Say goodbye to Skype: Microsoft reportedly shutting it down soon

Microsoft users who still rely on Skype may soon have to find a different chat and calling service. A message inside the latest preview of Skype for Windows warns that the app will be retired in May.

‘Continue your calls and chats in Teams’

Spotted by someone with access to the new preview and verified by XDA Developers, the message states: “Starting in May, Skype will no longer be available. Continue your calls and chats in Teams.” A note adds that a certain number “of your friends have already moved to Teams free,” with that number based on how many contacts you have.

If true, the news is hardly surprising given Skype’s checkered history. 

After its initial launch in 2003, the service was acquired by Microsoft in 2011 with big plans to push it to consumers and enterprises and integrate it with Windows and other products. Over the years, Microsoft diligently updated and enhanced Skype. During the pandemic, many people turned to it for remote calls and video conferences.

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In more recent times, Skype has fallen by the wayside — although, yes, the service still has many dedicated fans. 

In March 2020, the number of daily users reached around 40 million. However, following the pandemic, that number dwindled to 36 million in February 2023, and those numbers may have dipped further since then.

The competition is a problem

One problem has been competition. Zoom, Slack, and a host of other communications services have won over their fair share of users, but the biggest rival has been Microsoft Teams.

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Over the past few years, Microsoft has spent more time and effort promoting and tweaking Teams, both for consumers and businesses. By integrating Teams into Windows, the company clearly has positioned it as its go-to calling and chat app. With the message in Skype telling people to move to Teams, it’s clear now which service has been declared the winner.