This represents the end of an era. Microsoft will shut down Skype in May this year and replace it with a free version for consumers, Microsoft Teams. Existing Skype users will be able to log into the Microsoft Teams app and have their message history, group chats, and contacts automatically migrated without having to create another account, or they can choose to export the data. Microsoft will also phase out support for calling domestic or international numbers.

Jeff Teper, president of Microsoft 365 collaboration applications and platforms, said in an interview: "Skype users will be in control, and they will have choices. If they want to, they can migrate their conversation history and contacts out and continue to use them, or migrate to Teams."

If you choose to migrate and take your Skype data with you, the exported data will include photos and conversation history. If you don't want to switch to Teams, Microsoft also provides a tool to easily view existing Skype chat history.

"Skype will remain online until May 5, so existing users will have approximately 60 days to decide whether to move to Microsoft Teams or export their data," said Amit Fulay, vice president of product at Microsoft. "If they do want to move to Teams, the first run is very immediate because we've already done the work behind the scenes to restore contacts, message history, and call logs."

Skype users will soon see prompts to move to Microsoft Teams.Skype group chats will remain unchanged after the transition to Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft will maintain interoperability during the 60-day transition period, so you can send messages to contacts on Teams and those messages will be delivered to friends who are still using Skype.If you move to Microsoft Teams, an important part of Skype will disappear. Microsoft is removing the part of the phone that lets you make domestic, international calls or other people's phones. "Part of it was because we looked at usage and trends, which was great at a time when Voice over IP (VoIP) wasn't widespread and mobile data plans were very expensive," explains Foley. "If we look to the future, that's not what we want."Microsoft will honor existing Skype points but will no longer offer new users access to paid Skype features that allow users to make or receive international and domestic calls. Existing Skype subscribers will be able to use their Skype credits and subscriptions in Microsoft Teams until the end of the next renewal period. Existing Skype number users will also need to port their numbers to another provider, as Microsoft no longer supports this feature either."SkypeDialPad will be available as part of Teams for the time being for existing credits and subscriptions, but Microsoft will not offer calling plans to Teams users the same way it does for businesses," Teper said. "The world is definitely moving on." The biggest reason is probably that higher bandwidth and lower data plan costs from us and other companies have prompted almost all traffic to shift to VoIP calls. "Consumers no longer use Skype to make traditional phone calls, which is the main reason Skype shut down nearly 14 years after Microsoft acquired it for $8.5 billion. Over the past decade, services like FaceTime, Messenger and WhatsApp have made it easy for users to connect with friends through messages, calls and video chats, but Microsoft has struggled to compete with Skype and its multiple design iterations.This was especially evident in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, when consumers flocked to Zoom instead of Skype. Teper admitted: "Skype's user base actually grew early in the pandemic but has remained flat since then. It's not shrinking in some dramatic way. It's been relatively flat over the past few years. We hope we can migrate the majority of Skype users... but we want to make sure users know they are in control."After launching a personal version in 2020, Microsoft will now focus entirely on consumer-facing Teams. At the time, Microsoft said it was still fully committed to Skype, but in recent years the company has clearly been preparing for Skype's eventual retirement. In December, Microsoft eliminated Skype credits and phone numbers in favor of subscriptions, another sign that Skype was coming to an end."The original vision was to have the same experience at work and in life...but Teams is a new product and that doesn't match the reality of 2020," Teper revealed. "So we continued to invest in Skype, and about two or three years ago we started introducing a free Teams consumer experience in the new client. We wanted to wait until adoption reached a level of scale that convinced us it was the right time.""The retirement of Skype will also not lead to layoffs, at least not immediately. There is one team, Microsoft Teams and Skype. Under the hood, it has actually evolved into a common team," Teper said. "There will be no layoffs, these people will be working on making things better - whether it's interesting end-user features or AI innovation, it's really a double dose of support for the team."