How to Use Loop Components in Teams (Live Lists, Tables and Checklists in Chat)

A Loop component is a tiny shared document that lives inside a chat message. Everyone can edit it, right there in the chat, and it updates for everyone at once. No "latest version" arguments, no scrolling back to find the list.

1. Open a chat or a channel.
2. Click the Loop icon under the message box (it looks like a loop or a coloured circle). On a narrow window it's under + or ⋯.
3. Pick a type: Bulleted list, Checklist, Numbered list, Paragraph, Table, Task list or Q&A.
4. Type your content. Give it a title at the top.
5. Press Enter or click Send.

The component appears in the chat. Anyone in the chat can click into it and edit.

Click anywhere in the component and type. You'll see other people's cursors and edits live. Tick items off a checklist, add rows to a table, assign tasks with @ in a task list. There's no save button; it's always saved.

Click the Copy component icon at the top right of the component and paste it into another chat, a channel, an Outlook email or a Loop page. It's the same component in every place: edit it in one spot and it changes everywhere.

Loop components are stored as .loop files in the OneDrive of whoever created them, in a folder called Microsoft Teams Chat Files. Components created in a channel are stored in the team's SharePoint. You can find them later in the Loop app under Apps.

• A checklist for a small job, ticked off as people finish.
• A table of names, dates and who's bringing what.
• A task list with owners and due dates that also appears in Planner and To Do.
• A Q&A before a meeting so questions are collected in one place.
• A paragraph for drafting a message together before it's sent to a client.

The Loop icon is missing. Your organisation may have Loop switched off. Ask IT, or create the list in a OneNote tab instead.

Someone can't edit the component. They may be outside your organisation, or the permissions on the file are limited. Click the share settings on the component and allow editing.

A pasted component shows as a link. Paste it in a place that supports Loop (Teams, Outlook, Loop, Whiteboard). Elsewhere it appears as a link that opens in the browser.

Click the Loop icon, pick a list or table, type and send. Everyone edits the same thing in place, and Copy component lets you drop it into another chat without creating a second copy to keep in sync.