For all the fancy new ways of being able to get in touch with people via voice chat these days, Skype continues to mix it up with the best of them. The software has had a particularly interesting journey on Windows. Since being bought by Microsoft, it was effectively split into two apps – the Modern app you get from the Windows Store and the desktop app. In 2018 these apps effectively converged into one, with Skype 8 and the “Modern” app now sharing the exact same interface.
As of September 2018, you can record Skype voice and video calls directly through the app, and we’ll show you how to do it.
Record Skype Calls in Skype 8/Modern App
You may not realise it, but the “Modern” Skype app comes baked into your Windows 10 OS. Just click the Start menu, type “Skype” and it will appear right there. (It’s the one with the square icon, whereas the desktop version has a round icon.) Right now, downloading the latest desktop version is just the same as having the “Modern” app, and the option to download “Classic” Skype has been removed from Microsoft’s website (though you can still find it in other places).
If, for some reason, you don’t have the latest version of Skype (if you forcefully uninstalled your Windows apps, for example), you can download it here.
Once Skype 8/Modern is up and running, call whomever you want to call. (Note that at this point you can only record Skype-to-Skype calls, not calls to regular networks.)
Once you’re in the call, click the “+” icon at the bottom-right of the chat screen, and the option “Start recording” will appear. Click this to start recording.
Note that everyone in the chat will be made aware that they are being recorded, so we recommend full disclosure before you’re about to do it, otherwise it may lead to potential paranoia and awkwardness.
You can click the “+” icon again, then “Stop recording” to stop recording at any point, or you can just leave the recording on, and it will end automatically when you finish your conversation.
Once the chat is over, you and the other participants of the chat will receive a link to the recording in your Skype chat. This stays there for thirty days before being deleted, and in that time you can download it to your hard drive. Just right-click the recording thumbnail, click “Save as” or “Save to,” and save it to wherever you want.
Record Skype Calls in Skype Classic and Older
We’ll preface this by saying that Microsoft plans to drop support for classic, old-school Skype in November 2018, forcing you to adopt Skype 8 or the Modern app. Microsoft has backtracked on this before, however, due to reported instability and problems with the modern versions, but as it stands, the old versions are on their way out.
Regardless, if you want to record calls on older versions of Skype while it lasts, you’ll need to use a third-party app. We recommend DVDVideoSoft Video Call Recorder, which lets you record both mp4 video and mp3 audio.
Conclusion
You should now be set up for recording with Skype. The recording feature integrated into the latest Skype versions has been a long time coming, but it’s good to see it working properly now that it’s here. If you’re holding off the latest Skype versions until you’re sure that the old ones are gone, then at least you have your recording cools prepared come what may!
Content Manager at Make Tech Easier. Enjoys Android, Windows, and tinkering with retro console emulation to breaking point.
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