Ready to Create Your First Microsoft Loop Workspace?

If you read last week’s blog, you’ll already know what Microsoft Loop is and who can access it. Now it’s time to get hands-on and create your first Microsoft Loop workspace. Don’t worry if you’re not sure where to start — by the end of this post, you’ll have your own workspace set up and ready to go.

Getting to Loop

Head to loop.cloud.microsoft in your browser. If you’re already signed into your Microsoft account, it’ll log you in automatically — nice and easy. If it’s your first time, you’ll be prompted to sign in. Just remember, the features available to you will depend on which Microsoft 365 licence you’re on.

What You’ll See on Screen

Once you’re in, the main homepage shows your workspaces, and on the left you’ve got a navigation pane with options to search, create, and more. It’s fairly intuitive, which is always a good sign.

Microsoft Loop homepage showing workspaces and navigation pane for creating a new Microsoft Loop workspace.

Creating Your First Workspace

A workspace is your top-level container — think of it as a folder that holds everything related to a project or area of your business. There’s already a default one called My Workspace, but creating your own keeps things nice and organised.

Click the large + sign in the top left corner and choose New Workspace. Give it a name — I used Business Planning as my example. You can also add a cover image (yes, there are some lovely ones to choose from!), apply sensitivity labels if your account has them set up, and choose whether to share it straight away or later. Then hit Create.

That’s it. Your new workspace appears under your recent list on the left, and Loop automatically creates your first page inside it.

Creating a new Microsoft Loop workspace ready for a name and cover image to be selected

Adding and Naming Pages

Your first page is created automatically, so just click on it and give it a title — something like First Quarter Plan. Then simply start typing. Loop is very much a what-you-see-is-what-you-get experience.

To add another page, click the + sign at the top of the page area and select Page. You’ll notice new pages are added to the top of the list, and the previous one moves down. Also worth knowing — Loop doesn’t clear the default “Untitled” title for you, so make sure you click in and overtype it.

Using Building Blocks

This is where Loop starts to get interesting. To add anything beyond plain text, type a forward slash (/) and a menu of options pops up instantly. These are called building blocks, and they include:

Tables
Checklists
Bullet and numbered lists
Headings (including collapsible ones)
Callouts
Dates
Templates
Sub-pages

It’s a surprisingly long list, and it makes building out a page really quick.

Microsoft Loop building blocks menu showing options including table, checklist, and headings

Creating Sub-Pages

If you want to keep things really organised, you can create sub-pages nested underneath a main page. Hover over the page in the left-hand list, click the three dots, and choose New Sub Page. It automatically indents under the parent page and makes the top-level page collapsible — great for keeping a tidy structure without losing anything.

Your Turn

Now it’s over to you! Create your own workspace, give it a name that means something to your business, and have a play around with pages and building blocks. Once you’ve had a go, I’d love to know — drop a comment below and tell me what you’ve called your workspace and what you’re planning to use it for.

Next up in this series, I’ll be looking at how Microsoft Loop compares to OneNote — because if you’ve been using OneNote for years, you’re probably wondering whether Loop is worth switching to. See you there!

Written with the help of Claude AI from an original transcription.