3 Ways to Install Skype on Ubuntu 22.04/20.04 Desktop

This tutorial is going to show you 3 ways to install Skype on Ubuntu 22.04/20.04 desktop:

  • install Skype from the official repository
  • install Skype from the Snap store
  • install Skype from Flathub.

Skype for Linux now supports the following features:

  • Group text chat and audio calls
  • One-to-one and group video calls (camera needed)
  • Calling a phone number (mobile and landlines) with Skype Credit
  • The ability to send files and photos
  • web link preview: show a preview of the content in URL
  • Youtube video preview
  • @mention notifications

Please note that only 64 bit OS is supported by Skype for Linux edition.

How to Install Skype on Ubuntu 22.04/20.04 from Official Repository

Open up a terminal window and run the following command to add Skype Linux client repository to your system. You will need to enter your password.

echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://repo.skype.com/deb stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/skype-stable.list

Then use the following two commands to fetch and install Skype public key so that APT package manager can verify the integrity of downloaded packages from this repo.

wget https://repo.skype.com/data/SKYPE-GPG-KEY 

sudo apt-key add SKYPE-GPG-KEY

Since this repository is using HTTPS protocol, we also need to install the apt-transport-https package.

sudo apt install apt-transport-https

Now all left to do is to update our software source and install skypeforlinux package, which is around 69 MB of size.

sudo apt update

sudo apt install skypeforlinux

Once installed, you can start Skype for Linux from the application menu or use the command below.

skypeforlinux

Once you are logged in, you can start using Skype.

skype ubuntu 18.04

When a new Skype for Linux version comes out, simply run sudo apt update and sudo apt upgrade command to update to the latest version.

Further Reading: 9 Most Useful Apt Commands On Debian, Ubuntu & Linux Mint

How to Install Skype on Ubuntu 22.04/20.04 from Snap Store

Snap is a Linux app packaging format developed by Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu. It aims to solve the fragmentation problem of Linux package format. This means developers only need to package the software once and it will run on all Linux distributions that supports Snap, like Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Arch Linux, Fedora, OpenSUSE and even OpenWRT.  Snap enables developers to push software update quickly to end users. Snap also allows you to easily downgrade a package to a previous version if you ever desire to do so.

Skype is in the snap store. To install it, open the Ubuntu Software application

ubuntu software

and search for Skype.

skype snap ubuntu 18.04

Select Skype and click Install button.

skype snap store

Installing software on Linux to a system folder requires root privilege, so you need to enter your password.

skype ubuntu 18.04 snap package

Once the installation complete, you can lunch Skype from your application menu. For those who love command line, Skype can also be easily installed on Ubuntu 22.04/20.04 by issuing the following command.

sudo snap install skype --classic

Snap packages are installed to the /snap/ directory. Once it’s installed, you can start Skype from the application menu. Note that you may need to log out and log back in to see the Skype icon in the application menu.

Or you can start it by running this command:

/snap/bin/skype

Snap packages are automatically updated in the background, so when a new version of Skype comes out, you don’t need to enter any commands. Just boot up your Ubuntu 22.04/20.04 system, it will be automatically upgraded, but you can also manually update it by running:

sudo snap refresh

To remove the Skype snap, run

sudo snap remove skype

How to Install Skype on Ubuntu 22.04/20.04 from Flathub

Flathub is a software repository for flatpak packages. Flatpak is a Linux app package format similar to Snap. First we need to install the flatpak tool.

sudo apt install flatpak

Then add the Flathub repository.

sudo flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Next, install the Skype client.

flatpak install -y flathub com.skype.Client

Note that sudo is not need to install Flatpak pacakges.

flatpak install skype

Once installed, you can start Skype from the application menu. Note that you may need to log out and log back in to see the Skype icon in the application menu.

Or you can start it using the following command.

flatpak run com.skype.Client

To remove the Skype Flatpak package, run

flatpak uninstall com.skype.Client

How to Block Strangers From Calling You on Skype

There was once a stranger who called me in the middle of the night. And I can’t go sleeping again that night. I was really pissed off that Skype allows strangers to call me by default. To prevent this from happening, go to Settings -> Privacy and turn on Only allow Skype calls from contacts to ring on this device.

How to Block Strangers From Calling You on Skype

If you installed Skype on your phone, you also need to turn it on on the phone.

Wrapping Up

I hope this tutorial helped you install Skype on Ubuntu 22.04/20.04 desktop. As always, if you found this post useful, then subscribe to our free newsletter to get more tips and tricks. Take care.

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10 Responses to “3 Ways to Install Skype on Ubuntu 22.04/20.04 Desktop

  • I like this tutorial, thanks, but please don’t forget that it can be installed through the GUI as well. In my experience people new to Linux are often scared of Linux because they think that everything has to be done with commands through the terminal and when most websites are only showing how to do stuff through the terminal (because terminal is usually the same across desktops) it just makes that myth grow. So please remember to show GUI install also. Thanks!

    • Xiao Guo-An (Admin)
      1 month ago

      Hi Gustav, thanks for your suggestion. I just added instructions for installing Skype from GUI.

  • Thomas Lee
    3 months ago

    This is a great tutorial on how to install skype for ubuntu step by step. thank Xiao Guo-An a lot.

  • There is an issue here. What if you’re running 18.04 on a 32 bit architecture? It seems that Skype is only made for 64 bit architecture?

    • Xiao Guo An (Admin)
      6 months ago

      Yes, this Skype is only for 64 bit machines.

  • Richard
    5 years ago

    thanks , always easy to understand

  • I have version 8.61.0.95 through https://repo.skype.com (option #1 above), and it shows an update is available from within Skype. According to repo.skype.com, a new version IS AVAILABLE (8.62.0.83), but sudo update and upgrade don’t find it. I don’t understand.

    • Xiao Guoan (Admin)
      4 years ago

      Maybe Skype repository is disabled on your system somehow, like when you upgrade the OS?

      You can re-enable the Skype repository.

      sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/skype-stable.list

      Make sure only the following strings are in the file.

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

      If there’s a # character at the beginning, remove it, so the repository will be activated again.
      Save and close the file. Then update the repository.

      sudo apt update
  • Thanks a lot, it works for me

  • The support for the official repo of the .deb/apt install of skypeforlinux has ended, the first method is deprecated now. Sad sad day.

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