Links in Microsoft Loop become invalid after a few minutes

The issue you're experiencing with links in Microsoft Loop becoming invalid after a short time may be related to how URLs are encoded. In some cases, characters in URLs can be altered due to encoding issues, which can lead to the links becoming unusable. For example, the character sequence "%24" might be incorrectly transformed into "%2425".

Unfortunately, the context provided does not contain specific information regarding this particular issue with Microsoft Loop links. It may be beneficial to check for any updates or known issues with Microsoft Loop or reach out to Microsoft support for assistance regarding this problem.

References:

• Loop workspaces are unexpectedly stored in SharePoint Online sites
• "Invalid URL" error when you click a SharePoint Online Promoted Link which uses the file:// protocol
• URI-encoding in UNC paths interpreted literally in Windows 10, version 1803 and later

Dear Grond, Gulliver Jack,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A. 

Thank you for reporting this issue. I ran a test in my own Microsoft Loop environment by creating a page and pasting a link with query parameters. After waiting several minutes and refreshing, the link remained intact and worked normally (see screenshot). This suggests the problem may not occur in all scenarios, so we need to narrow down the conditions.

A Few Questions to Clarify

Does the issue happen with all types of links, or only those containing special characters like $, %, or encoded query strings?

Are you using Loop web app, Loop components in Teams, or both?

Does the link break immediately after pasting, or only after a refresh or some time?

Are all users in the same tenant experiencing this, or only certain accounts?

Here are some steps you can try:

Test with Plain Text Links: Paste the link without enabling smart preview (if possible) and see if it stays valid.

Try Different Contexts:

Paste the same link in Loop web app and in a Loop component inside Teams or Outlook.

Check if the behavior is consistent.

Use Fully Encoded URLs: If the link contains special characters, try encoding them properly before pasting.

Disable Link Preview (if available): Sometimes automatic preview generation can alter the URL.

Please understand that our initial response does not always resolve the issue immediately. However, with your help and more detailed information, we can work together to find a solution.  

I hope this information helps point you in the right direction. If you run into any issues while trying the steps, or if something still doesn’t feel quite right, please don’t hesitate to reach out again. I’ll do my best to support you however I can.  

Looking forward to hearing back from you with any updates or additional details. 

Warm regards, 

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Dear Gulliver,

Thank you for the update and for sharing your findings, that’s a great observation! Here’s why this happens:

When you copy a link by highlighting text and pressing Ctrl+C, Microsoft Loop often captures the displayed text rather than the original hyperlink (href). If the displayed text contains encoded characters (like %24 for $), Loop may apply double encoding, turning %24 into %2425. This makes the link invalid.

When you use right-click > Copy link, the original URL is copied without modification, so it remains valid.

This behavior is related to how Loop handles rich text and link previews. It’s not a security issue, but it can cause problems with URLs containing special characters or query strings. Microsoft is actively improving Loop’s handling of links, so this may change in future updates.

Thank you again for investigating and sharing this insight, it will help others facing similar issues! Please let us know if you need further assistance.