Microsoft shuts down Skype; here's how to export all your data

As announced, Microsoft is officially shutting down Skype today. Once a top video calling and instant messaging platform, Skype now joins the list of legacy apps Microsoft has sunset, as the company shifts its consumer focus toward Microsoft Teams Free.

The move to shut down Skype doesn’t come as a surprise. Skype’s decline started the moment Microsoft began investing in Teams. While Skype for Business lives on (for now), the classic Skype client is no longer accessible or supported.

Skype has shut down—What you can do now?

As Microsoft shuts down Skype, it wants platform’s users, both free and paying, to switch to Teams Free. The transition is designed to be straightforward. According to the company:

Skype users will have the option to move to Microsoft Teams Free, which offers many of the same core features and more. Sign in to Microsoft Teams Free on any supported device using your Skype credentials, and your contacts and chats will automatically be transferred.

As part of the Microsoft’s post shut down process, Skype users will receive notification in the app prompting you to take action to migrate your data. This process brings over most user contacts and standard chat history. Users have until January 2026 to export or delete their Skype data. If they don’t act by then, all Skype data will be permanently deleted.

Microsoft adds:

Your Skype data will be available until January 2026 for you to export or delete. If you log in to Microsoft Teams Free by then, your Skype call and chat history will be available to you. If you take no action, your Skype data will be deleted in January 2026.

Also read: Microsoft is refusing to refund back Skype credit, according to user

What won’t move during the transition

Microsoft has announced several limitations could affect Skype users post shut down. Here’s what won’t make it over to Teams Free:

• You can’t migrate chats between Skype users and Teams work or school accounts.
• Skype to Skype for Business chat history won’t transfer.
• You’ll loseoOne to one chat with yourself.
• Private conversations won’t migrate.
• Teams Free won’t support Copilot and bot content and no chat history from those threads will carry over.

It’s worth nioting that Microsoft has improved Teams with a Migration Tool so that users from Skype and other platforms can switch to it amoothly. Users who don’t wish to continue with Microsoft can still export their data by visiting skype’s official website.