Microsoft Shutting Down Skype in May 2025, Turning its Focus Completely to Teams

Ever since the debut of Teams back in 2016, the shut down of Skype was being expected, and Microsoft has now announced that this service would be shut down two months later in May 2025. So far, it is still not sure who and how many would be affected by this decision, and Microsoft has indeed provided existing Skype users the option to migrate their user data over to Teams until the date of shut down.

Read more about the news below.

Skype Shuts Down on 5th May 2025

Skype is considered to be one of the biggest startup companies in the tech industry which launched in and out of Europe, and at its peak time was reported to have 300 million active users (in 2013). After 23 years from its launch and after 14 years from its acquisition by Microsoft, it has been announced that the active duty of Skype would be retired on the 5th of May 2025. Microsoft following the shut down of Skype would also be turning its full attention completely onto Teams, and Skype users are also encouraged to make this shift to Teams. They have from now to 5th May 2025 to migrate their chats and contacts over to Teams, and alternatively they can also download user data with the help of the platform’s export tool.

Speaking more, it was during the beginning of the pandemic that Microsoft had revealed that there was a 70% month over month increase in Skype’s active user data (40 million daily users) when people were trying to keep in touch with others while in lock down, however, similar trends paved way to the rise of more such services too, including Zoom. Also, the flatlining of Skype and the growth of Teams could have been the major motivating factor for Microsoft to come to the decision of Skype shut down.

With their Skype credentials, users can log in on Teams and bring all their chats and contacts onto Teams automatically. If no proper action is taken by them even after the end of this year (migration or data export), their data will fully be deleted. On Teams Free, additional features like calendar integrations and more that weren’t available to Skype users previously can be enjoyed, but they may lack certain key features, specifically the phone call functionality.

To note, while Microsoft had already prevented users from adding credits to their Skype accounts and from purchasing Skype numbers, with monthly subscription (ending on 3rd April 2025) or remaining credits, Skype users can still be able to make calls. For legacy users with credits in their accounts, a Skype Dial Pad will be made available on the Skype web portal and on Teams for an indefinite period, and as long as users have credits, they will be able to make use of it.