Microsoft Is Officially Retiring Skype on May 5

Skype is officially logging off, for good.

Fez – After more than two decades of video calls, voice chats, and those iconic “ping” sounds, Microsoft is saying goodbye to Skype, yes, for real this time.

The company has officially announced that it will shut down the service on May 5, 2025, marking the end of an era that started in the early 2000s and really took off when Microsoft acquired Skype in 2011 for a cool $8.5 billion.

So, why is Skype being sunsetted now? According to Microsoft, it’s all about “simplifying our consumer communication offerings to better adapt to customer needs.” In plain English: they’re streamlining things, and Skype didn’t make the cut.

It’s a bittersweet move for many. Skype was the original Zoom – the app for connecting across continents, used for everything from international job interviews to awkward long-distance dates.

With its free voice and HD video calls, chat features, and pretty decent reliability (at least most of the time), Skype carved out a special place in internet history.

So naturally, users, past and present, are feeling the nostalgia kick in.

But don’t panic: your chats, contacts, and call credits aren’t disappearing into the void.

Microsoft is folding Skype’s key features into its newer darling, Microsoft Teams. Think of it as Skype’s grown-up cousin who wears a blazer and actually reads the meeting agenda.

Here’s how the transition will work:

If you log into the free version of Teams using your Skype credentials, all your contacts and conversations will be waiting for you, no need to start from scratch.

Even better, if you still have Skype credit or an active subscription, you can keep using it through Teams’ dial pad or via Skype on the web.

The decision makes sense from a tech evolution perspective. Teams has matured far beyond its business-only roots and now offers nearly everything Skype did, with a few extra bells and whistles.

Microsoft is clearly betting on one unified platform to carry its communications ecosystem into the future, and it’s not looking back.

So yes, it’s the end of Skype as we know it, but in true tech fashion, it’s also a rebrand, a merger, and a gentle nudge toward something new.

If nothing else, it’s a good excuse to finally clear those dusty old Skype contacts you haven’t messaged since 2013.

RIP Skype, you were weird, glitchy, and oddly comforting. And now, you’re Teams.