Connected to your people

There are lots of ways to stay in touch—that's why Outlook.com is more than just email.

You can chat, add contacts from popular social networks, manage your Facebook and Twitter content, and even post comments or accept friend requests—all from your Outlook.com inbox.

You can set up Outlook.com to work with your Facebook and Twitter. Add contacts from your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other networks, so that changes, such as address updates, in those accounts automatically update in Outlook.com.

Click the arrow to the right of Outlook.

Then click People to see the list of networks available, such as Google, Twitter, and Facebook. Click the network you want to add and follow the instructions on the screen.

Once you've connected a network, you can see the latest updates, Tweets, and profile pictures from those networks in the right pane of your inbox. You can also post comments or accept friend requests right from you inbox, if you turn on the Active view settings.

You can set whether or not other people can find your public Facebook or Twitter account by your email address and/or phone number. Outlook.com is committed to your privacy and empowering you with control over your information.

Get more details about managing your Facebook account and Twitter account with Outlook.com.

If you see that a Facebook friend is online you can quickly send them an IM right from your inbox. Just click the chat icon in the upper right and select an IM contact in the Start new conversation box. Outlook.com will save your IMs in a Message history folder.

To add contacts to a group, in People, select one or more contacts, click Groups in the top action bar, select the group you want, then click Apply. To add, remove, or rename groups, in People, click Manage, then click Manage groups.