Introduction
The Skype app that comes pre-loaded with the Windows operating system starts automatically when you start your computer. This is frustrating for people who either don’t like the idea of a communications service always running on their computer, or just don’t like the idea of an application seemingly running without their permission. Thankfully, while it’s not intuitive, Microsoft does make it possible to stop Skype from starting automatically when you start your computer. Disabling Skype at startup can be done quickly, and only takes a few clicks. Examples of all instructions in the steps can be seen in both the YouTube video above and the image collection located beneath the steps.
Steps to Stop Skype from Starting Automatically
- Right-click the Windows icon on the left side of your task bar to open a context menu, and then click “Settings” in the context menu. The Windows Settings screen appears.
- Click “Privacy” in the table of options on the Windows Settings screen. The Privacy screen appears.
- Scroll down the menu on the left side of the screen until you arrive at the App Permissions section, and then click “Background Apps” in the Privacy section. Background Apps options appear on the right side of the screen.
- Scroll down the list of apps that are allowed to run in the background until you find Skype. Click the toggle to the right of Skype to set it to Off.
- Restart your computer. Skype will no longer start automatically when you boot up your computer, and as a result, it will also no longer appear in the notification tray until you launch the application.
