Most of us use Skype every day. It is a good, easy and free way to communicate. But what if it’s not working? What to do then? Well, here are few steps to take in your quest to resolve the issue.
1. Check the basic stuff
First you need to do the most obvious stuff. Check if you have entered your Skype name and password correctly, check if you have working internet connection, try closing Skype and opening it again. You could even restart the computer. These are simple actions that will help you understand if you actually have a real problem or it is some kind of one time mistake or error.
2. Is it a global problem?
If you actually have a problem with using Skype, then it is a good idea to first check if it is a global problem. Sometimes this happens to the Skype network. There is a special website, made to keep us informed for these kinds of issues. Visit heartbeat.skype.com and check for the latest posts. If there is currently a global problem you will find information there.
3. Google it
Since it is not some mistakes and it is not a global problem, it is time to get serious and Google it. In most cases you will be getting an exact error message, which is good. Write it in Google exactly how you see it and hit Enter to search for solutions. Include the error code if there is one. If the error message is too long, just search for the first part of it. Even if the problem does not include an error message, you can describe it with your own words. In most cases you will find forum threads or even full articles explaining the problem and possible solutions.
You can make your search more precise with Google commands. For example you can search only in the official Skype forums by using the command site: and then the website name. Just include this before your search query: site:community.skype.com.
4. Take matters into your own hands
If Google did not help you then things are even more serious. It is time to get your hands dirty and try some things that may help with a variety of Skype related problems. For example you can uninstall the program and then install it again or try another version of the program.
If it does not work you can delete the Shared.xml and Shared.lck files. This sometimes helps. To find these two files do the following: type in the address bar of windows explorer %appdata%/Skype and hit Enter. After you delete them try to open Skype again.
Another general problem solving tip is to use the Windows tool called System Restore to turn back time for your system and go to the date before the problem occurred. This can be used to solve many software related issues.
5. Seek help
If nothing helped you have no choice but to ask someone to help you. You can ask a friend, an online forum or the Skype support team. You choose. If you prefer a forum the best thing to do is to go to the official Skype forum and start a thread there.
You can also contact the Skype team but do not think it is as easy as dropping them an email. Follow these steps to actually contact them:
- Visit their support website at: http://support.skype.com/
- Please try to find an answer to your question first by searching their Knowledge Base.
- If you do not find an answer, click “Get more help” in the far-right column
- Sign-in using your Skype account username and password
- Select Email Support
- Fill out the form with as much information as possible and click the “Send Support Request” button at the end.
It’s very common sometimes that Sykpe doesn’t work. Hope with the tips above, you will be able to at least do something to determine what are the causes and try to resolve the problem. Happy Skype-ing!
[Read also: 5 Facts You Should Know About VoIP Services]
Thoughts, suggestions, comments? Please leave them below.
Hey Nikolay, I am using Skype from 3 years 😀
And i think it is the best way to talk with others and voice quality is too superb then gmail or others.
I never faced any problem. BTW Thanks for your tips, I will share it with my Friends.
Thanks for sharing this post.
Hi. No problems for 3 years. I guess you are pretty lucky then :). I would still recommend to everyone to export at least one time all they contacts. Because loosing them is the worst that could happen.
Hi Nikolay, I have noticed that the skype support folks are a lot more helpful if you are not using a free account. If you are a paying customer it is much easier to get help, this goes especially true for a lost password.
Interesting. It could be true. Have not tried a paid account. But it should not be like that. If I have went through all the trouble and all the steps to contact them, then they should at least read the email, not just sent me an automated response that has nothing to do.
Usually if I am not sure if a site or service is having some form of an outage I just get on Twitter and see if anyone is saying anything about it. If something is down they are usually the first to know about it. That happened to me with hotmail not long ago. I couldn’t login no matter what. So I went on over to Twitter and sure enough there were people talking about it at the time. At least I knew it wasn’t my computer or connection.
Hi. Yeah that is a good tip too. Another thing is to search in google and limit the results to results from the same day from the menu in the left :). But for Skype there is a special site too, which helps i these situations.
Interesting tips. For most of my issue about my Skype account, I usually just find it on Google, it will be great to have some alternatives. Helpful tips as well from the commenters. 🙂
this article helped me a lot for understanding and shooting troubles of my skype. Tanks a lot.
Great. I am glad :).
Commonly, problems arise when you don’ have the audio configurations checked. You can find this in Call>Audio Settings which can be found at Skype’s Main Menu. Configure this according to what is currently connected to your computer or laptop and everything will go well.
Skype hardly has issues nowadays! It works great after Microsoft has taken over it 🙂 CHeers to that!
Hello!
I use Skype since many years and had no problem until I tried to call a French number.
That phone number does not work and the call ends without ringing.
Their chatting help was REALLY not helpful, they just told me that they are going to email me when they know… (=no explanation on the problem, no date regarding when I will be contacted).
Then I figured out myself in searching on the web that the phone I call is not yet supported by Skype.
It is a 07 mobile phone, and they started to appear in 2010….(we are in 2012…)
I did contact back the online chat for telling them what is the issue. They just told me that I have to be patient and they DO NOT WANT TO GIVE ME an approximate date of availability.
More than disappointing….
If anybody knows how long it takes(and if they are going to do it at all…), please let me know!
Thanks!
Tiz