Skype is no more.

Months after announcing that it would be going away, Microsoft shut down the video-calling platform on May 5.

“Skype has been an integral part of shaping modern communications and supporting countless meaningful moments, and we are honored to have been part of the journey,” Microsoft’s president of collaborative apps and platforms, Jeff Tepper, said in a statement.

Skype launched in 2003 in Estonia and was used to make free phone calls thanks to VoIP technology. Then it was purchased in 2005 by eBay, which added the video call feature, The Washington Post reported. It was last bought in 2011 by Microsoft for $8.5 billion, Fox Business reported.

At the time of the deal, Skype had about 150 million users. At its pinnacle, it had 300 million, The Washington Post reported.

But during the COVID-19 pandemic, users chose Zoom and other video calling services over Skype for virtual get-togethers. Skype’s regular users plummeted to about 23 million.

Fox Business said it was partially because the company’s technology was not working well with smartphones. It also did not offer the “digital meeting rooms” that other platforms had, the Post said. Skype allowed people to make computer-to-computer calls for free, then allowed international low-cost calls to landlines and cell phones, the BBC reported.

Microsoft also launched its Teams platform in 2017, which has replaced Skype in the company’s offerings.

Teams has about 320 million monthly users, Fox News reported.

So what can people who stuck with the free version of Skype do going forward?

They can transfer their settings to Teams or download their data, which includes chats, contacts and history.

You have until January 2026 to download the data, The Hill reported.

Those who pay for a Skype subscription or have credits to make calls can use the Skype Dial Pad on Teams until their credits run out or their subscription ends, the BBC reported.

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