Microsoft Loop is now in GA for Microsoft 365 work accounts

Microsoft Loop is now Generally Available for work accounts in Microsoft 365. Here’s an exciting new product that will make collaboration fun and productive!

Here’s Microsoft’s Announcement article on the same – https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-365-blog/microsoft-loop-built-for-the-new-way-of-work-generally-available/ba-p/3982247?WT.mc_id=DX-MVP-5003911

But, let me summarize first impressions of the same!

Accessing Loop in Microsoft 365

Given that you have the correct access for Loop services in M365, here’s how you can access and use Loop in your Organization –

Go to https://loop.microsoft.com/. You’ll be taken to the Welcome page which looks like this.
You can click on the Loop logo on the top-left to see all the Workspaces you have access to.
You can start of my creating your own Workspaces.
Name your Workspace based on the purpose or the project.
And you’ll have the Workspace ready to create your Pages and Links in the Workspace.
If you click on the + icon, you’ll be able to create new sections like Pages and Links.
In the Pages itself, you can start adding Loop components and generating content as below –
Slash (/) to insert a Loop component
And you can tag people/content using @
In the Tag menu itself, if you scroll to the very bottom you’ll be able to change the Editor Settings.

And this is what the Editor Setting menu looks like where you can change the settings which suit your needs.

And you can explore further what all Loop can do! I believe there are more features coming soon!

Ensure Loop is available for the Organization

By default, Loop is enabled for the your organization. However, you can double check as below –

Given that you might be having Global Admin access to your tenant, you can go to the Org Settings.
And you can see that the workspace access have been given to all the users.

Licensing

Having one of these Microsoft 365 licenses will let you use advanced features of Microsoft Loop –

Microsoft 365 Business Standard
Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Microsoft 365 E3
Microsoft 365 E5

Detailed Documentation here on the Licensing requirements – https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/loop-access-via-microsoft-365-subscriptions-92915461-4b14-49a4-9cd4-d1c259292afa?WT.mc_id=DX-MVP-5003911

In case you don’t have the correct required licenses, you’ll still be able to access Loop but won’t be able to create Workspaces or use any advanced features. Typically, you’ll see a screen like this –

Hope this helps!

Here are some Power Automate posts you want to check out –

Thank you!

Check your recent sign-in attempts | Microsoft 365 Quick Tip

November 20, 2023 priyeshwagh777 microsoft 365, Office 365 Administration mfa, microsoft 365, multi factor authentication, recent login

In case you and your team members are working on a small project which has only MFA enabled on the Admin account you’ve been given with, here’s how you can check who was trying to sign-in if it wasn’t any of your team members!!

Microsoft 365 Portal

Simply log-in to M365 Portal (https://portal.office.com/) or even (https://www.microsoft365.com/?auth=2) and then follow the below –

Drop down from the right hand side menu on the top right of your profile in M365, click on View account.
Then, on the left hand side menu, look for My sign-ins.
In here, you’ll find the location and the IP address that was used when someone attempted sign-in from your account.
If it looks like a location you aren’t a part of and suspect this is attempted breach of security, you should let you System Administrator know and also change your password and revaluate your MFA identities.

Hope this helps!

Here are some Power Automate posts you want to check out –

Thank you!

Microsoft Authenticator app sign-in method types for Microsoft 365 account | Office 365

December 19, 2022 priyeshwagh777 Office 365 Administration MFA enabled Dynamics 365, microsoft 365, microsoft authentication, microsoft authenticator, multi factor authentication, office 365 authentication, office 365 mfa

In case you are setting Authenticator app for accessing your Office 365 account, you have 2 options of authenticating using the Authenticator App from you phone – Notification based and Code based. And see how you can change the preferred method to either of these types!

Notification Based

Here’s how the notification based authentication works –

When you enter your username and password, you’ll see this on your browser intimating that the Approval request has been sent to your phone.
On the phone, you’ll receive the below
And upon opening the notification, the Microsoft Authenticator App will be opened and the permission to Approve or Deny the authentication request for your account will pop-up.
Once you click on Approve, you’ll be able to login.

Code Based

And when Code based method is selected, you’ll see the below –

On the browser when you enter your username and password, you’ll see the below waiting for you to refer to the Authenticator App and enter the same from your phone.
Once you open the Authenticator App and open the Account which you are trying to log in, you’ll see a code in bold letters which refreshes after a time frame.
Once you enter this code, you’ll be able to log in.

Changing the Authentication Method

Here’s how you can change the type of authentication method when you log into your Office 365 –

Navigate to the menu on the top right.
Now, on the left hand side, look for Security Info.
You can then see the different authentication methods you’ve entered like phone, authenticator app etc.
For simplicity, I only have 1 entered i.e. Authenticator App [Microsoft Authenticator].

And now, since Microsoft Authenticator is set as the default method, I’ll also get an option to change the type of authentication set.
I’ll get two options –
“App based authentication – notification” – This will show a pop-up on the phone in the form of a notification which you can choose to Approve or Deny.
“App based authentication or hardware token – code” – This will need you to open the Microsoft Authenticator Apps in your phone and then look for the code in the account and enter it when asked as seen in this post above.
So, you can select the other method apart from the one you have selected and you should be good to go.