Skype, the once-revolutionary video and messaging platform that brought people face-to-face across the internet, has officially signed off. After more than 20 years of transforming how we connect, Microsoft confirmed on May 5th that Skype is now shut down.
On February 28, Microsoft announced plans to retire Skype and urged users to transition to Microsoft Teams. On Monday, Skype confirmed its closure in a post on X (formerly Twitter), calling it “the end of an era”.
Skype launched in August 2003, founded by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, and quickly grew into a household name. By 2005, it had over 50 million users and was sold to eBay for $2.6 billion. Microsoft later acquired it in 2011 for $8.5 billion.
At its peak in the mid-2010s, Skype boasted more than 300 million monthly active users. But the rise of more agile competitors like Zoom, WhatsApp, and even Microsoft’s own Teams, gradually edged Skype out of the spotlight.
Now, Microsoft is officially phasing Skype out. No new subscriptions or Skype credits will be sold, though existing users can still access their remaining credit and subscriptions through Microsoft Teams Free. “Simply log in, and you can use your paid services as before,” the company said.
Users have until January 2026 to migrate their data or risk losing it permanently.
Now, as the platform fades into tech history, it leaves behind a legacy of how digital communication began—long before Zoom became a verb.
