Microsoft, which for roughly one generation of internet users has shaped online communication, is officially closing Skype on May 5, 2025. It means the end of an era for the once-popular video calling service as the tech giant doubles down on Microsoft Teams.
Why is Skype being retired?
“We’re sorry for the inconvenience to Skype customers,” the company explained in a blog post confirming the news.“We believe that enabling everyone to take advantage of more secure and up–to-date software is good for everyone, which is why we’ve made the decision to retire older versions of Skype across all platforms.” “As we look to the future, we believe we can deliver the best possible experiences by focusing on the devices and platforms that our customers are using. The company stated:
“In order to streamline our free consumer communications offerings so we can more easily adapt to customer needs, we will be retiring Skype in May 2025 to focus on Microsoft Teams (free), our modern communications and collaboration hub.”
Launched in 2003, Skype was groundbreaking in its day, allowing people to make free voice and video calls worldwide. But as a new breed of ubiquitous apps such as WhatsApp, Zoom and FaceTime took off, Skype suffered a decline in use.
What happens to existing Skype users?
Microsoft claims the transition will be seamless. As for the existing users, they can sign in with their Skype ID to Microsoft Teams and all the chats and contacts can be transferred over. The company had disclosed it would retire the plan early on to give users plenty of warning.
Teams (free) now offers a number of core Skype features, including chat, voice and video calls, as well as call recording and more powerful mobile features.
What about Skype’s paid users?
Microsoft is no longer offering new paid subscriptions for Skype Credit and calling plans. But current paid users are free to still use their balance and subscriptions in Teams. More advanced features, such as Skype Dial Pad will continue to remain available either on the Skype website or as part of Microsoft Teams.
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Users with Skype Credit or a subscription will continue to have access even when Skype shuts down.
The takeaway
Time to stop using Skype, if you haven’t already. Microsoft Teams will even be the new home for conversation with modern communication tools for all the people working in a team.
