After nearly 22 years of connecting people across the globe, Skype is shutting down today, May 5, marking the end of an era for one of the pioneers of internet communication.

Launched in 2003, Skype quickly became a revolutionary tool for free voice and video calls over the internet, amassing more than 300 million monthly users at its peak in the mid-2010s.

The free platform changed how people communicated across borders, long before Zoom or FaceTime.

In 2011, Microsoft acquired Skype for $8.5bn, aiming to make it a central part of its communications strategy. But as competitors like WhatsApp, Zoom, and eventually Microsoft’s own Teams gained traction, Skype’s popularity faded.

On February 28, Microsoft said it would retire Skype on May 5 to streamline its services and prioritise Teams for communication and collaboration.

The shutdown will impact both free and paid Skype users, but Skype for Business will continue temporarily.

Microsoft has urged users to transition to Teams by visiting skype.com and utilising the “Start using Teams” feature. All Skype chats and contacts will remain accessible through Teams using the same login credentials.

Users have until January 2026 to download or migrate their data before permanent deletion.

C: Aljazeera