What does 'look into' mean in a standup?

'Look into' means to investigate or examine something. In a standup, saying 'I'll look into it' means you will spend time checking the issue to understand or fix it.

Is 'look into' formal or informal?

'Look into' is neutral — it works in casual Slack messages, standups, and more formal emails or documentation. It is safe to use in any work context.

What is the difference between 'look into' and 'investigate'?

'Look into' is slightly more casual and common in everyday speech. 'Investigate' sounds more formal and is often used in written reports or official documentation.

Can I say 'look into about'?

No. 'Look into' already includes 'into', so you don't need another preposition. Say 'look into the issue' — not 'look into about the issue'.

How do I use 'look into' in past tense?

Use 'looked into'. For example: 'I looked into the bug yesterday but couldn't find the cause.'

What does 'I'll look into it' mean in a Slack message?

It means the person will investigate or check the issue. It is a common way to say you will work on understanding a problem but may not have an answer immediately.

What Does "Look Into" Mean at Work?

Commonness
Versatility
Formality	CasualFormalNeutral
Spoken ↔ Written	SpokenWrittenBoth
Directness ↔ Diplomatic	DirectDiplomaticNeutral
Region

Say it like this

✓I'll look into it and get back to you.

✓We're looking into the root cause now.

✓Can someone look into why the tests are failing?

✓I looked into it yesterday but didn't find anything.

✓Let me look into that before the next meeting.

Real examples

Standup

"I'll look into the reported bug and fix it."

Slack message

"Hey, can you look into why the API is returning 500 errors?"

GitHub PR

"I looked into this issue and the fix is in the latest commit."

Jira ticket

"Need someone to look into the performance degradation on the dashboard."

Retrospective

"We should look into why deployments took so long this sprint."

Sprint planning

"I'll look into the scope before we estimate this story."

Pair programming

"Let's look into why this function is returning null."

Don't say this

✕I will look into about the bug.

✓I will look into the bug.— No preposition needed after 'look into' — it already contains 'into'.

✕I looked into it and I fixed.

✓I looked into it and I fixed it.— 'Fixed' needs an object — you must say what you fixed.

✕I will look into to find the problem.

✓I will look into the problem.— Don't use 'to find' after 'look into' — the meaning is already included.

Other forms

base form

look into

"I'll look into it today."

present continuous

looking into

"I'm looking into the issue now."

past simple

looked into

"I looked into it yesterday."

present perfect

have looked into

"We have looked into all the options."

Often used with

look into an issueMost common combination — used for bugs or problems.

look into the causeFocus on finding why something happened.

look into itVery common short reply. Shows you will investigate.

look into optionsUsed when exploring possible solutions.

look into furtherSignals more investigation is needed.

Similar words

investigateMore formal. Often used in documentation or reports.

examineSlightly more formal. Focus on careful checking.

check outMore casual. Common in spoken English.

dig intoInformal. Suggests deeper, more detailed investigation.

exploreBroader. Used when considering multiple possibilities.

Opposites

ignoreoverlookdismissskip

Practice

Try it

4 quick exercises

Choose the most natural response

1. Your teammate asks: 'The login page is slow. Can someone check it?' What do you say?

I will look into about it.I'll look into it.I will look into to check it.

Spot the mistake

2. I looked into about the deployment issue yesterday.

looked into aboutdeployment issueyesterday

Fill in the blank

3. We need to look ____ why the tests are failing.

Rewrite more naturally

4. I will make an investigation of the bug.

More words

investigate root cause debug blocker dig into follow up

Questions

Quick poll

Have you said "look into" in a standup this week?

Want more structured practice like this? Our English for Programmers course covers real workplace English in depth.

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