in a team with multiple people and different stakeholders. Loop is seamlessly integrated with other Microsoft products, especially Outlook and Teams. You can share everything in Teams and sync your Outlook to Loop and vice versa, making a Loop a great option if you're already using the Microsoft ecosystem for most things.

You can import lists and documents from other Microsoft apps such as OneNote, Planner, and Word into Loop. For example, a writing team can write its documents in Microsoft Word, and with the Loop plug-in, send a link to their editor via Loop. This can greatly simplify your workflow, but it's going to work best if you are already using the full Microsoft 365 suite.

Microsoft isn't by any means the worst productivity software I've tested. It's tightly integrated into the Microsoft 365 suite, features a user-friendly interface and is easy to learn. It's a great option if you work in an office and you and your team are already using the Microsoft 365 suite. However, it doesn't differentiate itself enough from Notion, Craft, and Coda for me to really consider abandoning the productivity apps I'm already using daily.

A large part of my qualm with Loop is that I don't personally make much use of the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. However, if you're managing a team and using Teams instead of Slack alongside Jira or Asana for project management, Loop provides a really easy way to keep everything contained within one ecosystem. That being said, Microsoft still has a long way to go to make Loop seamless within the Microsoft 365 suite. In this way, Loop is hindered somewhat by being within the walled palace of the Microsoft 365 suite, especially when it comes to getting people over from other productivity apps from outside the Microsoft ecosystem.

Loop was designed to be used with a team.

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Microsoft Loop is aimed at enterprise users, and while it's a great way to bring multiple teams together easily, it doesn't bring anything new to the table in its current iteration to make it a killer app. Microsoft's been steadily updating Loop for the past two years, so I could see it becoming one of the best productivity apps in the future, but, for now, it doesn't do enough to differentiate itself from the pack.

I would recommend Loop to any enterprise-level team manager. If your team is already using the Microsoft 365 suite for most things, but your project management is in an app such as Jira, Asana, or Notion, switching over to Loop is worth it. If you're working outside the Microsoft ecosystem, I don't think there's enough there to make it worth switching.

Microsoft Loop

Microsoft Loop is a collaboration tool designed to help teams work together in real-time across Microsoft 365 apps, offering dynamic components like task lists, notes, and project boards that sync instantly across platforms.