How to clear Skype IM Chat and Call History?
If you’re a frequent Skype user, you might have noticed that Skype keeps a record of all events including instant messages, calls, file transfers and SMS all stored and accessible from the Conversation tab by clicking on the Show History button.
Deleting the chat and call history in Skype is easy, but the Delete History option is buried inside Skype menus. All you need to do is choose Tools > Options, go to the Privacy tab and hit the ‘Clear History’ button.
A dialog box will popup asking you for confirmation regarding deleting all previous text chats, voicemail, calls, file transfers and SMS messages. Hit Delete and you’re done. The Skype call and chat history has been deleted.
If you want to disable or turn off Skype history, just use the ‘No History’ option under ‘Keep History for’ in the Privacy tab.
Related posts:
[...] Vía: Killer Tech Tips [...]
Cómo borrar el historial de Skype | Punto Geek
29 Jun 09 at 9:18 pm
i am new to skype, was really looking for this thanks
Mark
11 Oct 09 at 10:02 pm
Thanks for the post. It was realy usefull for me:P
hianyzoli
24 Oct 09 at 9:48 pm
I have skype set on “No history” but it still keeps each and every IM conversation, file transfers and calls etc. in history. So if I want to clear it I will have to go and click “clear history”. I could not figure out a way around this althoug all posts suggest that this setting should work. Not sure why it won’t work for me, though… Any ideas?
mimi
17 Nov 09 at 7:07 am
ok.. its really work.
thanks for the tip
azizan razak
25 Nov 09 at 2:39 pm
i clear my Skype history from time to time, feels good to keep my privacy safe from others
Uttoran Sen
28 Nov 09 at 2:35 pm
If you want to keep chat history for you, but not on a local PC, there is a very simple solution to save it in Gmail – G-Recorder (http://www.g-recorder.com)
Greg
29 Dec 09 at 2:48 am
is there a way to delete the chat history on individual contacts instead of everyone?
sky
8 Jan 10 at 7:03 pm
All i can say is Thank you
DTEE
10 Jan 10 at 3:06 pm
After going round in circles on the Skype Help Center for 3 hours, I was able to delete history in just under 6 seconds. Thanks for the really helpful screenshot!
Ally
14 Jan 10 at 11:38 am
Even if we delete the history, doesn’t the other party still have a record of our communication? Not sure whether this really protects privacy or not….
joalanna
17 Jan 10 at 4:24 am
Hey
thank you….very much and print screen helped me to follow the steps easily.
swapna
26 Jan 10 at 3:18 am
Is there a way to delete pending chats so the receiver cannot read it? I sent something to someone I regret sending, and I don’t want them to get it.
MAry Holmes
26 Jan 10 at 11:08 am
very usefull, thnaks!
lee
5 Feb 10 at 6:13 pm
Thank you , this was useful
john
6 Feb 10 at 8:36 am
very usefull, thank you!!
Van
6 Feb 10 at 8:33 pm
Very useful thank u
Naresh
14 Feb 10 at 12:58 pm
If you want to delete chats with specific contacts, you have to dig a bit into the Skype-internal database.
With a SQLite-client you could execute the SQL statement
DELETE FROM messages WHERE dialog_partner = skype_name
where you replace “skype_name” with the skype-name of the person you want to remove all messages for.
More info on the internal database as well as some tricks can be found at http://kosi2801.freepgs.com/2009/12/03/messing_with_the_skype_40_database.html
Kosi2801
15 Feb 10 at 3:08 am
Very helpful!!! thanks alot!!!!
melly411
18 Feb 10 at 7:50 am
thanks … ur information is really helpful and snapshot shows it so perfect thanks for the info
shweta
22 Feb 10 at 11:19 pm
^
it happens to me too, i disabled the chat history but its still showing up especially when i use other computer all of the chat history pops up when i signed it, its crazy .
Can someone explain this?
bubi
23 Feb 10 at 8:19 pm
i do not want my skype id visible at the starting of skype .whn i sign in to skype my skype id is already stored there i just hv 2 typ pswrd .bt i do not want my skype 2 b stored.wht 2 do?/
aj
27 Feb 10 at 12:50 am
good work, keep it up
Vikash
16 Mar 10 at 1:11 am
I have been using skype for years and I have been deleting my history as said by you but there is a history tab which still keeps all your call history.
How do you get it to stop keeping your call history?
Bianca
21 Mar 10 at 6:18 pm
Hello~
I wanted to delete the history of skype log in users in my computer. Please help me how..
I’ve tried unstalling it hoping that the log in users history will disappear but I failed. When I re-install skype, the same log in users appear on my computer. what should I do?
jazz
26 Mar 10 at 1:24 pm
thanks for the tip so none of us get busted with our wives and husbands!!! Got to love the internet!
josh
1 Apr 10 at 12:25 am
Word of warning – I just used skype’s own clear history function under the advanced privacy settings and it does NOT clear the history on the other person’s computer – only your chat history – so now you have erased your conversation with that person, but they still have their copy (I know because I asked my contact if they saw any change – nope). Bottom line, skype SUCKS for privacy protection. There isn’t any!!! Skype needs to fix this, or those of us, like me, concerned with erasing all traces of a certain conversation need to STOP USING SKYPE with those contacts. This is a very unsettling situation…
very upset user
8 Apr 10 at 4:35 am
“very upset user” … what protection is there on a phone? i can record anyone that calls me… grow up and don’t be so paranoid.
droid
11 Apr 10 at 1:42 am
thanks!!
mikaela
11 Apr 10 at 12:40 pm
At whoever complains about privacy..
Do you realize that every chat or IM client can keep a history of what you’re writing, right? And that copy/pasting the text is just as easy, if you don’t have a direct way from the application?
If you’re sending your text to anyone, you’re agreeing that they will read it and possibly store it for private use (aka: keep their history).
Privacy comes into play when those people disclose your conversations without your agreement. That’s a totally different thing.
On a side note, if you ever wanted to have a better view of the history with a contact, you can type ” /htmlhistory ” in the conversation window, to convert it to html and open it in your browser.
This way, you can also save it before doing a full history clear if you want to keep it.
Take care,
WoLf
WoLf
28 Apr 10 at 12:42 pm
My bad, the /htmlhistory seems to not be working on skype 4. Yet another reason why to stick to the 3.8 series.
WoLf
28 Apr 10 at 1:00 pm
Thanks a lot!
Didn’t expect it to be that easy!!!
Dhruv Saxena
1 May 10 at 9:01 pm
Does anyone know if the deleted chat history still can be seen by the other part?
Jamie
31 May 10 at 6:36 pm
previous i had skype 3. after i updated to 4.0 version. after updated my previous version history was not showing. if we can update history was cleared? and where the history was stored in skype.
Rama krishna
9 Jun 10 at 9:21 pm
previous i had skype 3.0 after i updated to 4.0 version. after updated my previous version history was not showing. if we can update history was cleared? and where the history was stored in skype.
Rama krishna
9 Jun 10 at 9:22 pm
thanks for the post! helped a lot
dt
12 Jun 10 at 1:39 pm
thanks so much…
arup
17 Jun 10 at 6:58 pm
thank you this helped a lot =)
cheater 666
20 Jun 10 at 1:17 am
Help! there is no privacy setting tab on my Eee Pc, asus linux 2.0 skype. What do I do now??
Desperate
20 Jun 10 at 3:50 am
thanks dude…awesome
Rey
22 Jun 10 at 11:10 am
this is a great tip. i love it!!! thank you so so much. i will always come here to get tips on anything now!
bhtrackstar101
22 Jun 10 at 11:48 am
very useful info….thanks a mil
cleopatra
25 Jun 10 at 4:43 am
thankkk you so much
lillgrr
26 Jun 10 at 2:52 am
Awesome! thanks!!
Inda
26 Jun 10 at 9:03 am
if I delete a skpye contact will the other person still be able to view the chat history on their computer? please answer..Thanks so much.
MartyM
28 Jun 10 at 11:52 am
i am very thnkfull from KILLER TECH TIPS to aware me from this problem
thnks once agian
jamal
8 Jul 10 at 11:58 am
Of course, they can still see the chat on their side. Would you want them to be able to delete things on your computer? no. THAT would be a privacy concern. If you don’t want someone saving things you’ve said, don’t send them.
Junier
8 Jul 10 at 11:29 pm
Thanks a lot for this tutorial, I’m a frequent skype user, and the chat logs were bogging down my computer. Sincere thanks.
Eric Desperaux
9 Jul 10 at 1:32 am
Awesome dude…thanks a lot yar
Gaurav
10 Jul 10 at 12:45 pm
it was great help thank u
sol
10 Jul 10 at 5:33 pm
thank you thank you thank you
Qli
16 Jul 10 at 2:30 am
HEY I WANT TO REMOVE THE NAME LIST FROM THE SKYPE LOGIN LIST IT SHOWS NO. OF NAMES THOSE HOW HAVE LOGED IN PREVIOUSELY CAN ANY ONE HELP
LOVE
21 Jul 10 at 5:57 pm
Hi, I would like to know, how can I clear my history of calls on skype to go…it is differente from that!Please, help!
Chayenne
22 Jul 10 at 9:08 pm
Thanks to Pearl and to this site *(*
Tiana
3 Aug 10 at 3:29 pm
great work
shakeel ishaq durrani
10 Aug 10 at 2:08 am
wooo…so great thank you…
racheal
12 Aug 10 at 10:45 am
if u want to delete skype login id than u can go to c:\document and settings\user name folder\application data\skype\skype login name (which u want delete) and delete it………… thats finish
rahul
17 Aug 10 at 11:07 pm
is there a way to delete the history from just 1 person in your list?
facebook design
18 Aug 10 at 6:05 am
Hi, if you want to delete the history of only one contact, or of only a particular day, try this tool I just wrote:
http://teomanit.blogspot.com/2010/08/and-now-immediatly-second-tool.html
Skype History Cleaner!!!!!!
TeoMan
19 Aug 10 at 3:04 am
Brilliant!! C2C and no proof (: Lol
That Guy
23 Aug 10 at 5:11 am
Thanks. dear i am so happy .
warsi
28 Aug 10 at 1:13 pm
i heard a lot about this topic in the last few days and i imagine it might be true. Eventhough i think everyone is responsible for himself. No Offense, Just my opinion…
Computer Lautsprecher
1 Sep 10 at 5:43 pm