Your Windows 10 Taskbar has a new feature: My People lets you communicate with your contacts straight from the Taskbar. This feature merges multiple platforms, like email and Skype, into a single seamless communication experience.

We're going to show you how to set up My People, organize your contacts, and pin people to your Taskbar so you can be up and chatting in no time.

Please be sure to share your experiences with My People in the comments below.

Enable My People

The My People feature comes included as a new setting in the Fall Creators Update.

To check you're on the right version of Windows 10, press Windows key + I and navigate to System > About. Your Version number should be 1709 or higher.

windows 10 taskbar my people feature

If you don't have the right version, check out our guide on how to upgrade. However, bear in mind that Microsoft tries to give you the update when it knows your system is compatible, so you might run into problems if you force it.

Once you have the Fall Creators Update, you should see that the My People icon appears on the right of your Taskbar, represented by the two figures. If you don't see it, right-click an empty space on the Taskbar and tick Show People button.

You can also enable it through the Settings menu. Press Windows key + I, navigate to Personalization > Taskbar, and slide Show contacts on the taskbar to On. Here you can also customize to Show My People notifications and Play a sound when a My People Notification arrives.

Connect Your Accounts

Click the My People icon and you'll see that it's split between the People and Apps tabs. To begin, click Apps.

Out of the box, My People supports the People, Skype, and Mail apps. If you have other apps installed that are supported then they'll also appear here. The list is limited since the feature is new, but hopefully developers will start supporting it in the near future.

windows 10 taskbar my people feature

You may find that some apps are already listed as Connected if you set them up separately previously. Your contacts from these will be integrated into My People. Don't forget that the People app itself supports things like Gmail and Outlook contact integration.

An unconnected app will show Click to connect this app. Do exactly that, follow the wizard through (Skype will ask you to sign in, for example), and your contacts from that app will then appear in My People.

Pin Contacts to the Taskbar

You can pin up to three of your contacts onto your Taskbar. Any other pinned contacts will then overflow into a list on My People.

windows 10 taskbar my people feature

To get started, click Find and pin contacts. Your contacts from all the apps will be listed here, sorted alphabetically. Find someone quickly by using the Search field. Once selected, they'll automatically be pinned to the Taskbar next to the My People icon.

windows 10 taskbar my people feature

To remove a contact you've pinned to the Taskbar, simply right-click their icon and click Unpin from taskbar. They'll automatically be replaced with another contact if you pinned more than three previously.

Add and Combine Contacts

If you don't see someone on your list, you can easily add them to your contacts. Click the three horizontal dots and select New contact. You'll be prompted to select a default account to save new contacts to, like Microsoft or Gmail, but you can change this whenever you add a contact.

windows 10 taskbar my people feature

Input all their details, like Name, Mobile phone, and Email. If you don't add a photo then that person will be represented by their initial. Click Save when done.

You may find that some of your contacts are duplicated on the Find and pin contacts list. This will happen if you have them saved in different services under different names. You can combine these contacts so they appear as a single entry.

windows 10 taskbar my people feature

To do this, find the person on your My People list, click them and select Combine duplicate contacts for this person to see all the apps you have in common.

windows 10 taskbar my people feature

This will open a new window. If a similar contact has been automatically detected then you can click them from the suggested list to combine them. Otherwise, click Choose a contact to combine and then select the contact from the list.

Using My People

Now that you've got your contact list in shape and people pinned to your Taskbar, it's time to actually make use of it.

Click someone's icon and then select the application you want to use to communicate with them. For example, click Mail to email or Skype to chat there. My People will remember your preference, but you can switch by clicking the hamburger icon (three horizontal lines).

windows 10 taskbar my people feature

You can click and drag on the title bar of the chat window to move it anywhere on the screen. The three horizontal dots will give you some more options, like Edit contact or opening the full application rather than using My People.

The benefit of My People is that you can chat with your contacts across various applications within a few easy clicks. For example, with Skype you can send and receive messages and files, initiate calls, and more. A fun feature for Skype is that if someone sends you an emoji then it'll pop up above that person's icon in your Taskbar, large and animated.

Feature in Progress

It's still early days for My People. We expect that Microsoft will continue to add features and third-party developers will hopefully integrate support for it into their apps. It would be great to see things like WhatsApp, Telegram, Twitter, and Facebook available here.

If you're looking for more ways to get the most from your Taskbar, check out our advanced taskbar tweaks for Windows 10 and the ultimate Windows 10 taskbar customization guide.

What is your favorite part about the My People feature? Is there something you hope Microsoft add to it?