thearchivist.funWindows Live Messenger is folded into Skype
TechCrunch reported on 15 February 2013 that Microsoft would move Windows Live Messenger users to Skype. For most users the process would begin on 8 April. English-language users went first, the Brazilian Portuguese version would follow no earlier than 30 April, and a small number of users were due to move on 15 March. The change did not apply to users in mainland China. The report did not say what would happen to contacts and gave no total user count. It describes a transition rather than a deletion: the service was being replaced by another product, and the earlier client was the part that went away. For a researcher, this kind of closing is easy to miss. No page disappears and no shutdown clock is announced as such. The thing that ends is a program, its protocol and the habits attached to it.
Context and provenance
Take the phrase 'upgraded to Skype' as a description from the company's side. A user's old contact list, status messages and chat history may or may not have followed, and the source read here does not say. Use it for the dates and the exclusion of mainland China, and look for a second source before saying what data was kept.
When citing, give the date of the user's own transition if you know it, because the rollout was staged by language.
If you need to show what a Messenger conversation looked like, say whether your evidence is a screenshot, an exported log or a recollection, and give its date. The staged rollout means two people could have lost the old client on different days, so always name the person's own transition date when you know it.
Transmission timeline
- 2013-02-15
The transition plan is reported.
- 2013-03-15
A small number of users are due to be moved.
- 2013-04-08
The transition begins for most users, English-language users first.
Why it matters
A messaging client can be retired by absorption into another product, which leaves no shutdown date but still ends a way of communicating.
What remains uncertain
Contact and chat-history handling is not stated in the source. Dates reflect a plan, not a verified completion.
Sources and evidence
- TechCrunch: Windows Live Messenger will be upgraded to Skype starting on April 8
8 April start for most users, staged by language, 15 March early group, mainland China excluded.
Editorial review: 2026-10-22. New evidence may change this account.