Once upon a time, Skype was the go-to for video conferencing, for personal and business communication.

Then during the pandemic, with unprecedented numbers of workers doing their jobs from home, Zoom became the place where all those corporate (and interpersonal) meetings took place, leaving Skype in the metaphorical dust.

Now Microsoft is making the demise of Skype more than figurative; the software giant announced that May 5th would be the last day people will be able to use Skype as a verb.

Skype was originally created in 2003 by a group of European developers, and after some initial success, the tech was purchased by Microsoft for $8.5 billion in 2011. Much like other messaging services, each Skype user has a unique ID, with integration with phone services around the world.

This weekend, Microsoft announced the change on their own site, saying “in order to streamline our free consumer communications offerings so we can more easily adapt to customer needs, we will be retiring Skype in May 2025 to focus on Microsoft Teams (free), our modern communications and collaboration hub. ”

Until May 5th, Microsoft will allow a transition period when Skype users can communicate with Teams users and vice versa. Skype users have until that date to export data like contacts, chat and call history, whether or not they migrate over to Teams.

Going forward, Microsoft will no longer offer paid features to new clients, but current users will have Skype credit and subscription access until Skype’s last day.

Microsoft thanked Skype users and encouraged them to stay connected through their other products. “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,” the site’s message concluded.