Skype Shuts Down Today, Marking The End Of An Internet Era
Contents
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
When I first heard Skype was shutting down, I had one reaction: “Wait…people are still using it?” But jokes apart, hearing that the platform I once used for prank calls and late-night chats is officially retiring hit me with a surprising wave of nostalgia. If you’re a 90s kid like me, you’re probably feeling it too. Yes, today, May 5, 2025, is the day Skype takes its last breath.
Microsoft is moving Skype users over to Teams Free, which will serve as Skype’s successor. The good news is you won’t have to start from scratch. You can log into Microsoft Teams Free with your existing Skype credentials. Your Skype contacts and chat history will also automatically transfer to Teams. If you were still using Skype, you may have already seen an in-app notification prompting you to migrate your data before it’s too late.
Looking back
But before we say farewell to Skype, let’s rewind a bit and talk about why Skype going away is a big deal. I was a teenager when Skype launched in the early 2000s, and at the time, it felt like pure wizardry. You could call real phone numbers from a computer, which was mind-blowing for its time! International calls were so pricey back then that Skype felt like a secret hack for talking to relatives abroad. At its peak, the platform had over 300 million monthly users. That was no joke back in the day.
I’ll never forget introducing my parents to it. They genuinely thought I was some tech prodigy for setting it up. And when a friend of mine shipped off to the merchant navy, Skype was the only service that reliably connected to his satellite phone. Those were the days.
But now, it’s official. Skype is shutting down, with Microsoft pulling the plug on the app that once defined internet calling. Sure, Skype may not have aged gracefully in a world powered by Zoom, WhatsApp, and FaceTime, but it definitely paved the way for all of them!
Time to move on
While Microsoft Teams offers many of the same features as Skype, and even goes beyond as a more modern service, you won’t be able to use it to call landlines or mobile numbers. However, you can continue using the Skype Dial Pad with your existing Skype Credits or subscriptions until they run out. But the story is really over after that. Microsoft is no longer offering paid Skype features to new customers. So if you haven’t already stocked up on Skype Credit or signed up for a calling plan, it’s officially too late.
So here’s to you, Skype. Thanks for the memories, the dial tones, the pixelated video chats, and the surreal experience of calling a phone from a desktop PC with a dial-up connection. Even as you fade into the Microsoft Teams ecosystem, a little piece of internet history is dying off with you.
