It's Not Just You, Skype Is Down

Someone get us a flock of carrier pigeons or start a signal fire. Skype's instant messaging service has been up and down all morning, and even though Microsoft has said that it's "actively looking into" the problem, we already feel like a lonely island lost in a sea of unsent messages.

Alright, maybe the situation isn't as dire as all that. But Skype is currently unstable--we've noticed this morning that messages will be "Waiting" to send, be marked as "Sent," and then either disappear into the void or go back to "Waiting." Microsoft's Skype app for Windows 10 doesn't warn about this failure--you have to look at the itty-bitty text in the bottom-right corner of each message to figure out if it was actually sent.

Here's the extent of the information Microsoft has shared about the issue so far on its support page:

ActiveWe have identified an incident affecting our services and are actively looking into it.Update time:April 26, 2018, 9:28 AM by LeonasStart time:April 26, 2018, 9:00 AMAffected services:Instant messagingDescriptionSome users might be experiencing problems with instant messages (chat). There might be delays with sending or syncing messages.

You can keep an eye on that support page for more information. We'll also be on the lookout for Microsoft's explanation. Surely there's something sinister afoot--it's not like online services ever experience unexplained disruptions, right? In the meantime, you can either pretend not to have read this piece and enjoy the silence, or start collecting all the kindling you need to communicate with your far-flung colleagues.

Nathaniel Mott
Freelance News & Features Writer

Nathaniel Mott is a freelance news and features writer for Tom's Hardware US, covering breaking news, security, and the silliest aspects of the tech industry.

  • Ilya__
    They need to fire the entire Skype team and rehire, especially the UX people because of their recent UI changes.
    Reply
  • alan_rave
    It happens. The skype team does not respond correctly, that's the problem)
    Reply