Keep things moving forward (slash) with Microsoft Loop
Who knew one keystroke "/" could unlock so much collaboration?
In a Loop,
To keep things moving forward,
You simply give the empty canvas a little whack.
Not a physical whack (do be kind to your canvas)
No, a ‘digital whack’,
A ‘Forward Slash’ / on your keyboard to be precise.
Type it and the world opens up,
Unboxing a whirlwind of collaboration at your fingertips —
Keeping you and your peers in the loop.
Now, put aside your #RenderMe3D generative AI prompting for a moment… annnnnd let’s get Loop’y!
/
It’s a simple key, known by many names: The “Forward Slash”, “whack”, and “virgule” (yeah, I Copilot’ed that one up). It, too, has an antithesis — a slash in the reverse direction — known as the backslash - which can bring much backlash if used improperly; alas we shall not go there dear on-premises admins path’ing your way through an off-cloud file servers 😏. No, we go forward, together, from here on out. ☁️
To save you time, you can stop reading right here. Go to loop.microsoft.com to launch the Loop app and take the experimental plunge into the power of the Forward Slash keystroke — at will; whack within a new loop and/or an existing loop, be you in a Loop component, on a Loop page, or within a Loop workspace.
[Interested in more? If yes, keep scrollin’ past the next Loop’y grid image]
You can add Loop components within many Microsoft 365 apps - like Teams, Outlook, Word, Whiteboard, and more; find Insert > Loop Components and use the drop-down menu that appears to select the type of Loop component you want to insert.
But the hidden gem — in my now-loving-Loop mind, and the whole point of this article, is hidden (and then greatly exposed) — manifests when you type the Forward Slash “/” in loop. It’s magic if you ask me, dear reader. You’ll be glad you indirectly asked me by clicking into this article. 🪄
When you click the Forward Slash when using Loop, you open up the same Loop components menu++ — meaning you’ll be able to create a loop component AND add to it. You’ll find all sorts of loop components, text styles, and templates. For instance, type “/” and select Table - adjust the column headers, add rows, reorder. Now tap your Return key, type Forward Slash again and a Date component. And then type “/” to the right of your selected date and add a Label. It’s flexible enough to drop your cursor wherever and add new components - say go to the top of the loop page, click “/” and select Callout (this is a nice one to use anywhere to pin something important and make it stand out).
My most recent whack-Loop use case was in prep for the opening keynote at ESPC23. And it all started with a whack - /Bulleted list to be exact. I proposed an outline for the keynote, and then copied the Loop link and sent it to our keynote speaker via a Teams chat. He made changes and suggestions right there in our 1:1 chat and I saw them in my broader ESPC23 workspace. Not only was the outline kept in sync, but I added other Loop components to track our workback plan, assign tasks to various peers working on various sections of the keynote, cross things out, and more. Anytime I added the link to the loop in prep meeting invites, sent it to the six other co-presenters to add their details, or other stakeholders in email and 1:1 chats, the loop is always up to date - for me and them. That loop became the “single source of truth” plan of record. And it all started with a whack.
/Create a loop. Invite others in. Stay in the loop, together.
Loop, there it is!
That’s the quick 101 of using the Forward Slash in Microsoft Loop. There’s a ton more you can do - add an Image or a Video, clean things up using the Divider, and then see it all sail by sharing a loop in email, a chat, inside a Word document — the real value is the loop stays in sync no matter where it’s shared (yes, the loop component or the entire loop page if you created more than one loop onto the same canvas (as shown above)). And your Loop app becomes “loop central” - where you find all your loops - one that you create and ones that have been shared with you (click on Recent in the upper left).
Give it a try, join the community, and learn more.
It’s so whack! — in the best of ways. Type the Forward Slash and get started with Microsoft Loop: loop.microsoft.com + resources that take you further and far beyond the Forward Slash - out into a world where you are loop’ed in from the get-go:
Get started with Microsoft Loop (Microsoft Support ‘how to’)
“Microsoft Loop: built for the new way of work, generally available to Microsoft 365 work accounts” by Julie Seto (Ignite 2023 GA announcement blog)
Microsoft Loop user group (LinkedIn) + @MicrosoftLoopUG (X)
Microsoft Loop (X)
Microsoft Loop adoption center (adoption.microsoft.com | @MSFTAdoption)
Overview of Loop components in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem (Microsoft Learn), including the oft asked “Loop storage” question (Hint: It’s SharePoint).
And take 10 minutes to watch the recent “Microsoft Loop Updates for admins“ (Microsoft Mechanics) — with Loop PM, Derek Liddell 📺:
Microsoft Loop | Think, plan, and create together!
If you made it this far, then you truly are the whack’iest of the whack… 👀 thus, an extra lil’ loop’de’loop bonus for ya.
🔚
Cheers, /Mark
Question - is there a good guide of markdown that works with Loop (looking for Call outs, Collapsible headings etc.) The items that aren't common (i.e. Heading 1)