How to install Skype 5.0 in Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Good News for Linux Desktop Users from Skype point of view that the Skype 5.0 is now available (deb and RPM package). Some of the noticeable updates in Skype 5.0 are listed below :

  • Enhancement in Calling : Skype Users can easily make a call to mobiles and land lines with Skype Credit. Linux Skype Users can make one to one video call and to other Skype users which are using Skype for Android, iOS, Mac and Window
  • Linux Skype Users can now view the shared screen from the other Skype desktop clients (Windows 7.33 and above, Mac 7.46 and above)
  • Linux Users can now easily set their online status as Away or Do Not Disturb
  • From Unity launcher we can now view the number of unread conversations

In this article we will discuss how to install  latest version of Skype 5.0 on Ubuntu 16.04 and Linux Mint 18.

Note : At this point of time Skype 5.0 beta version is available.

Below steps are tested on Ubuntu 16.04 and Linux Mint 18

Step:1 Download Skype Linux Debian Package

Download the Skype Linux Debian package from its official web site

https://www.skype.com/en/download-skype/skype-for-computer/

Download_Skype_Linux_Debian

Skype Debian package will be downloaded in the Download folder under user’s home directory.

linuxtechi@linuxarena:~/Downloads$ ls -l skypeforlinux-64.deb
-rw-rw-r-- 1 linuxtechi linuxtechi 50661108 Mar 23 18:24 skypeforlinux-64.deb
linuxtechi@linuxarena:~/Downloads$

Step:2 Install downloaded skyforlinux Debian package

Open the terminal and go to the downloads folder and run the beneath dpkg command

linuxtechi@linuxarena:~$ cd ~/Downloads/
linuxtechi@linuxarena:~/Downloads$ sudo dpkg -i skypeforlinux-64.deb

In case you got any dependency error, then run the following apt command to resolve dependency issues and re-run dpkg command to install downloaded Debian package.

linuxtechi@linuxarena:~/Downloads$ sudo apt install -f

 Step:3 Access Skype now either from GUI or command Line

If you are using Unity Desktop then search skypeforlinux from dash and in case you are using cinnamon desktop use the below

Access-Linux-Skype

click on ‘Skype for Linux Beta’

Access Skype from the command line

Type the command “skypeforlinux”

linuxtechi@linuxarena:~$ skypeforlinux

Enter Your Skype ID

Signing-Skype-Linux

Enter Your Skype ID Password.

Password-Linux-Skype-User

Click on “Sign in”

Linux-Skype-Dashboard

That’s all from this article. Hope you guys got an idea how to install latest version of Skype on Ubuntu and Linux Mint Desktop. If you like the article please share your feedback and comments.

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10 thoughts on “How to install Skype 5.0 in Ubuntu and Linux Mint”

  1. Don’t forget to uninstall skype, unfortunatly they have changed the name from skype to skypeforlinux, so it does not automatically do this :(.

    Reply
  2. it doesn’t work on linuxmint sonya 32 bit (it was replacing windows xp, with Intel® Core™2 CPU T5500 @ 1.66GHz × 2 ; RAM 1Gb).
    Skype 5.0 needs 64 bit OS & machines.

    Reply
  3. Thanks – my skype stopped working a few weeks back – had issues uninstalling, and then couldnt get even open the page in software manager – this worked perfectly – and i now have a much more usable skype!

    Reply
  4. I found the instructions difficult to follow since they are working with .deb files but the only thing I can download are .rpm files.
    I don’t use Debian directly, but only through Linux Mint. How to I get the Gdebi package installer and will this work with .rpm files or must I use .deb files.

    Reply
    • Hi Randall,

      You can’t install .rpm package on debian like OS, rpm package can only be installed on OS like Red Hat, CentOS & Fedora. To install rpm package. use rpm command like “rpm -ivh rpm_pakage_name”, there is no need to install Gdebi as well on rpm based OS.

      Since this article is all about on how to install skype on Linux Mint and Ubuntu that’s why i have used .deb package.

      Reply

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