Following the installation of Windows 10 Fall Creator's Update (version 1709), Outlook doesn't show recent messages, appointments, or attachments in the People Pane.
Microsoft fixed this issue in Windows 10 build 1803. This is a Windows issue, not Outlook, and won't be backported to older Windows versions. You'll need to install Windows 10 1803 to fix it. This version was released to Windows Insiders in December 2017 and is expected to be released to the general public in Spring 2018.
"Social Connector add-in is deprecated" and all of the social features are disabled except for the People Pane.
If you aren’t familiar with the People Pane, it’s a search results pane at the bottom of Outlook items and the reading pane. When you select a message or a contact, it shows recent messages from the selected person. If a message is sent to multiple people, selecting the sender’s or a recipient’s icon will display messages they sent you, meetings with them, and attachments.
The People Pane is a feature of the Social Connector and is only available if the Social Connector add-in is enabled, but the pane is turned off by default in new installations. You can turn it on in the View tab, People Pane menu. If the pane is Normal or Minimized, you can expand and collapse it using the caret icons on the top right of the pane.
If the People Pane button is not visible next to the To-do Bar button, enable the Social Connector add-in in File, Options, Add-ins.
More Information
"Outlook's Social Connector"
"Goodbye, SharePoint Social Connector"
Outlook 2016 People Pane doesn't show any results after Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (Office.com Support)
Pat J says
Hello,
Just updated to 1803 and still no emails in the people pane. What do I need to do from here?
Diane Poremsky says
is instant search working? What build of Outlook are you using?
Pat J says
Ok, looks like it was because it needed to be reindexed. I replied too early.
Thank you for the help.
Amir says
THIS IS A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
The update in Win 10 1803 fixes the issue, but you will have to jump through hoops to build the index. Right after the update, the system will go into index building, but it is SLOWWWW. No way to speed it up.
You will have to run the indexer in chunks, by deselecting everything else but outlook. and then adding other locations as needed. This is when you have multiple drives in your system like mine,
I am wondering why did Microsoft screw up in the first place and wait a year to fix. Are they getting this sloppy? Unbelievable.
Also, I have seen laments that in the past you could speed up the windows search indexer, which Microsoft took away. It was evident when I tried to change registry settings as suggested and ran into permission problems.
ANYWAY, I HAD TO RUN MY COMPUTER FOR 4 HOURS JUST TO BUILD THE OUTLOOK INDEX.
Diane Poremsky says
Which registry key speeds up indexing?
Amir says
Check out this link. You will find it therein!
https://office-watch.com/2016/force-windows-indexing-to-run-faster/
I get the specific error article talks about and am not allowed to change permissions, so value can be set to '1'.
I fiddled with it for a good 15 minutes but no luck.
Diane Poremsky says
Ok.. that key just tells the indexer to keep going at full speed (or near-full speed) and if you don't have admin permission to edit the registry, you're out of luck.
After i updated windows, i just left it go and rebuild it at its own pace. I don't recall how long it took, but use the sync slider to keep my data files fairly small, so they index fast.
Andrew says
Is a fix available for this issue? What if you're running WIndows 7 and not 10?
Diane Poremsky says
There are no results in the people pane? I wasn't aware it was a problem in Windows 7 but will check on it.
Mil Wallen says
it wont work unless you go back to the earlier version of Windows before the Fall Creator's update.
Dave Cormia says
Hi all,
Any update on this? Now sure how to rollback an update... nor how to turn off updates. Any help would be appreciated as I use this feature ALL the time.
Thanks
Diane Poremsky says
Turn of update at file, office accounts - under the check for updates button. Instructions to revert are here:
https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/uninstall-update-office-click-run/
It's definitely not fixed in the newest builds - still showing up as blank here.
Mil Wallen says
Microsoft tech recreated the problem based on everything i gave them, but said eitehr roll back to pre creator update or sit and wait.
Diane Poremsky says
Correct, at this time, the only fix is to rollback if you need the feature working. (don't forget to turn off updates).
Jim Hubbard says
For such a useful feature to just not work is frustrating. I've been following this topic here and elsewhere, but nothing seems to be happening. Official status seems to be here: Outlook 2016 People Pane doesn't show any results after Windows 10 Fall Creators Update
Diane Poremsky says
It can take a few weeks to months to get fixes out - and being the holiday season, it takes longer (a lot of people save their vacations for the end of the year - including my contacts in support.)
Mil Wallen says
I have been talking to Microsoft tech and they have no idea why, and then i stumbled upon this site. Have you been able to find a work around, this was an incredibly useful tool and time saver.
Diane Poremsky says
Sorry, no workaround at this time. I'm hoping it will be fixed in an upcoming update.