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How To

5 Skype Tips and Tricks You Need to Know

Softonic Editorial Team

Softonic Editorial Team

  • Updated:

Skype’s popularity has skyrocketed with over 74 million users worldwide, and it’s even more useful when you know some simple tips and tricks. Here are a few of the extra features in Skype you probably aren’t aware of (yet):

1. Transfer Your Skype Contacts to Another Skype Account

5 Skype Tips and Tricks You Need to Know

If you decide to add or swap Skype accounts, you don’t have to lose all your contacts in the process. You can backup the contacts or transfer all of your contacts from one account to another. Go to the main Skype screen and click on “Contacts”. Then select “Advanced” and click the option to “Backup Contacts to File”. This action generates a file (in the .vcf format) that can be saved directly to your computer. If you would like to transfer these contacts into another Skype account, just select “Contacts” and choose the option called “Advanced”. Click the option “Restore Contacts From File”. That will let you load your contacts into a different Skype account.

2. Make Calls Using the List of Contacts

You can make calls directly to any of the contacts in your Skype list. Go to the main Skype page and choose the option “Tools”. From there, select “Options”. Here, click on “General Settings” and then put a checkmark in the box next to “When I double-click on a contact start a call”. Double-click on any of the contacts in the list and it will make the call immediately.

3. Edit a Message You Already Sent

Sometimes, you type in a message and accidentally typed something wrong. You can edit this message and resend it. Press the up arrow on the computer keyboard. This will bring up the last message that you sent. Make the changes directly from there and then resend the edited message.

4. Get Access to More Than 25 Additional (Secret!) Emoticons

Most users are unaware that there is a whole set of hidden smiley faces and emoticons that you can’t even see from the regular emoticons in Skype. You can access these using their shortcodes. Here are just a few of the shortcodes you can use to insert one of the hidden emoticons:

• (talk)

• (headbang)

• (bug)

• (u) — this is a broken heart

• (e) (m) — this is a mail icon

• (skype) — the Skype logo

You can get a complete listing of the hidden Skype emoticons and their shortcodes here.

5. Set Your Chat History to Automatically Delete

If you want to clear out your chat history, you can set Skype to automatically dispose of all chat messages and sessions as often as you like. Go to the main Skype screen and select “Tools”. Then click on “Options”. Now select “IM & SMS” and choose the selection called “IM Settings”. From there, choose “Show Advanced Options”. Next, click on “Clear History”. This will clear out all of your current chat histories. If you want to tell Skype to regularly cleanse your chat histories, proceed to “Show Advanced Options”. There, you can choose how long you want Skype to keep your chat history using the drop down menu.

If you love Skype, check out Line for even more online chatting options!

Softonic Editorial Team

Softonic Editorial Team

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