Skype Is Shutting Down After 21 Years of Being Everyone’s Third Choice

Well, looks like this is it for Skype—the app we all know but never actually use. Can't say it's too much of a shock. Skype was one of the early internet wonders, allowing users to make "free phone calls over the web". It was kind of glorious at first, but then we got more and more communication options, and Skype slowly faded into the background.

Microsoft has been keeping Skype on life support for years, periodically dropping updates and pretending it still had a place in modern communication. But this time, it's official—Skype will be shutting down in May. Instead of giving it a heroic sendoff, Microsoft's response is essentially, "Use Teams instead."

Skype originally launched in 2003, and Microsoft acquired it in 2011, hoping to turn it into the go-to communication tool. It even replaced Windows Live Messenger, and for a while, it looked like Skype was here to stay. But as other apps like FaceTime, Zoom, WhatsApp, and Discord gained traction, Skype quickly became outdated. Even Microsoft seemed to lose faith, launching Teams in 2017 and heavily integrating it into Windows 11, leaving Skype as an afterthought.

The news of Skype's shutdown wasn't even announced with fanfare—someone simply stumbled upon it. A savvy user spotted a message inside the latest Skype for Windows preview that read, "Starting in May, Skype will no longer be available. Continue your calls and chats in Teams." Just like that, the end of Skype was quietly revealed, buried within a routine software update. It wasn't a grand farewell, just a matter-of-fact nudge to move on, as if Microsoft was hoping no one would make a big deal out of it.

So long, Skype. You may not have been our first choice, or even our second, but you'll always be remembered as that app we used when there was no other option.