Next month on the 5th of May 2025, Skype is retiring and will be shut down officially. Apart from Skype Business users, this will be affecting all other Skype free and paid users. To have continued access to the features and data on Skype, Microsoft also proposes the transfer onto Microsoft Teams Free as well.
For users who don’t want to move their account onto Microsoft Teams Free, but want to have their Skype user data exported, this article will be taking you through the required steps.
Exporting Skype User Data
To export the messages and media on Skype, sign in to the Export Page using the Microsoft account, and then select the option for downloading ‘Conversations’, ‘Files’, or ‘Both’. After this, click on ‘Submit request’ and press ‘Continue’ to proceed. Under ‘Available Exports’, users will be able to find the download link for the exported file (in ‘.tar’ format).
In order to open the downloaded file, users will have to install/run an additional application. On Windows 10/Windows 11, press ‘Windows’ + ‘r’ keys and open the Run window. On ‘Open: field’, type ‘cmd’ and proceed by clicking on ‘Ok’. Using ‘Change Directory or CD’, navigate to the file by command. Type in ‘tar -xvfYOURFILENAME_export.tar’ and press the ‘Enter’ key. In the directory, the downloaded file can later be found as ‘messages.json’. With the help of File Viewer, by selecting ‘index.html’, the ‘message.json’ file can be loaded and opened.
To export activity or diagnostic data, navigate to the Microsoft account > Privacy page. Sign in, and then from the tab at the top, click on ‘Download your data’. Select the ‘Create new archive option to export it.
To export purchase history, Sign in to the Skype account page and under ‘Account details’, find the ‘Purchase history’ option. Browse the required months, and either select ‘Download Monthly Statement’ or ‘Month VAT Invoice’.
To export paid calls history, again visit the Skype account page after signing in, and select ‘Usage’. Browse the required months and then click on ‘Export Current Month to History File’.
To export the list of Skype contacts, Sign in to Skype and under the ‘My Account’ page, find ‘Settings and Preferences’. By selecting ‘Export Contacts(.csv)’, the Skype contacts can be exported.
To export the list of reported users, go to the ‘I want to make a request regarding my personal data page’, sign in, fill out the form, request it on the ‘What do you need from the Privacy Team today’ section, and then click on ‘Submit’.
Also, do check out the four other alternatives to Skype that users can make use of here.
