Copilot in Microsoft Loop: Work Better, Together with Your Colleagues

The latest features of Microsoft's AI technology continue to improve efficiency in content creation and information management.

Now, Copilot enables users to extract useful information and generate a variety of meaningful outputs from the data found in Microsoft Loop pages and workspaces. The AI assistant can summarize the content of a Loop page and even the documents linked within the workspace.

Suggested prompts can give users a starting point for creating, brainstorming, designing, and describing, or they can enter their own natural language prompt.

In this article, we will take a closer look at the integration of Copilot in Loop, how it can support us, and what the future holds for both.

Copilot in Microsoft Loop: an introduction

Collaboration in the workplace has always been the key factor that determines a company's future success and productivity.

Having cohesive, focused teams that can work in harmony toward a common goal should be the top priority for any organization that truly wants to go beyond the limitations of individual employees or departments.

However, with the growing number of software tools used by employees in their daily operations, truly effective collaboration is becoming more and more of a challenge. Tedious steps, constant switching between different applications for different tasks, and the struggle to get everyone back on track after unexpected breaks or changes in project goals and priorities all add to the complexity.

In response to user feedback, Microsoft set out to address this issue with Microsoft Loop, aiming to make collaboration among team members and across departments just a matter of a few clicks.

When Microsoft announced in 2023 that Copilot would be integrated into the Loop environment, the world of workplace collaboration saw another major shift. Where once a few clicks might have been enough, now teams can leverage the power of generative AI through natural language, making collaboration and coordination even easier, faster, and more intuitive than before.

Let’s explore how in the following sections.

What are Copilot and Microsoft Loop

Before we dive in, let’s provide some context for those who may not yet be familiar with the tools we’ll be discussing and briefly explain what Microsoft Copilot and Loop are.

Microsoft Copilot

Copilot is the AI-powered digital assistant designed to simplify users’ daily tasks, boost productivity, and spark creativity. It is seamlessly integrated into the most widely used Microsoft 365 apps, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams. Copilot offers contextual suggestions and helps users understand information effectively.

Under the hood, Microsoft Copilot is powered by cutting-edge AI technologies. It all starts with large language models (LLMs), specifically those from the GPT series developed by OpenAI, such as GPT-4. These sophisticated algorithms, trained on massive datasets of text and code, allow Copilot to understand and generate human language with impressive fluency.

Microsoft further enhances these models with its proprietary data and techniques, referred to as the Prometheus model, optimizing Copilot’s capabilities for ideal performance within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.

But LLMs are just the beginning. Copilot also leverages machine learning, a branch of AI that enables systems to learn and improve from experience without being explicitly programmed.

The features of Microsoft’s AI digital assistant are aimed at a wide range of users and professionals, including developers, content creators, and workers who need AI-powered support for their tasks.

The main ways to benefit from Microsoft Copilot include:

• Adopting Copilot: Microsoft provides several Copilot assistants to boost productivity and creativity. Integrated across various Microsoft products and platforms, Copilot transforms the digital workspace into a more interactive and efficient environment.
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• Extending Copilot: Developers can incorporate external data, streamlining user operations and reducing the need to switch between contexts. This not only enhances productivity but also promotes greater collaboration. Copilot makes it easy to integrate this data into the Microsoft products people use daily.
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• Building Your Own Copilot: Beyond adoption and extension, organizations can build a custom Copilot for a unique conversational experience using Azure OpenAI, Cognitive Search, Microsoft Copilot Studio, and other Microsoft Cloud technologies. A custom Copilot can integrate business data, access external data in real time via APIs, and be embedded into enterprise applications.

Microsoft Copilot is available in different formats, with pricing tiers tailored to various use cases, including:

• Copilot (Free): The free version offers access to generative AI features for managing the computer (in Windows), online search (in Edge), and general web-based chatbot interactions.
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• Copilot Pro: Designed for individual users who want to make the most of generative AI. For a modest per-user fee, it provides access to Copilot in tools like Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.
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• Copilot for Microsoft 365: Intended for individuals and teams using Microsoft apps. It includes access to Copilot Studio, enterprise-grade security, privacy, and compliance, along with advanced capabilities.

Additionally, there are various Copilot versions built specifically for certain Microsoft tools. For example, Copilot solutions are integrated into Microsoft Dynamics for sales and customer service teams, and security-focused Copilot features are built into Microsoft Purview.

Microsoft has also recently begun launching and updating a series of Agents tailored for specific business sectors such as finance, customer service, and marketing, offering training and features tailored to those particular domains.

Although initially met with some market skepticism, Microsoft reports that nearly 60 percent of Fortune 500 companies now use Copilot, and the number of employees using the AI assistant daily has nearly doubled from quarter to quarter.

The company also announced that the number of Copilot customers has grown by over 60 percent, and the number of customers with more than 10,000 seats has more than doubled in the same period.

Microsoft Loop

Typically, we create content in Office applications like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, then collaborate on that content by storing the files in SharePoint, Teams, or OneDrive. A key part of the decision-making process involves determining the content owner and where the content should be stored, which naturally impacts security and access.

Moreover, from the user’s perspective, before collaboration can even begin, the groundwork must be laid: creating a SharePoint site, a Team, a Channel, configuring security, and inviting users. For instance, if we need to handle a few tasks with a group of users for a quick project, we might set up a plan in Planner, which automatically creates a Microsoft 365 group and configures buckets, permissions, and more.

This is where Microsoft Loop comes in. The idea behind Loop is to enable ad-hoc collaboration and lightweight project management without the overhead of other applications. In short, Loop lets you kick off collaboration with your stakeholders in just a few clicks.

At first glance, Loop may appear to be a simple reorganization of features already found in other Microsoft tools like OneNote, Teams, and SharePoint. In fact, the Loop app interface resembles a more modern and refined version of OneNote. However, from a functional standpoint, Loop takes information management and collaboration to a new level.

It is one of Microsoft’s newest applications, designed to help teams create, plan, and collaborate more effectively than ever before. According to Microsoft, the solution was developed in direct response to user feedback.

Despite the availability of many tools for collaboration and communication, many teams still struggle to work in sync in an increasingly complex workplace. Microsoft Loop aims to solve the challenges of multi-channel collaboration, helping users co-create and innovate across tools and devices.

The Loop app is made up of three main features: pages, workspaces, and components.

• ‍Loop Components: These are functional elements like lists, text, or tables, first introduced in Microsoft Teams in 2022. The Loop app extends this functionality to Outlook and Word on the web, allowing users to update information across multiple locations with dynamic, real-time updates for everyone. With the launch of the Loop app, Microsoft has expanded the ability to embed components into Outlook and Word on the web. For example, a table with product prices and descriptions can be inserted into an email, a Word document, and a Teams chat, and remain editable in real time from any of these locations.
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• ‍Pages: A page is a document that can be structured with a variety of components (tables, ordered or unordered lists, tasks, text, and more) combined with hierarchical text (headings) and links. Loop provides prebuilt templates to help users quickly get started with project management, decision-making, brainstorming, note-taking, and issue tracking. Users can customize pages with a title, a cover image, and an icon to visually group or distinguish them.
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• ‍Loop Workspaces: Workspaces are collections of pages that give users a centralized reference point for information and tools. Users can navigate between pages using a sidebar, where they can also add custom links. This is useful for providing a single source of truth for a project’s tools and resources. You can switch between workspaces using a dropdown menu. Within a workspace, pages can be organized by dragging their names in the sidebar, including grouping them as subpages of other pages.

Another advantage of Microsoft Loop is that its components integrate seamlessly into existing Microsoft 365 applications. For example, the Tasks component can be embedded into both Teams channels and Outlook emails.

This allows different user groups to collaborate and co-create tasks in real time, eliminating the complexity and stress associated with managing and storing traditional Office files and other application-based documents.

Copilot in Microsoft Loop: key features

Copilot in Loop brings Microsoft's latest generative AI capabilities into the Loop experience. This feature allows users to extract valuable insights from the Loop ecosystem and generate a variety of outputs based on the data within pages and workspaces.

Microsoft’s goal is to enhance the way teams communicate, collaborate, and operate in an era shaped by remote and hybrid work. The features of Copilot in Loop are designed to simplify project management, brainstorming, and problem-solving for teams. Additionally, this integration provides companies with tools for automation and structure, enabling large-scale information coordination and organization more efficiently.

Thanks to the combined capabilities of Microsoft Loop and Copilot, users can summarize the content of Loop pages and documents stored within workspaces. Several prompts are available to help users get started, such as “create,” “brainstorm,” “describe,” or “design.”

Alternatively, users can enter their own custom prompts using natural language. According to Microsoft, the main objective of Copilot in Loop is to accelerate productivity, inspire and guide users, and help them reach their goals more quickly.

Because Copilot is integrated directly into Loop, users can collaborate in real time on everything the AI assistant generates. According to participants in Microsoft’s early testing, the ability to continue working with Copilot after it has produced an initial draft during a collaborative session is a major benefit.

Copilot can modify the tone, format, and content of a document on behalf of the user. A version history feature is also available, allowing users to go back and review earlier content without losing progress.

Microsoft states that users can rely on Copilot in Loop to:

• ‍Create and edit new content: Copilot can assist users in writing newsletters, documents, reports, company blog posts, presentations, and idea lists. It can generate first drafts based on text input or suggest variations to improve clarity and consistency. Users can then edit and refine the generated content, tailoring it to their style and project-specific needs.
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• ‍Design a plan: Copilot can help structure business strategies, product roadmaps, project plans, and marketing strategies. It can suggest next steps based on the organization’s or team’s goals, outlining tasks, deadlines, and assignments to optimize workflow. This helps teams start with a strong organizational foundation, reducing the time needed to define objectives and operational strategies.
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• ‍Experiment with tone: With the features of Microsoft Loop Copilot, users can rewrite text to match the context and target audience. For example, a formal message can be transformed into a more friendly and conversational tone or made more persuasive for marketing purposes. This feature is especially helpful for crafting effective communications, whether for internal teams or external clients and stakeholders.

Let’s take a look at some of the things you can do by leveraging Copilot within the Loop environment.

Drafting

As mentioned earlier, Copilot in Loop can assist with drafting many different types of text. To get an excellent first draft to start working from, just follow these steps:

Open a new browser or tab and go to Loop at https://loop.microsoft.com.

Click the ‘+’ button to create a new workspace, then add a new blank page where you’ll insert your content.

In a new Loop page:

• Access Copilot’s ‘Draft’ feature by typing the ‘/’ key (forward slash on your keyboard).
• Select ‘Draft page content’ from the dropdown menu.
• Copilot will appear embedded within the page.
• Enter a draft prompt using natural language and click ‘Send’.

Need help? You can start by typing a natural language prompt to overcome writer’s block.

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If desired, it is also possible to generate multiple drafts at the same time. We can use a single page within a Loop workspace to develop multiple ideas in different sections or within separate components. To do this, simply press the ‘/’ key to open the dropdown menu and select ‘Draft page content’.

If the Loop dropdown menu does not appear when pressing the ‘/’ key, or if other functions stop working, it may be necessary to refresh the page or sign out and back into Loop.

Rewriting

Let’s be honest. Anyone reviewing a first draft of any text has probably noticed mistakes, inconsistencies, or sections written in a rush, and thought to themselves that it all needed reworking. Now there’s someone who can help us revise our content, and that someone is Copilot.

Whether you're writing directly on the page or inside a component in Loop, Copilot easily assists with rewriting your content. You can also use Version History with Copilot to access previous rewrites and fine-tune the text as you work.

To access the rewrite feature, simply:

• Click within a section that contains text or generated content.
• A button with the ‘Copilot’ icon will appear on the right margin of the Loop page.
• Click the ‘Copilot’ icon to open the ‘Rewrite’ function.
• Use natural language to describe the changes you want to make.
• Select ‘Send’ to ask Copilot to generate the revised content.

Each time you rewrite content with Copilot, your latest rewrite request is saved at the top of the dropdown list under the ‘Rewrite’ prompt area, allowing you to easily track changes.

Hover over any of the rewrites to select a previous version, then click the ‘Copy’ button next to the preferred version to copy it. Click into a new section of the page or component, right-click, and select ‘Paste’.

Want to check the history of changes made? To do so, click within a section of the text. A ‘Copilot’ icon will appear: click the button to see when the content was created.

You can use this function to verify the content’s version history, alongside the Loop Version History (available via the three dots ‘...’ menu in the upper toolbar of Loop).

Summarizing

It’s only natural for teams to generate large amounts of material during their work. If we’ve been away for a while or are new to the team, we may, ironically, find ourselves needing to “get back in the loop.”

Too much material to catch up on? Copilot can help here too, thanks to its smart summarization features. These allow users to quickly get the essential information they need and, more importantly, in just a few lines.

To easily summarize page content with Copilot in Loop, use the following steps:

• Press the ‘/’ key to open the dropdown menu.
• Click on ‘Summarize page’.
• Copilot will generate a section titled ‘Page summary’.

Will Copilot Pages replace Loop?

All of this is incredibly useful and interesting, but is the future of Copilot and Loop one of long-term integration, or will Microsoft’s AI assistant somehow edge Loop out? With the announcement of Copilot Pages, things might lean toward the latter.

Copilot Pages is a new AI-powered collaboration tool integrated into Microsoft 365, designed to transform how teams work together. It allows users to co-create content on a shared page, where AI-generated responses enrich discussions and improve the quality of documents.

Similar to collaborative editing in Word, each team member can contribute in real time, making collaboration smooth and productive, especially for complex projects that require detailed information management.

One of the key strengths of Copilot Pages is its ability to leverage Microsoft Graph, which consolidates organizational data such as documents, presentations, emails, and calendar events. As a result, the AI provides relevant and personalized responses based on the specific needs of the project.

Users can also interact with an integrated chatbot to retrieve information from the web or their internal files. Whether it’s creating project plans, writing meeting notes, or structuring a sales presentation, Copilot Pages aims to enrich documents and boost productivity through generative AI.

Copilot Pages positions itself as an alternative to Microsoft Loop. Thanks to the full integration of Copilot, this tool becomes a true central hub for collaboration, where teams can work seamlessly without needing to switch between different applications or platforms.

One of the strengths of Copilot Pages is its ability to gather all necessary information in one place:

• Quick access to business data
• Real-time collaboration
• AI-assisted content creation
• Information analysis and summarization

Unlike Loop, Copilot Pages removes the need to leave the workspace to conduct external searches, consult colleagues, or manage documents. The integrated AI not only enables searching within the organization but also pulls content from various document formats to integrate it directly into the collaborative space. This optimizes knowledge management by providing instant access to relevant information without disrupting workflow.

From a content generation perspective, Copilot Pages offers unmatched value. Users can simply define a structure or outline for a document, and the AI will fill in the sections with clear, concise, and contextually appropriate content.

It is not just about automatic responses. The AI understands the specific needs of the project and adapts the content to maximize relevance and clarity.

With this advanced vision of AI-enhanced collaboration, Copilot Pages could represent the future of collaborative work environments within Microsoft 365. Its ability to simplify and centralize teamwork makes it a serious contender not only to replace Loop but also to surpass similar solutions like Notion or Coda.

The vision behind Copilot Pages is extremely promising. Microsoft is proposing an ambitious approach that, over time, could save businesses a tremendous amount of time and improve the management of collaborative processes.

Conclusions

As mentioned in the introduction, workplace collaboration is the foundation of any organization that aims to be considered “successful,” and it is important to promote and support it using the best tools available on the market. Otherwise, businesses risk falling into confusion and complete disorganization.

Loop and Copilot together might be the solution your business has been looking for to get teams back on track and offer them not only a single space where they can organize and collaborate with ease, but also the valuable support of an AI “copilot” that can help them carry out daily tasks more quickly and efficiently.

For those already using Loop, Copilot will be a welcome addition. For everyone else, we can only encourage them to try it and see if it meets their needs as well.

FAQ on Microsoft Copilot in Loop

What is Copilot in Microsoft Loop?

‍Copilot in Loop is Microsoft’s AI assistant integrated into the Loop application. This integration allows users to collaborate more quickly and intelligently by leveraging generative AI to create, rewrite, and summarize content within Loop pages and workspaces.

What can I do with Copilot in Loop?

‍Copilot in Loop helps with content drafting, project planning, rewriting text, idea generation, and summarizing existing pages. Its goal is to make collaborative work simpler, faster, and more effective, even in hybrid or remote settings.

What prompts can I use with Copilot in Loop?

‍Copilot understands natural language prompts. You can ask it to create, brainstorm, design, or describe something in a specific tone or for a particular audience. For example, you might say: “Describe the importance of two-factor authentication to a new intern in a friendly tone,” and the assistant will generate a tailored response.

How do I activate Copilot in a Loop page?

‍To activate Copilot, go to Loop in your browser, create a new workspace, and add a new page. Inside the page, type “/” to open the command menu. Select the “Draft page content” option, enter a prompt, and click “Send” to generate content directly on the page.

Can I rewrite text using Copilot in Loop?

‍Yes. Click on any existing text section to reveal the Copilot icon on the right margin. By clicking it, you can access the “Rewrite” function and describe the changes you want in natural language. Copilot also keeps a version history of the rewrites so you can easily return to previous versions.

Can Copilot help me catch up with a page’s content?

‍Yes, Copilot provides a summarization function that generates a concise overview of a Loop page. This is especially helpful when you’re joining an ongoing project or reviewing large amounts of content in a short time.

Will Copilot replace Microsoft Loop in the future?

‍Not necessarily, but Microsoft has introduced a new experience called Copilot Pages, designed as a central collaboration hub. Unlike Loop, Copilot Pages fully integrates AI, allows seamless co-creation, and pulls data from Microsoft Graph. It could become an alternative to Loop, but for now, both tools coexist.

Do I need a specific license to use Copilot in Loop?

‍Yes, using Copilot in Loop requires a license compatible with Copilot for Microsoft 365. This version includes advanced features and ensures enterprise-grade security, privacy, and compliance.