How to Delete Your Skype Account

Skype is a great communication tool for touching base with a family member, friend, or business associate through text, voice, and video chat. If you want to delete your account because you want to use a different service or you no longer need Skype, deleting your Skype account is a multi-step process that can be tricky depending on your profile details.

Your Skype profile is tied to your Microsoft account. If you delete your Skype account, you disable your Microsoft account, and you can't access Windows, Xbox Live, Outlook.com, and other Microsoft services. You can disable the paid aspects of Skype you signed up for to stop paying for a service you don't use.

How to Disable Paid Skype Subscriptions

Although many of Skype's features are free to use, you can purchase credits or subscriptions to use advanced functionality and services. If you fall into this category and no longer plan to use Skype, take the following steps to ensure you're not billed in the future:

Open a web browser and sign in to Skype.
On the My Account screen, scroll to the Account details section and, under Billing and payments, select Credit Auto-recharge.
If the blue button on the next screen says Enable, this feature isn't active, and you can return to the previous screen. If it says Disable, click it and follow the prompts to turn off the Auto-recharge feature.
Check the contents of the left-menu pane to confirm whether or not you have any active Skype subscriptions. If you do, follow the prompts to cancel these subscriptions.
As a final and optional precaution, remove any payment methods you have on file. To do so, click Billing information in the left pane.
On the next screen, click Payment details.
The next section shows the credit cards that are saved to your account. Click Delete to remove these cards.

Removing a payment method from this screen deletes it from other places in your Microsoft account.

How to Delete Your Account Details From the Skype Database

Completely deleting your Skype account also means losing your Microsoft account, access to the Windows operating system, and other applications and services. However, you can remove your account details from the database, making it harder (or impossible in some areas) for others to locate you on Skype. Here's how.

Despite taking these actions, you'll never be totally hidden. Users who have previously contacted you can select your name in their Skype application. Still, taking these steps will keep you somewhat off the grid.

On the My Account screen of Skype, scroll down, and select Edit Profile.
In the Personal Information section, click the Edit Profile button.
Delete all of the information you want to remove, both from this section and Contact Details beneath it.

You won't be able to remove some information, like your email address.
Scroll to the Profile settings section, then remove the checkmark next to Appear in search results and suggestions.
Click Save to save your changes.

How to Delete a Skype for Business Account

Skype for Business accounts work differently from personal accounts. If you have a Skype for Business account you want to delete, reach out to your account administrator. Since these accounts are part of the Microsoft 365 administrator portal, the person or team in charge of Skype in your organization will handle the deletion process.

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