How to Remove the People Bar from Windows 10 Taskbar

Starting with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, there is a People icon to the left of the notification area on the taskbar, which allows you to pin your contacts to the taskbar. However, not everyone will use this feature. To conserve your taskbar space, you can remove the People bar from the taskbar with any of the four methods.

Method 1: by right-clicking on the taskbar

Right-click on any blank space on the taskbar and then click the line that says "Show People on the taskbar" to uncheck it.

Method 2: by taskbar Settings

Step 1: Open Settings using Win + I keys, then go to Personalization.

Step 2: Select Taskbar on the left side pane, then scroll down to the People section.

Step 3: Set the "Show contacts on the taskbar" switch to Off, so the People icon is removed from the taskbar.

Method 3: with Local Group Policy Editor

The Local Group Policy Editor is only available in the Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions.

Step 1: Open the Local Group Policy editor.

Tips: You can first open the Run dialog, then type in gpedit.msc, and click OK.

Step 2: In the left pane of the Local Group Policy Editor, expand User Configuration, Administrative Templates, and select Start Menu and Taskbar. In the right pane of Start Menu and Taskbar, double-click on the "Remove the People Bar from the taskbar" policy to edit it.

Step 3: This policy is not configured by default and if you enable it, the People icon will be removed from the taskbar. After you select Enabled, click Apply followed by OK.

Step 4: Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

Method 4: using Registry Editor

Step 1: Open the Registry Editor.

Tips: You can first open the Run dialog, then type in regedit and click OK.

Step 2: In the left side pane of the Registry Editor, navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\People

On the right-side pane of the People key, create a new DWORD (32-bit) Value and name it PeopleBand.

Step 3: Double-click on the PeopleBand value and set the value data to 0 to disable the People icon on the taskbar. A value data of 1 will enable the People icon.

Step 4: Sign out and sign in to your user account to make the changes take effect.