Skype is shutting down

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Microsoft has announced the time of death for Skype. In its push to promote Microsoft Teams, the company has announced that starting May 5, Skype will no longer be available.

"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", Microsoft announced in an official blog post.

The company also insists that existing Skype users either migrate or shift their data to the Teams platform.

Microsoft plans to make the transition from Skype to Teams gradual over the next three months. The company has been encouraging this shift since Teams was launched, and in the blog post announcing Skype's retirement, it emphasised that both platforms offer many of the same features, with Teams providing additional capabilities.

To make this transition easy, Microsoft says Skype users will be able to use their current credentials to log in to Microsoft Teams for free on any supported device.

Essentially, Skype users will be able to continue making one-on-one and group calls, sending messages, and sharing files, along with using features like hosting meetings, managing calendars, and joining communities, on Team for free.

"By logging in to Teams with a Skype account, chats and contacts will automatically appear in the app so you can quickly pick up where you left off," says Microsoft. "During the transition period, Teams users can call and chat with Skype users and Skype users can do the same with Teams users", it adds.