I have unlinked my Microsoft account according to your instructions, but now Windows allows ONLY a Microsoft account in order to sign in from the Skype app. Worse yet, Skype’s login page refuses to go away when attempting to cancel signing in. The app can only be killed in Task Manager. Is there no way around this fascistic demand to ONLY use a Microsoft account — which I never use — in order to use Skype?

It’s just so stupid! If those two so “highly integrated” let your MS account be the same as Skype’s. What if I have multiple Skype accounts that I am using for different purposes – like for business, for family, for friends — how to sign-in to those? I don’t understand such approach as to “link” accounts. To me it looks like Skype’s team is doing everything to make their product unacceptable by users.

I’m getting increasingly fed up with Microsoft’s arrogance and blatant disregard for 30+ years of research on human-computer interfaces.

I was trying to set up a laptop for my 90 year old father, who suffers from dementia. Needless to say, I needed to “keep everything as simple as possible, but no simpler”, to paraphrase Einstein.

Naturally, this means NO PASSWORD of any kind, anywhere. Because the laptop is physically secure, and will never leave their apartment, this won’t pose a huge risk.

As I was putting the finishing touches on the installation, I decided it would be nice to install Skype so Dad & I can video chat.

BIG mistake…Skype insisted (or seemed to) on password protecting Dad’s login. This is *completely* unacceptable, so now I get to go through all this rigamarole, and try to remove any references to an MS account, anywhere.

Thanks very much for the info!

It´s a terrific change – after it automatically linked to my microsoft-account, including my outlook.com account I saw with not one exception all my saved phone-numbers added to some kind of skype-contacts. Of course this will belong to my lumia phone – but that´s terrific. Automatically, out of the blue. Yesterday I unlinked my skype-account as in the description above- today it was linked to it again..although I checked if it was unlinked really by accessing my microsoft-account settings one more time. I commiserate those who can´t find alternatives to microsoft soon. I can only call for Linux – it seems to be uncomfortable but in my opinion everyone that has got the knowledge will switch to it or sth. else in the near future. Those changes are unbearable…governments need more power to set bounds to worsening companies.

best regs, random user

The ‘unlink’ button is no longer available. Not sure when this happened as I had previously unlinked my hotmail account from Skype. But now they’re linked again – I imagine automatically during one of the updates – and the ‘unlink’ option has been removed.

You can no longer unlink your Skype account as of 2017. The only option you are left with is to delete your entire Microsoft account (this will delete your Technet, your Office 365, and Hotmail accounts too!) I have confirmed this with Skype support as well as it’s posted on their website. I am so very upset by this as I’ve accidentally “linked” the accounts by downloading the Windows Update (Skype program), don’t wish to have all the Skype junk in my Hotmail or be “published” in the “Skype phone book” but I have no recourse except to delete my 18-year-old Hotmail account! You can add MS services to your account willy-nilly, but can’t remove any; you are stuck with them for life if you do. Horrible. I have learned my lesson and will never sign up for another MS service again!

pls help

If we were not as savage society we would’ve had laws for things like this. We could’ve sued Microsoft and they would’ve paid for all the time wasted and stress and anger accumulated because of their incompetence and unwillingness to keep the accepted standards by the community.

F you Microsoft!!! you managed to ruin Skype.

What the hell, man? This wasn’t a “tutorial,” and it definitely didn’t show us how to “UNLINK” a Skype account from a Microsoft account, as the title of your article deceptively implies. All you did was give us links to places where we could whine about how much we HATE having them linked. You’re as bad as Skype! You promise us an actual SOLUTION, but you give us useless crap instead. SHAME ON YOU.

For months I have had issues with my outlook acc. both on my phone and PC. I cannot plug my phone in since the plug broke but frequently i’ll look up a person on my phone an out of the blue that contact has been deleted. I have tried for months to fix my outlook contacts on PC but always end up getting crap linked to Skype as well. I recently was able to combine some contacts info but would really like to get the dumb Skype link to my contacts disabled to stop the changes that happen without my knowing its happening. I think the link between my Nokia 810 Win 8 and my PC are messing up my contacts but having Skype is not helping. Plus I do not use Skype.

Somehow, my Microsoft account is linked to my official Skype. Please help.

This inability to unlink from Microsft truly SUCKS, and is akin to forcing users to be Microsoft clients/customers. It also doesn’t work as well as previously, so much for MS’s touted “services”.
Oh, well… I guess we’ll be forced to use Apple Facetime, and try to teach THAT to my 90 yr. old mother, who still uses Skype…

Not only did I not want the new format Skype, and not only did I not want all my hundreds of old contact addresses in Outlook(Hotmail) on my skype account, but what happened is when Microsoft linked them together, they deleted my outlook password and replaced it with my Skype password,…and only by chance did it occur to me to try this out, altogether very unprofessional and frankly pathetic

I used Skype from the beginning. Wonderful product, everyone love it, it was revolutionary in linking loved ones and friends all over the world. Then Microsoft purchased and ruined it. I seem to have two accounts with Microsoft for Skype, one original and one with my msn email, and maybe two different credit cards attached to these accts, which is worrisome as their dummy websites won’t let me see my credit card info for my Skype account either. The whole way they have dumbed down all the Microsoft products for us power users is simply appalling, and now I can still log into skype with my Skype Acct User Name and probably a different one with my msn email address and password. Because I unlinked in a very complicated annoying process several years ago. This is a mess, as you know. I have problems again as of my forces update today, 13 July 2018.

Today, i found that Microsoft is now automatically linking existing Skype-only IDs as Microsoft accounts as you can see from Account Details section after you log into Skype Web. They do this harrasment WITHOUT any prompt and seems mandatory action. Now almost every Skype account is recognized as Microsoft accounts and existing Microsoft accounts are automatically affiliated with Skype without any prompt.

Microsoft pissed me off and i have no will to use Skype any longer as they completely ruined the platform including the client.

I have the same issue. Microsoft will not let me close my old Microsoft account without also closing my linked Skype account and losing my hundreds of contacts. There is no way to import them into my new Skype account. The BBB seems helpless. This is outrageous. The only recourse is to take this case to the U.S. and European agencies that regulate Microsoft.