None of the 650 million users of Skype can have the same Skype name, so if your own name is a common one, you might want to change it a little – for instance, by adding your year of birth. Whether you use your real name is up to you.

'Skype Name' - Enter the name that you want your Skype friends to see and which you’ll use to log in to Skype.

Step 4: You can choose to tell Skype how you intend to use its service by clicking one of the options in the drop-down menu. However, you do not have to fill in all the boxes with personal information, only those with a star next to them. All this will be available for anyone to see on Skype, except for your mobile number, which will be restricted to your own contacts. No one will be able to see your email address.

To begin, fill in your first name and last name and your email address (and repeat it).

If not, there are also a number of boxes to fill in to create an account:

You can skip the registration if you sign in using a Microsoft Account (Messenger, Hotmail or ) or a Facebook account.

Step 3: A page will appear where you can either sign in (if you’ve registered already) or input your information to create an account. Step 2: Click on Download Skype on the page. Our guide is specifically for Windows computers, but Skype is also available for Apple Macs.įollow these step-by-step instructions to download Skype now A webcam isn’t compulsory, but video calls are a key function of Skype, and you can’t make them without one. This is a small camera that connects to your computer through a USB port, if it isn’t already built into your screen. You can also use a headphones-and-microphone headset that can be bought quite cheaply. Many computers will have these built in (especially laptops), and many webcams (see below) also have microphones built in. a computer with a broadband internet connection (a dial-up connection is too slow for Skype).Skype is the biggest VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service in the world, and it’s probably the easiest way to talk to your friends for free over the internet – through text, voice (just like a phone call) or even video.ĭownloading and installing Skype on to your computer can be a little complicated, but luckily we’re here to take you through it step by step.

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