Skype shuts down today: Here's what happens to your account and data
The video-calling platform, founded by a group of engineers in 2003, was purchased by Microsoft for $8.5 billion.
Skype will officially shut down on Monday, May 5. Microsoft had announced the old-time video-calling portal's retirement in February and said that its services will be replaced with Microsoft Teams.
A group of engineers in Estonia's Tallinn in 2003 found Skype, a pioneer in internet-based telephone calls instead of landline calls. The platform was run with the help of VOIP (voice over internet protocol), a technology that converts audio into a digital signal which gets transmitted online.
In 2005, online retailer eBay bought the service and added video calling feature to Skype.
In 2011, the baton passed over to Microsoft when the tech giant bought Skype for $8.5 billion from eBay. At the time, Skype had about 170 million users across the globe, a report from The Associated Press said.
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Until 2017, Skype was considered high-tech, with the administration under the then US President Donald Trump using its services to field questions from reporters. Soon after, Microsoft Teams entered the market.
With the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic, platforms like Slack, Teams, newcomer Zoom, Skype began to fall further behind.
Today, finally, the day has come for the world to say goodbye to Skype, a change that will impact both free and paid users, except Skype for Business.
What will happen to your Skype account?
Users can log in to Microsoft Teams Free with the credentials of their existing Skype account without having the need to create a new one. In case one does not want to use the Microsoft Teams Free, then they can export their data from Skype.
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You can download Microsoft Teams on your device from its official website. Log in with your personal account credentials and then start using the platform.
All of your chats and contacts will also get automatically transferred to Teams Free when you log in with your Skype ID.
What about your Skype data?
Once you sign into Microsoft Teams Free, you will receive a notification on your Skype app, prompting you to take action to migrate your data.
The sync time for your data from Skype to Teams Free, as per Microsoft, should take less than a minute.
However, the chats between Skype users and Teams work or school accounts will not be migrated. Users on Teams Free can begin a new conversation with Teams work or school users.
The chat history of Skype to Skype Business users will also not be migrate and neither will the 1:1 chat with self history.
With the transition, private conversations data will also not be migrated. Copilot and bots content will not be supports in Teams Free either and its chat history will also not be available.
Till how long will Skype data be available?
Users will have until January 2026 to export or delete their Skype data. If they log in to Microsoft Teams Free by then, your Skype call and chat history will remain available to you.
If not, if you don't take any action, then your Skype data will be deleted in January 2026.
Additionally, starting from May 5, call forwarding, Skype Credit gifting, and Caller ID setup services will no longer be available.
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Microsoft Teams does not support paid calling plans on the free version but, small business can consider opting for Teams Essential. This can be paired with Microsoft Teams Phone, a cloud-based call control solution.
Notably, users of the Skype for Business will remain unaffected by the shutdown or any other changes.
Teams Free vs Skype
Microsoft Teams Free carries all the core features of Skype, including one-on-one and group calls, messaging, and file sharing. In addition, the platform also offers advance features like hosting meetings, calendar management, building and joining communities.
Teams Free is also designed for modern communication and teamwork and has enhanced tools for productivity and collaboration.
