Skype has officially joined the ranks of legacy online messengers like ICQ and MSN Messenger, having now been fully discontinued after 23 years of service. Visiting the platform’s website or opening its app now displays a notice encouraging users to switch to Microsoft Teams instead.
For those unfamiliar, Skype launched in 2003 and changed ownership several times before being acquired by Microsoft in 2011. It was a pioneer of online voice calls and later helped popularise video conferencing – years ahead of now-dominant platforms like Zoom and WhatsApp, which eventually eclipsed it in popularity.
The shutdown wasn’t abrupt. Microsoft announced the discontinuation last year and began phasing out various services, such as credit top-ups and Skype-specific phone numbers. Users were also given a 10-week window to migrate their data to Microsoft Teams.
As more advanced and widely adopted platforms emerged, Skype’s relevance gradually faded – especially after Microsoft began focusing its efforts on Teams, cutting back on updates and new features for the older platform. For those who’ve been online since the early days, Skype’s shutdown marks the end of yet another digital era.
