After 22 years of making remote chatting feel like everyone is in the same room, Skype is finally shutting down.
After 22 years of making remote chats feel like everyone is in the same room, Skype is finally shutting down. Losing years of chat history can be frustrating, but you can export your messages and files before the deadline.
Skype officially closed
As of May 5, Skype – an icon in the field of online calling and messaging – has officially stopped working to make way for Microsoft Teams. This is a major transformation of Microsoft to unify communication platforms and increase efficiency for users.
Switch to Teams with all the familiar features
Microsoft posted a farewell announcement on the Skype homepage, and urged users to switch to the free version of Teams, using their current Skype account. All data such as messages and contacts will remain intact.
They also confirmed that the features that made Skype famous, such as free calling and messaging, are now fully integrated into Teams, along with many new features such as creating meeting rooms and building online communities.
The journey from the top to the bottom
Skype was launched in August 2003 by a European development team. The service was acquired by eBay in 2005 for $2.6 billion, and then by Microsoft in 2011 for a staggering $8.5 billion.
While once the king of global video calling, Skype has been slowly overtaken by Skype alternatives like Zoom , WhatsApp , FaceTime, and Discord that have emerged with better-looking apps, cloud-first designs, and features that Skype could only dream of.
The new apps have a friendlier interface, better integration with cloud technology, and a smoother user experience. According to Microsoft, Skype now has only about 30 million monthly users – a very small number compared to the platform's heyday.
Microsoft Teams – the new successor
Launched in 2017, Microsoft Teams was designed to be a unified suite of tools: chat, video calling, file sharing, calendar management, and security in a single app. Whenever new features were released, Teams was always the first platform to get updates, pushing Skype further behind.
Some technology sites like MakeUseOf commented that discontinuing Skype is a move to simplify the product ecosystem, save resources and focus users on a single main platform.
What should users do?
Microsoft recommends backing up your chat data by visiting the export page, selecting the information you want to download, and asking the system to compress it into a ZIP file. The process may take a few minutes, and the data will be stored until January 2026.
On the Microsoft Store, Skype still receives a very high rating – up to 4.9/5 stars. Meanwhile, Microsoft Teams is controversial with only 2.9/5 stars, with many unsatisfied feedback from users.
The departure of Skype may be regretful to many people, but this is also the time for Microsoft to continue its new journey with Teams - a platform oriented towards the future of modern work and communication.
How to save chat history on Skype
If you have years of precious chats and files, don't let them disappear. Follow these steps to get your data before Skype shuts down:
- Visit Skype's chat history and export files page .
- Sign in to the Microsoft account associated with your Skype profile.
- Select the data to save. You can select both conversations and files.
- Click Submit request .
Once you submit your request, Skype will compile your data into ZIP files . This may take a while, so be patient. You can check the status of your request on the same page.
Once you get the notification that your backup is ready, click the link, download the archive, and store it safely in your backup.
Note : Microsoft notes that your data will be available until January 2026 for download or deletion. If you switch to Microsoft Teams at that time, your Skype data will be transferred and will remain available.
Skype still has a strong position in the Microsoft Store
You might think that a service that is about to shut down wouldn't have an app store, but Skype doesn't. On the Microsoft Store, where the app is still available for download, Skype enjoys a 4.9-star rating out of 5, which is proof that even with its declining user base, Skype still has a loyal following. Unfortunately, that love isn't enough to pay for the servers and global voice-forwarding infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Microsoft Teams has just 2.9 stars, with a slew of negative reviews. Curiously, Microsoft's own "AI-generated summary" calls the app great, useful, and is widely praised.
Apparently the AI forgot to read the comments where users criticized Teams for being clunky and slow.
What next?
If you've moved to Teams, your contacts, chats, and meetings will all be there. Microsoft has created a migration guide to help you make the move. If you want to explore other collaboration tools, there are plenty of apps available.
Take a moment today to fire up Skype one last time. Scroll through your chat history, review your voice messages, and say a quiet goodbye to a tool that changed the way millions of us connect. Then export your data, sign out, and let Skype fade into the background of tech history.