(NEXSTAR) — Following a 21-year journey, the formerly popular video chat application Skype has been retired as of May 5.
“One person penned on X, ‘Farewell, Skype, rest in peace. You did your job admirably.’”
"Give one final listen to that classic Skype ringtone," someone else suggested, including a segment of the cheerful, smooth sound. tone .
Established in 2003 and based in Luxembourg, which is owned by Microsoft, Skype has been recognized for simplifying and reducing the cost of video calls for countless individuals around the world.
"Skype has played a crucial role in molding contemporary communication methods and facilitating numerous significant events, and we feel privileged to have been a part of this voyage," stated Jeff Teper, who leads collaborative apps and platforms at Microsoft, in a release.
Teper mentioned that the choice to discontinue Skype stems from Microsoft’s intention to "simplify our range of free consumer communication services, allowing us to better adjust to customers' requirements."
What occurs next for users of Skype?
Users of Skype will not be able to access their accounts anymore; however, they can utilize the same login information to sign into Microsoft Teams Free on any compatible device.
According to Microsoft, upon signing up, one’s contacts and chats will be seamlessly moved over, and the user will receive a notification within the Skype application "urging you to initiate the migration of your information."
Microsoft notes the following information does not transfer to Teams Free:
- Conversations between Skype users andTeams work or school accounts won’t be transferred. Individuals can utilize Teams Free to initiate new chats with Team’s work or school account holders and take advantage of additional features.
- Chat histories from Skype to Skype for Business will not be transferred during the migration process.
- 1:1 chats with your history will not be transferred.
- Data from private conversations will not be transferred.
- The content from Copilot and bots won’t be supported within Teams Free, and there will be no availability of chat history.
For dedicated Skype users who prefer not to switch to Teams, they can still choose to continue using Skype. export one’s Skype data .
Any individual who does not take action and doesn’t sign into Teams before January 2026 risks losing their information.
Microsoft acquired Skype in 2011 for $8.5 billion.
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