Outlook's People Pane Being a Pain? Here's How to Hide It

Submitted by schwarz on

This morning I had another frustrating time accidentally clicking the People Pane in an Outlook email message — argh.  The People Pane is a new feature of Outlook 2010 called the "Outlook Social Connector" that brings in information from popular social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn.

Here's what the people pane looks like in an Outlook 2010 email message:

I figured there must be a way to hide it, and indeed there is.  In case Outlook 2010's people pane bugs you too, here's how to get rid of it:

  1. Click the View tab
  2. Click the down arrow on the icon for the People Pane group
  3. Click Off

Bliss!

On the other hand, if you want the People Pane but don't use Outlook 2010, you can download the Outlook Social Connector add-in for Outlook 2007.

Sources:
• Introduction to the Outlook Social Connector
• Add social context to work with Outlook Social Connector (video)

Lisa Simpson silhouette source: David Fettig via Google+

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Comments

Thanks! What a relief

Submitted by Andy (not verified) on

Ahhh!!!!! what a relief. Getting rid of that stupid thing feels as good as removing a piece of stuck apple peal from your teeth. Thanks!

Social Pane

Submitted by Cindy (not verified) on

But others can still see all your busienss - you just can't see theirs. How so I block anoyone from seeing mine?

Re: Social Pane

Submitted by schwarz on

Hi Cindy -

Regarding how to block others from seeing your info, I found this at Learn More About Outlook Social Connector and Privacy:

Public and private information
The Outlook Social Connector only displays information from a social network for those who have made information available based on their privacy settings on a social network. If you have made any information publicly available to everyone on a social network, then that information will be shown to everyone irrespective of whether or not those users are your friends or colleagues on the social network. Read the privacy statement and use the privacy controls of the social network so that you are only sharing the information that you want. You should also consider how other relationships and connections on social sites (fan pages, networks, connections, etc…) affect what and to whom your information is shown.

And this page lists the social networks associated with the Outlook Social Connector,

HTH