Skype Translator
by Microsoft
Skype Translator was Microsoft’s speech and text translation feature for Skype calls and chats. It provided live translated captions and machine-translated instant messages across supported languages.
Reason for Shutdown
Microsoft retired Skype on May 5, 2025, directing users to Microsoft Teams Free. Because Skype Translator was integrated into Skype rather than offered as a standalone product, it was retired with the service.
💵 Pricing & access
- Pricing model
- Not documented
- Starting at
- No longer sold
- Official site
- Visit Skype Translator →
🩺 Health Signals
- HTTP Status
- 200
- Response
- —
- SSL
- —
- Confidence
- 97%
- Domain expires
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- Last content change
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- Last tweet
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- API status
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📅 Timeline
Preview program begins
Microsoft opened the Skype Translator preview for Windows 8.1, initially supporting spoken translation between English and Spanish and text translation in more than 40 languages.
Translator rolls out to Skype for Windows
Skype announced the rollout of Skype Translator to Skype for Windows desktop users, expanding access beyond the separate preview application.
Real-time captions and translations expand
Skype documented live subtitles and translation capabilities for voice and video calls, continuing Translator as an integrated accessibility and communication feature.
Microsoft announces Skype retirement
Microsoft announced that Skype would be retired in May 2025 and encouraged users to move to Microsoft Teams Free.
Skype and Translator retire
Skype was retired on May 5, 2025. Its integrated Translator feature consequently ceased operating as a Skype product.
🔄 Alternatives to Skype Translator
DeepL Translator
🟢ActiveDeepL Translator is a neural machine translation service from DeepL SE. It translates typed text, documents, and supported websites across multiple languages through web, desktop, mobile, browser, and API products.
Google Translate
🟢ActiveGoogle Translate is a multilingual machine-translation service for translating text, documents, websites, images, handwriting, and speech. It is available on the web and through mobile apps and developer APIs.
Naver Papago
🟢ActiveNaver Papago is a neural machine translation service from South Korea's Naver. Its web and mobile apps translate text, speech, images, documents, websites, and conversations across supported languages.
📰 Related Articles
🪦 Other dead Translation tools
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What was Skype Translator?
Skype Translator was a Microsoft feature that translated spoken conversation during Skype voice and video calls and translated text in Skype chats.
Is Skype Translator still available?
No. Microsoft retired Skype on May 5, 2025, so Skype Translator is no longer available as an integrated Skype feature.
When was Skype Translator launched?
Microsoft opened the Skype Translator preview program on December 15, 2014. It later rolled the technology into Skype for Windows desktop in 2015.
How did Skype Translator work?
It used Microsoft speech recognition, machine translation, and speech synthesis to produce translated call audio or captions, while chat messages could be machine-translated as text.
What are the best Skype Translator alternatives?
Current alternatives include Google Translate for text and conversation translation, DeepL Translator for text and document translation, and Naver Papago for multilingual text, voice, and image translation.