How do I install Skype?

Question

I want to install Skype, but I can't locate it in Software Center or by using Synaptic Package Manager. Can anyone help me?

Answer 1

Note: The legacy Skype for Linux application (v4.*) is now discontinued and was removed from Canonical’s partner repositories¹, so most of the answers here are obsolete. Skype may log you out from these unsupported clients.²

All Ubuntu releases as of July 2017

To install the Skype for Linux application (version 8+):

1. Download the Deb package for Skype for Linux with your favourite web browser or HTTP client.

   • For a terminal-based solution use:

     wget https://repo.skype.com/latest/skypeforlinux-64.deb
     

2. Install the Deb package with your favourite package manager, e. g. Software Center or GDebi.

   • For a terminal-based solution or to debug the package installation use:

     sudo dpkg -i skypeforlinux-64.deb
     sudo apt install -f
     

3. You’re done! When you installed the package it automatically added a repository […] to keep your installation of Skype up to date via Ubuntu's package update process.

^(source)

The new Skype application works only on 64-bit (amd64) installations of Ubuntu.

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¹ You can verify that it was removed by searching for skype in the partner repository package list:

wget -O- "http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/dists/$(lsb_release -sc)/partner/binary-$(dpkg --print-architecture)/Packages.gz" | gzip -d |
grep -xFe 'Package: skype' || echo 'Not found!'

Answer 2

Note: The legacy Skype for Linux application (v4.*) is now discontinued and was removed from Canonical’s partner repositories, so this answer is obsolete as are most other answers. Please refer to a newer answer.

For 11.10 and above

Starting in Ubuntu 11.10 multi-arch is used for applications that formerly used ia32-libs. Here is the official work around for Skype on AMD64 (I represent the release team):

Skype is a 32 bit binary and under Ubuntu 11.10 you must install the 32 bit version of Skype for both Ubuntu 11.10 i386 and amd64 versions.

You can get this from the Ubuntu Partner Repository.

To get it from the partner repository first enable it in your software sources, and then get it from the Software Center:

Click the ubuntu button, then search for "Software Sources", click on it, and go to the "Other Software Tab":

When you click close run the software center, and search for Skype.

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If skype still does not appear in software-center, then close the application.

In a terminal type:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get --reinstall install software-center

This will force the package management to be updated, followed by the software-catalog for software-center.

Answer 3

11.10 & above Command Line

To enable the partner repository from the command line, edit /etc/apt/sources.list:
sudoedit /etc/apt/sources.list and remove the # from the beginning of these two lines:

12.04

deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu precise partner  
deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu precise partner

Then update your apt cache and install it:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install skype:i386 libasound2-plugins:i386

Answer 4

Note: The legacy Skype for Linux application (v4.*) is now discontinued and was removed from Canonical’s partner repositories, so this answer is obsolete as are most other answers. Please refer to a newer answer.

For Ubuntu 12.04 and above

Command line way:

sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://archive.canonical.com/ $(lsb_release -sc) partner"
sudo apt-get update 
sudo apt-get install skype

HELP

Answer 5

Note: The legacy Skype for Linux application (v4.*) is now discontinued and was removed from Canonical’s partner repositories, so this answer is obsolete as are most other answers. Please refer to a newer answer.

For 10.10

To install Skype, you need to enable the canonical partner repositories.

Add this repository: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu maverick partner

• How do I enable the "partner" repository?

This may already be available but not installed. If so, just tick the box next to the partners repository:

When you close the software sources window it should refresh your packages and Skype should be available to install from the Software Centre.

Answer 6

Installing packages manually is not recommended. But I have been installing Skype package manually for a quite some time through the Ubuntu Package manager without any problem. Just make sure you check any warning shown by during the installation.

Go to: http://www.skype.com/intl/en/get-skype/on-your-computer/linux/

Download the 64bit Ubuntu package. Once the download is finished, double click the package to start the installation through the Ubuntu Package manager. It will download any dependency and instal

Answer 7

Recently, Skype has become very easy to get for Linux users. In fact, the package from the website works but the one in the repositories didn't for me (on Ubuntu 16.04). Just go to skype.com and download the Debian .deb file, which you can open directly by double-clicking the downloaded file in the folder, and it will install through the software centre. As of now it's still in Beta version.

Answer 8

1. I went to the Skype web site.

2. Then I choose to "download Skype for Linux DEB".

   

3. After the download I just double-click on the file or right-click and open with Software Center and click on Install.

   It will install the Deb package that you downloaded and after finishing you will find it by typing Skype in the search box. You can pin it's icon if you like.

   

Answer 9

For 12.04 and above

There appears to be a problem where skype does not show up in Software Center after following the previous instructions for 11.04 etc.

You'll still need to add the partners repository by following one of the other instructions for the GUI, or use the terminal to edit /etc/apt/sources.list so that the line

deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu precise partner

has not commented (hashed) out.

You then need to update the repository information:

sudo apt-get upgrade

and can then install Skype from command line:

sudo apt-get install skype

Answer 10

Skype and some other popular applications can be currently (August 2017) installed with Flatpack.

To use the latest version of Flatpack on Ubuntu, it is recommended to use a PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexlarsson/flatpak
sudo apt update
sudo apt install flatpak

To install Skype with flatpak for all users, execute:

flatpak install --from https://s3.amazonaws.com/alexlarsson/skype-repo/skype.flatpakref

After restarting the graphical shell or logging out and logging in, Skype should appear in application menus and in search results, and it then can be added to the favourites. It can also be started from the command line with

flatpak run com.skype.Client

Answer 11

For the new (2017) client

Since 2017, Skype has stopped to support the old client and the new ones are not in Canonical’s partner repositories. In order to install the new client and have it automatically upgraded through apt upgrade, you can follow the recipe below, lifted from websiteforstudents.com and tested on Ubuntu 17.10.

1. Remove the old Skype client

Either sudo apt remove skype or sudo apt remove skypeforlinux.

2. Ensure you have apt-transport-https and curl installed

sudo apt install apt-transport-https curl

apt-transport-https allows you to apt update and apt upgrade from a .deb file on available on the web. curl will allow you to download Skype’s GPG key from the web.

3. Add skype.com’s deb to your apt source

Add Skype’s GPG key: curl https://repo.skype.com/data/SKYPE-GPG-KEY | sudo apt-key add -

Create a file /etc/apt/sources.list.d/skype-stable.list containing the line deb [arch=amd64] https://repo.skype.com/deb stable main. This tells apt that it has to check skype.com for the repository. A way to do this in a single command: echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://repo.skype.com/deb stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/skype-stable.list.

Then update the repository : sudo apt update

4. Install Skype itself

sudo apt install skypeforlinux will do the job.

Later, skypeforlinux will be upgraded when needed, like the other Ubuntu softwares.

Answer 12

As I always do:

sudo apt-get install ia32-libs -y

And then download the multiarch deb package of skype and finally:

sudo dpkg -i skypeDownloadPath.deb

Answer 13

16.04

Step 1: Activate Canonical Partners inside Software & Updates -> Other Software

Step 2: Open Terminal and hit these commands

sudo apt update
sudo apt install skype

Refrence [Video]: How to install Skype on Ubuntu 16.04

Answer 14

You have to use Canonical partner repository. To enable it, use these commands:

echo "deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ $(lsb_release -cs)/partner Packages" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install skype

Answer 15

10.04

To enable the partner repository that has Skype: Go to System -> Administration -> Software sources -> Other software, and enable the partner repository (on lucid 10.04, it's http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu lucid)

Click close and let the program fetch updates for the repositories.

Then, using either Ubuntu software centre, synaptic package manager or apt-get, install the skype package.

Answer 16

If you upgrade to Ubuntu 11.10 on a 64-bit platform and try to run skype then you will likely get this error:

skype: error while loading shared libraries: libXss.so.1: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

This is because libxss1 and a few other libraries have been removed from ia32-libs package.

You will need to enable multiarch and install the extra 32 bit libraries by hand:

echo foreign-architecture i386 | sudo tee /etc/dpkg/dpkg.cfg.d/multiarch
sudo aptitude update
sudo aptitude install libxss1:i386 libqtcore4:i386 libqt4-dbus:i386

This is all that is required to get the statically compiled version of Skype to work.

If you are running the dynamically compiled version or one that comes from mediabuntu or other source, you will need to pull in an extra package. sudo aptitude install libqtgui4:i386

However, in my experience this pulls in too many unnecessary packages and some of them may be broken.

Update: I’ve done a fresh install of Oneiric and determined the following list of packages that need to be install to get skype working. In the mean time, please bug/pester Skype for real 64bit binaries.

sudo aptitude install libxss1:i386 libqtcore4:i386 libqt4-dbus:i386 libasound2:i386 libxv1:i386 libsm6:i386 libxi6:i386 libXrender1:i386 libxrandr2:i386 libfreetype6:i386 libfontconfig1:i386

http://www.mindwerks.net/2011/09/skype-on-ubuntu-11-10-oneiric-ocelot/