Is Skype really shutting down?
Yes, it is.
Microsoft just announced Skype will completely shut down on 5th May 2025.
This means all those video calls, messages, and file sharing you've been doing on Skype will stop working.
You might be thinking, "What about all my contacts and chat history?" or "What if I have Skype credit?"
Don't worry.
We've got answers to all these questions below.
Microsoft isn't just killing Skype for fun.
They're focusing on Teams now because that's where most people are going.
Here's what's actually happening:
Microsoft's communications director put it simply: "Teams is the future, Skype had its time."
Microsoft has a plan for shutting everything down:
After 5th May, when you open Skype, it won't connect to anything.
It'll be completely dead.
You'll lose all your chat history and contacts unless you download them before the shutdown.
Microsoft will give you a tool to save all this stuff until June 2025.
Any Skype credit you have will be refunded.
You need to act faster.
Many companies still use Skype for Business, and it's going away too.
You should:
You'll need to change your apps to work with something else.
Microsoft says they'll help with this, but they haven't given much detail yet.
If your company uses Skype, this is actually a good time to improve how you communicate.
Moving to Teams can make everything work better because:
Some companies that switched from Skype to Teams saw huge improvements.
A UK bank with 2,500 employees found teams worked together 32% better and sent 45% fewer emails after switching to Teams.
Yes.
Microsoft will refund any unused Skype credits to your original payment method.
If that doesn't work for some reason, they'll tell you how to claim your refund another way.
Only if you save them before June 2025.
Microsoft will provide a tool to download your conversation history, contacts, and files.
After that, they'll be gone forever.
Skype Numbers stop working in April 2025.
If you have one, Microsoft will let you move it to Teams Phone.
But you'll need a Microsoft 365 subscription for this to work.
No.
While Microsoft wants you to use Teams, you have plenty of other options:
Each one has different features and costs.
No.
Skype will stop working everywhere in the world at the same time on 5th May 2025.
Here are your best options:
Here's what you need to do before Skype shuts down:
Skype closing down on 5th May 2025 marks the end of one of the first big video calling apps.
While it might be annoying to switch to something new, there are now better options out there.
For businesses, this is a chance to improve how your teams communicate with newer tools that do more than Skype ever could.
For everyone else, exporting your data and picking a new app now will make the transition much easier.
The good news is that staying connected is easier than ever, even without Skype.
Just make sure you're ready before 5th May 2025 when Skype finally goes offline for good.
