Why did I receive email from Microsoft stating that even data transferred from Skype to Teams will be deleted when Microsoft itself announced that we need to switch to MS Teams if we want to keep our data? (The email in comment)

Question

Why did I receive email from Microsoft stating that even data transferred from Skype to Teams will be deleted when Microsoft itself announced that we need to switch to MS Teams if we want to keep our data? (The email in comment)

p v 5

The email:

"Dear Skype user,

Starting April 1, 2026, we will be implementing changes to Skype chat and call history, which are accessible in the free version of Microsoft Teams, based on user activity. Here's what that means for you.

What's changing

If you were an active Skype user between December 2024 and February 2025 and then switched to the free version of Teams and used it before December 1, 2025, your Skype chat and call history will remain accessible through the free version of Teams.

If your account does not meet these criteria, starting April 1, 2026, we will begin the process of deleting any Skype history data from your account in the free version of Teams. This change only affects chat and call history that was originally created in Skype. Any new chats started in Teams will continue to be available.

If you want to keep a copy of your Skype history

You can export Skype data, including media, chat, and call history, using the Skype export portal accessible here" (had a link to make request to export your data)

.

ABOUT the part "What's changing":

So, that means all Skype data that migrated to Microsoft Teams, will be deleted, and only the new chats started in MS Teams (if you where active with Skype between December 2024 and February 2025) will remain? I don't understand. If yes, what was the meaning of migrate the Skype data (chat & history) to MS teams?

0 comments

5 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Dear All, I also received this email about my Teams Free account stating that Skype chats may be deleted after April 1, 2026. The account that I received this email at is actually inactive. I did not receive any email at my active account, though. My Skype chats were migrated in April 25 to my current Teams Free account and I have been active in Skype in Dec 24-Feb 25 and in Teams since the migration (being mostly just online). But how to get a confirmation whether my chat history will remain safe? I also have a Microsoft 365 subscription (separate account) - is there any possibility to move the chats from Teams Free to my Teams that is part of my Microsoft 365 subscription? Thank you!

Answer 2

With respect to viewing the exported chat history (messages.json file), then be advised that this file is provided in order to fulfil the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and therefore no attempt is made to make the viewed history user friendly. The data are provided essentially in the form how they are saved on the Cloud with a minimum post-processing.

If you want to have a more friendly view of the exported chat history, then you might search the Web for better parser software, but what I have been using is the vbExportViewer application.

Download this zip file (vbExportViewer.zip) from this OneDrive site:

https://1drv.ms/u/c/849db44edd75828c/UQCMgnXdTrSdIICE7fQAAAAAANpMMyJJIZ4Undo

Extract all files from this zip archive to 1 folder on your computer.

This folder should now contain these 4 files:

vbExportViewer.exe

ComDlg32.OCX

richtx32.Ocx

vbExportViewer.exe.local

It is important that all these 4 files are located in the same folder.

There is no installation tool, but in order to register the 2 .ocx files, it is required to run the first time (and only the first time) the vbExportViewer.exe file with the Run as Administrator option.

Right click on this file and select the "Run as administrator" option. This should open the viewer application.

User's image

Use the Browse button to browse and load the saved messages.json file. A list of all available conversations should now be shown in the All conversations box. Clicking on a particular conversation should open a window with all available messages present in this conversation. It is possible to have multiple conversations open at the same time in separate windows.

With this application, messages saved in the messages.json file are parsed to provide a more "human friendly" reading form incl. links to media files saved in the \media folder.

Answer 3

Ruwim.B 6,095 Volunteer Moderator

The email you have received from Microsoft might be confusing. Somewhat better explanation is provided in this support article under the heading: "Updates to Skype chat and call history in Teams Free"

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/skype/skype-is-retiring-in-may-2025-what-you-need-to-know-2a7d2501-427f-485e-8be0-2068a9f90472

"Which users will still see their Skype history in Teams Free?

If you were an active Skype user between December 2024 and February 2025 that then moved to, and used, Teams Free prior to December 1, 2025, your Skype chat and call history will remain accessible through Teams Free."

So, if you have moved to Teams before December 1, 2025, your entire Skype history will remain available in Teams- If you have moved to Teams later than December1 2025, the old Skype history will be removed from Teams.

To be sure that you have the records of your Skype chat and files history, you can export the entire history (since April 2017) from the Cloud.

https://secure.skype.com/en/data-export

The export file will cover all Skype chats incl. messages created when already in Teams, but chats created in Teams will not be included.

In order to export both Skype and Teams created chats, you can export the Teams chat history.

https://teams.live.com/dataexport

p v 5 Reputation points

2026-02-25T10:06:38.1+00:00

Hi

So, because your answer and the text copied from the Microsoft page confuse me a little, it states that if a user was active between December 2024 and February 2025, in this case, does "active" mean communicating with another users or simply being logged into Skype?

If I moved from Skype to Teams 10 months ago, my entire history Skype it will remain in Teams?
Ruwim.B 6,095 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-02-25T10:32:22.3933333+00:00

My understanding is that being logged into Skype should be enough, but I must admit that the formulation provided by Microsoft is not clear and is confusing. I will try to get more clarification on this issue.
Quinn.HP 8,580 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-02-25T15:30:35.5833333+00:00

Hi! Just to add, Microsoft does not clearly define what “active” means in this context, so it is not explicitly stated whether it requires messaging or simply signing in. In most cases, normal account use is typically considered activity, but the wording here is still somewhat unclear.

If you met both eligibility conditions (active during the stated period and moved to Teams Free before Dec 1, 2025), your migrated Skype history should remain available. Otherwise, it may be removed according to the policy.

For full certainty, exporting your data is the only guaranteed option.
p v 5 Reputation points

2026-02-28T15:15:43.8+00:00

@Quinn.HP

"If you met both eligibility conditions (active during the stated period and moved to Teams Free before Dec 1, 2025), your migrated Skype history should remain available. Otherwise, it may be removed according to the policy."

Since I am on official Microsoft forum, is there any way anyone can know 100% what it means to be active? Just logging in, or also chatting between those months?

.

.

"For full certainty, exporting your data is the only guaranteed option."

The problem for me with this is that in order to view the history, you have to use a browser via a specific process (viewer) provided by Microsoft to display it, and the chat does not appear in the best possible way.

I will reiterate this point: why would Microsoft indicate that we need to transfer our entire history to Teams if they subsequently inform us that the history will be deleted if certain conditions are not met?
p v 5 Reputation points

2026-02-28T15:19:06.18+00:00

@Ruwim.B

"I will try to get more clarification on this issue."

If it's easy, let me know. Thank you.
Ruwim.B 6,095 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-03-01T07:54:17.6266667+00:00

Sorry, but I still don't have more clarification on the Skype chats retention policy. It is not easy to get any information from Microsoft.

Answer 4

p v 5

Hello @Quinn.HP and thank you for your response.

(I'm writing this as an answer and not comment under your response because for some reason my comment deleted automatically "due to a violation of our Code of Conduct". I don't know why.)

.

What you probably didn't read, is why Microsoft gave us the option to transfer our chat and call history from Skype to MS Teams in the first place, since any history not created by MS Teams will be deleted in June 2026?

So, why did we have to transfer any history we had from Skype to Teams, since any history originally created in Skype will be deleted and anything created in Teams will remain?

Is there any way we can keep the entire Skype history that has been transferred to Teams without it being deleted? Regardless of whether we download it from the page (i.e., export it).

Thanks

Quinn.HP 8,580 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-02-24T09:33:54.1533333+00:00

Hello, you're welcome!

The transfer was provided to give a smooth transition from Skype to Teams and to allow users continued access to their conversations during the retirement process. It was not intended as a permanent guarantee that all migrated history would remain in Teams indefinitely.

This does not mean all non-Teams messages will automatically be deleted for everyone. The retention rules apply only to Skype-originated history stored in Teams Free and depend on the published eligibility criteria. You will keep your Skype history in Teams Free if you were an active Skype user between December 2024 and February 2025 and you moved to and used Teams Free before December 1, 2025. If these conditions are not met, the migrated Skype history may be removed. New chats created directly in Teams will remain available.

Unfortunately, there is no option to permanently retain all migrated Skype history inside Teams beyond the official retention policy. The only guaranteed way to keep a complete copy is by exporting your data using the official export tools.

And also to add, based on the article they have extended it until June 2026, instead of April. Feel free to ask if you need any further clarification.

Reference:
https://support.microsoft.com/skype/skype-is-retiring-in-may-2025-what-you-need-to-know-2a7d2501-427f-485e-8be0-2068a9f90472

Answer 5

Quinn.HP 8,580 Independent Advisor

Hello, I'm Quinn and here to help!

No. Not all migrated Skype data will be deleted. Only Skype chat and call history in the free version of Teams will be deleted for accounts that don’t meet the activity requirements. If you meet the requirements, your Skype history stays. New chats created directly in Teams will remain. The migration was meant to help users transition — not to guarantee permanent storage. You don't have to click any links inside the email. To stay safe and keep a permanent copy of your data, you can go directly to the official Skype export page.

This article explains how to export your Skype data:

https://support.microsoft.com/skype/how-do-i-export-or-delete-my-skype-data-84546e00-2fef-4c45-8ef6-3a27f83242cc

Deleted

This comment has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The comment was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.
Deleted

This comment has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The comment was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.
Deleted

This comment has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The comment was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.
Deleted

This comment has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The comment was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.
Deleted

This comment has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The comment was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.

Share via

Why did I receive email from Microsoft stating that even data transferred from Skype to Teams will be deleted when Microsoft itself announced that we need to switch to MS Teams if we want to keep our data? (The email in comment)

5 answers

Your answer