First things to know about Loop components in Microsoft Teams
Have you ever sent some content to a chat and wished your team could just add their ideas and feedback right in the message, without a bunch of back and forth? With Loop components, this is all possible today. Read on to learn more.
1. Loop components are built for collaboration
When you send a Loop component, everyone in your chat can edit it inline—and see changes instantly. That means you can collaborate right inside a chat message. To give it a try, go to the messaging area and start with a blank message. Select Loop components , choose a component type, enter some content to guide your collaboration, and press Send . Everyone in your chat will be able to edit your message.Send a Loop component in Teams chat.
For complete instructions, read2. They’re saved automatically
Loop components are saved automatically to your OneDrive, which means you can find them from Office.com in addition to Teams. We suggest giving your components easy-to-remember titles (the title is also used for the file name) to help you search for and find them quickly.
3. The possibilities for collaboration are endless
Below are five common uses for Loop components. But once you get started, you’ll likely discover new ways to help your team work more efficiently together.
Co-authoring: Want help from your team to find the right words? Use Loop components to wordsmith the intro to a presentation, an upcoming social media post, or even an important email to a client. Brainstorming: Ask others to share their ideas, whether you’re looking for names for a new product or topics to discuss at your next team meeting. Use a bulleted or numbered list component to help stay organized. Compiling data: Send out a table component with clearly labeled columns and rows to your team. In each cell, describe the data you need and @mention the person you believe can provide it. You can also use a table for a simple sign-up sheet.Managing projects: The task list component offers a super light-weight way to assign work with due dates to people on your team. (Be sure to @mention them so they’re notified they have a task.) When work is completed, each person can mark their task as done. It’s pretty gratifying, actually—the task gets crossed off the list, right before your eyes.
Focusing a discussion: You can use a component as a “mini breakout room” to have a place to focus on a single topic while the main chat thread covers wider ground. This is especially useful when you’re trying to reach alignment and close decisions. A few tips:
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You can always click on any content and hover your mouse there briefly to see who contributed that part of the discussion.
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When asking questions or noting differences of opinion, you may want to insert a comment because this attributes whatever you type to you. Type // inside the component, then select Comment.
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Pin the message with your component for as long as your discussion is active, so it’s easy for everyone to get back to. Go to More options , then select Pin . You'll find your message pinned to the top of your chat.
4. Components are easily shared and always reflect the latest changes
You can start a Loop component in one chat, then share it to another to invite more people to collaborate. Select Copy link in the upper right corner of the component, then paste (Ctrl + V) into the chat you want. No matter where edits are made, the component will always show the latest changes.
5. More is coming from Microsoft Loop
Loop components launched first in Teams chat, but they’ll be coming to Teams channels and to other M365 apps in the future. And Loop components are just one element of Microsoft Loop. Learn more here about Loop and Microsoft’s plans for this powerful, flexible app.
Learn more
Send a Loop component in Teams chat