Skype cannot be uninstalled through the control panel. Complete removal of Skype on your computer or phone

Many people have a question: how to completely delete Skype? At first glance, people think that it is very simple to do, in fact, there are many features that are worth considering in the process of removing it. Nowadays, billions of people around the world use Skype; there may be a huge number of reasons why it should be deleted. But we will look at how to do it correctly in this article.

Before you start, think about exactly how you want to get rid of it. There can be two options:

Simply uninstall the entire program;
Removing the program and all hidden files.

Skype itself saves certain archives on the computer. If you perform standard deletion, they will remain. And when you download it to your computer again, you can read all the messages and just view the history. If you clear all archives, you will not have this option during a new installation.

Removal instructions

To get rid of various problems when deleting Skype, it is better to follow the following instructions; by following them, you can do everything without much effort.

Log into the operating system as an administrator;
Open the “Task Manager”, you can open it using “Start” or the standard key combination “Ctrl+Alt+Delete” (press all keys at the same time);
For the security of your system, it is recommended to make a copy of the registry. After all, if you close a specific process, it can damage your computer. This can be done using Revo Uninstaller, CCleaner and others;
In the task manager you need to find all processes associated with Skype. As a rule, they bear this name. We select the process and simply terminate its work.

Such actions are necessary primarily so that in the future he can calmly leave. After all, if even one process is running, you won’t be able to do anything. When you complete all these steps, we proceed directly to complete removal.

We follow the clear step-by-step instructions below:

How to delete Skype - it's actually very simple. You just need to follow all the instructions, and then you will definitely succeed. But, it is worth noting that such removal will leave some Skype components on the computer; to remove them too, read on to the instructions.

How to completely remove Skype from your computer - you can do it yourself.

To do this, you need to find the Skype folder on your computer. All archives are always saved in it, and we simply delete it. This folder can be located anywhere; you choose its location yourself during installation. When you delete all archives, all correspondence history and other information that was stored will be lost. Please note that sometimes such archives may be protected. It must be removed using known methods.

Removal using Uninstaller Pro

To make your life easier, you can use special programs that will help you remove all of Skype and all its components at once. Such programs can remove not only Skype, but also other programs. So installing it won't hurt you in the future. One of these can be called uninstaller pro.

It's incredibly easy to remove. Just follow these steps:

As you can see, the process itself is not complicated. You just need to strictly follow all the instructions and everything will work out.

Reasons for deleting Skype

Quite often, users of a popular communication tool need to know how to completely remove Skype. There are two most popular reasons for this phenomenon. The first of them is that the program begins to work incorrectly, and reinstalling it does not solve the problem, since old files continue to remain in the system, still causing errors, crashes, and the like. The second reason is that Skype regularly releases new versions, and their full successful operation is implied only with the complete removal of all old components of the application, which otherwise could cause various conflicts.

Stage one

The first stage is preparatory. Accordingly, it is carried out before deleting Skype. Its essence is to save important user information. Here you should understand that all key data associated with the user account is stored on Skype's own servers. Thus, you don’t have to worry about them. But snapshots, instant messages, and the like are stored directly on the computer and will be deleted if the program is completely uninstalled. To save them, you need to use the command line, into which you should enter “%appdata%\skype”. You can call it by pressing the “Win + R” combination or using the “Start” menu. In the second case, for Windows XP you should click “Run”, and for newer versions you can simply enter this command in the “Search” field. Confirm your actions by pressing the “Ok” key, then a window will open in which the user who wants to delete Skype should be interested in two folders. One of them is called “Pictures”, and the name of the second matches the owner’s login. They should be copied to any convenient place, otherwise they will be deleted permanently.

Second phase

The second stage is the simplest, since you need to remove Skype here in simple mode using the standard capabilities of the operating system. To do this, open the “Start” menu, select “Control Panel” and find the “Add or Remove Programs” item in it. After selecting this item, a list of all programs installed on your computer will appear, in which you should find Skype. Then you need to select it with the left mouse button and press the right one. Thus, a context menu will become available, in which you should click “Delete”.

Third stage

This and subsequent stages are carried out with the aim of completely clearing the system of outdated program files, since uninstalling Skype through the control panel is only one of the steps to clear the system of all program components. Here we again need the command line, which can be called in any of the convenient ways described above. Enter the command “%appdata%” into it and click “OK”. In the window that opens, find and delete the “Skype” folder.

Fourth stage

The fourth stage is the final one on the path to mastering the knowledge of how to remove Skype. This step consists of a final cleanup of the system, which is carried out through the registry editor. You can access it using the same command line, for which you should enter the entry “regedit” in its field. Next, you should use the “Edit” menu, in which select the “Find” item. Type “skype” into the search bar and delete all the results obtained, the total number of which is about 50.

Removing programs from a computer requires a different approach to this operation depending on the complexity of the programs themselves. Some are simple, just select and press the “delete” button, others, which are installed in the root of the computer, require step-by-step instructions, and many of them require the elimination of local folders for complete removal.

Uninstalling a program such as Skype requires first shutting down and exiting it completely. To do this, in the program window you need to click on its icon in the panel at the top, and in the drop-down window you need to select “exit” from the list. Now you can begin to remove the program from the computer itself along with the created account.

Features of removing Skype from a computer depending on the installed operating systems

Removal from Windows OS

For uninstall Skype with Windows you need to follow the following path: open the “Start” panel, go to “Settings”, where select “Control Panel”. In this panel there is a section “Add and Remove Programs”, where Skype should be in the general list. This program is selected and the “Delete” task is set to be executed.

If you have OS Linux

The difference from the previous version is the very peculiarity of the structure of this operating system. In it you need to go to the “System” tab, visit “Administration”, where select “Synaptic Package Manager”. Skype is located here, which is highlighted and deleted at the request of the user.

Removing Skype from MAC OS

Here, slightly different actions are possible if you need to uninstall Skype in your operating system. You can simply drag the program icon to the trash, or the Skype folder itself.

In cases where difficulties arise in understanding the stages of removing programs, there is a very convenient APP Cleaner program, the task of which is to help remove unnecessary applications without following any sequences to access the installation location of these programs.

Problems deleting an account created on Skype

If there is a need to completely delete your page created in Skype, then the creators of this software did not think of such a possibility. Deleting your account by force is not possible. The only thing that is included in the terms of this application is the removal of your own page from the list of active ones after three days, during which time you did not log into Skype. But then, the next time you log in, the page is reactivated and continues to function.

Very often we are faced with the irrelevance of some programs for comfortable PC operation. This article will tell you how to delete Skype from your computer with all the personal data that is necessarily saved on your PC.

First way

1. Close the Skype program. This condition must be met. Otherwise, you will not be able to remove Skype from your computer .
Press the "Windows" or "Start" - "Run" key on your keyboard.
Enter " appwiz.cpl».
Find the Skype program and click “Delete”.

After this, you can completely remove Skype from your computer. It is worth understanding that personal data can be saved in the “Skype” folder in C: Program Files. You need to delete them manually using the Del key. After this, be sure to restart the computer and check whether Skype was completely removed.

Second way

Closing Skype
Go to “Start” - “Control Panel” - “Programs” - “Uninstall a program”
Choose Skype
Click “Delete” and follow the instructions.

In most cases, there are no difficulties when uninstalling Skype. But other corrupted applications and viruses may cause some problems. You can check whether the program has been removed from your computer in C:Program Files.

The Skype folder may be located in a different place, and this will indicate that there are still Skype files on the computer. In order to check the presence of program components, enter into “Start” - “Run” - skype.exe. When the program is completely uninstalled, there are no Skype components in the system.

The Skype program must be installed from the official website. This will avoid problems with its use and removal. The program's extensive capabilities, automatic updates and user-friendly interface will never lead you to the question of how to remove Skype from your computer.

I won’t go into too much detail about what this program is. Almost every user uses this convenient means of communication. But sometimes you need to find out How to completely remove Skype from your computer and destroy all traces of it.

The reasons can be very different, and this is not about them. Let’s look at the removal method in more detail. I can give my own example - I think that a telephone is quite enough, but a parallel means of communication only takes up time. In principle, everyone must decide for themselves.

Okay, let's get down to business. On Windows 10, Skype is installed by default. You don't need to install it, it's built into Windows, just like the Microsoft Edge browser. The difference with the regular downloadable version is the rather original name. This is a tiled type called "Skype Preview".

Let's look at deletion. We eliminate it in the usual way, but, if, before starting the process, you need to exit it. Right-click on the tray icon and select the line “Exit”.

Win + R – keyboard shortcut to enter the appwiz.cpl command.

Open the “Programs and Features” window and look for your version. I have Skype 7.31 and activate the deletion by clicking the right button.

Sometimes you may see an additional window where confirmation is performed again.

This specific Windows security can appear or be disabled. But the next window will definitely hang and you have to wait until it disappears on its own.

Do not pay attention to the browser that opens, where they express regret that you deleted Skype, as well as a mess with a proposal to explain the reasons for this action.

I advise you not to waste time and just close it.

Does everything seem okay? But there is a possibility that there will be leftovers, which will remain for now. I’ll explain why I don’t recommend doing this for Windows 10. Searching for leftovers leads to the possibility of deleting some of the firmware files. It will not be possible to delete this version of Skype itself, because information about the lack of data for deletion will be displayed.

What to do in this case? The fancy gadget Windows PowerShell will help. To call it, right-click on the taskbar and activate the search. Then we enter this name and get such a window to appear.

Select the “Run as administrator” section after right-clicking on Windows PowerShell.

Click “Yes” after the next window appears on the monitor.

The next one will appear like this.

Here everything is similar to the command line, where an entry is entered to remove the built-in Windows 10 program. After such an operation, it is impossible to return the tiled option. And why, by and large, is it needed? Regular Skype is still much better, and it can be uninstalled and installed an unlimited number of times. Clear? Then enter the command Get-AppxPackage *skypeapp* | Remove-AppxPackage.

Then in the window, after pressing enter, the following line appears.

This indicates that deletion is in progress. And finally you will see this image.

It seems like nothing is visible? So that's great! This means that no mistakes were made. By opening the Start menu, you can see that there is an empty space where Skype was.

Compare with what happened before.

Do you think you've already seen everything? But no! This removal was performed in a standard manner. But you still need to clean your computer of debris. I think the most effective program for this is . But let’s still do everything more reliably, that is, by hand. Open system drive C and enter Skype in the search field.

All files with the specified word will be found. Quite a lot of them will appear, including those located on the desktop. Now you need to look carefully so that nothing you need is on the list. The search result will look like this.

All this without a doubt refers to garbage. But I highly recommend performing a restore point. Right-click the Start icon and select System.

After checking the selection of the system disk, click “Create”.

I advise you to indicate in the window that appears the name of the control point - “Before deleting Skype remnants.”

Another window will freeze on the monitor for a few seconds.

Finally, you will see a message indicating that the process completed successfully.

And at the end there will be a message about the successful creation of a restore point.

Now you can safely select and delete everything you see fit.

The Unlocker item is a designation for a program designed to delete files that normally do not want to be deleted. Having activated “Delete”, we receive a message where we click on “Yes”.

We put a tick in the box when we receive another message.

If this window starts to re-display, you can perform the Skip action. Deletion will not occur, but after right-clicking on the selected files and selecting Unlocker, in the new window click on the confirmation item.

The search must be updated for each folder and file by pressing F5. The procedure is quite long, but as a result we get the desired result.

The next stage is removing junk from the registry. Open the registry editor and write in the Skype search window. It is important to consider here that the search is performed separately for each document. The file is found, and the process immediately stops. Then the search is resumed only after the selection is deleted. Although the procedure is labor-intensive, it is reliable. No utility can remove garbage so thoroughly.

Once completed, you will see a window.

On the one hand, it will take a lot of time and patience. But there is nothing super complicated either. And there is more confidence in the results if the entire process was done with your own hands with visual control.