How to Install Skype on Ubuntu 18.04

Skype is one of the most popular communication applications in the world that allows you to make free online audio and video calls, and affordable international calling to mobiles and landlines worldwide.

Skype is not an open-source application and it is not included in the Ubuntu repositories.

In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Skype on Ubuntu 18.04. The same instructions apply for Ubuntu 16.04 and any other Debian based distribution, including Kubuntu, Linux Mint and Elementary OS.

Prerequisites #

The user you are logged in as must have sudo privileges to be able to install packages.

Installing Skype on Ubuntu #

Complete the following steps to install Skype on Ubuntu.

1. Download Skype #

Open your terminal either by using the Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcut or by clicking on the terminal icon.

Download the latest Skype .deb package using the following wget command :

wget https://go.skype.com/skypeforlinux-64.deb

2. Install Skype #

Once the download is complete, install Skype by running the following command as a user with sudo privileges:

sudo apt install ./skypeforlinux-64.deb

You will be prompted to enter your password. The output will look something like this:

3. Start Skype #

Now that you have Skype installed on your Ubuntu desktop, you can start it either from the command line by typing skypeforlinux or by clicking on the Skype icon (Activities -> Skype):

When you start Skype for the first time, a window like the following will appear:

From here, you can sign in to Skype with your Microsoft Account and start chatting and talking with your friends and family.

Updating Skype #

During the installation process, the official Skype repository will be added to your system. Use the cat command to verify the file contents:

cat /etc/apt/sources.list.d/skype-stable.list

deb [arch=amd64] https://repo.skype.com/deb stable main

This ensures that your Skype installation will be updated automatically when a new version is released through your desktop standard Software Update tool.

Conclusion #

In this tutorial, you’ve learned how to install Skype on your Ubuntu 18.04 desktop.

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