I find Skype to be one of the most useful tools out there when it comes to connecting with people around the globe. Whether it’s video chat with family or using it to instant message with my development team in India, it has become a staple tool for communicating.
One limitation I have found, however, is that Skype doesn’t allow you to easily output, save, or print the communication stream. There are back-end ways that folks who are tech-trained can get to the saved conversations, but I thought I’d share a quick tip that anyone can use to save or print their Skype conversations.
To save your Skype conversation:
1) When you Skype chat session is completed, right-click on any of the messages in the conversation and choose “Select All” from the dropdown menu.
2) With all of the messages selected, right-click on any message and choose “Copy Selection” from the dropdown menu.
NOTE: Be sure not to select “Copy Message” or that will only copy the single message in the conversation that you right-clicked. Be sure to click “Copy Selection”
3) Next, open Notepad or Microsoft Word and create a new document.
4) In the empty document, right-click anywhere and choose “Paste” from the dropdown menu. The contents of the entire conversation, including the sender name and the timestamp are added to your new document.
5) Choose File –> Print or File –> Save and you have the ability to print or save the entire conversation.
I know it’s not the ideal way to be able to archive Skype conversations, but until Skype gives us the ability in their native app, it’s a solid workaround that works every time.
Know of a better way? I’m always open to hearing new suggestions, so add it to the comments section.
Until then, happy Skyping!
–Sean
