Skype Is Dead at 22 — And We’re Feeling All the Feels

Grab your webcam and a box of tissues, because the tech world just said goodbye to one of its most iconic communication tools. That’s right, Skype has officially been laid to rest. Microsoft made the death official yesterday, gently nudging users to “start using Teams” instead. After 22 years, the once-revolutionary video chat app has gone offline for good.

Born in 2003, Skype burst onto the scene as the cool new way to talk to your cousin overseas without selling a kidney to pay for long-distance charges. In the mid-2000s, it was the king of internet calling, used by professionals, long-distance lovers, and that one uncle who never figured out how to unmute.

Microsoft saw the magic and snatched Skype up in 2011 for a whopping $8.5 billion. At its peak, Skype had 150 million monthly users. But, like many tech trailblazers, it couldn’t keep up with the times. The rise of Zoom during the pandemic, along with Skype’s clunky mobile experience, pushed it into the shadows. By the end, it had just over 20 million monthly users.

The writing was on the (chat) wall. Microsoft had been pushing its shiny new toy—Microsoft Teams—for a while now. And with Skype’s architecture struggling to adapt to our mobile-first world, the decision was made to streamline. Translation? Skype got the digital axe.

Don’t panic just yet—if you’ve still got contacts or old Skype messages you care about, you have until the end of this year to export your data. After that, all those nostalgic chats and blurry video calls are headed to the great server farm in the sky.

So here’s to you, Skype. Thanks for the memories, the dropped calls, and that unforgettable ringtone. You may be gone, but you’ll never be muted in our hearts.