Skype

How do I send an instant message in Skype for Windows Desktop?

Skype instant messaging makes it easy to keep in touch with your contacts and groups wherever they are. You can share files, photos and contacts, and bring your IMs to life with Mojis and emoticons.

You can also create a group and invite anyone to join your chat. You don’t need to know their Skype Name and they don’t even need a Skype account to enjoy free voice calls, video calls and instant message conversations with you.

Sending an instant message

In the Contacts tab, select the person or group you want to IM. Or in the Recent tab, select the conversation you want to pick up again.
Type your message into the conversation window at the bottom of the screen and press Enter on your keyboard, or click the blue Send icon.

Add people to the chat

Click the Add people icon in the top right to add more people to the conversation.

Learn more about creating group conversations.

Mojis and emoticons

To liven up your IMs, click the smiley face and browse for a Moji or emotion that suits your mood.

Learn more about sending Mojis and emoticons.

Share files, contacts and video messages

You can send documents, photos, video messages and contacts to your friends.

To share media with your friends, click one of the icons below the chat window. You might need to click the paperclip icon to see these icons:

Send photos and images to your friends.
Send files like documents, spreadhseets and presentations.
Send video messages for when your friends are offline.
Send contact details to make it easier for your friends to add people to their contact list.

Translate your IMs

Click the globe icon to translate your instant messages into over 50 languages.

More about using Skype Translator.

Editing or deleting an instant message

We’ve all been there – you send someone an instant message, and just as you hit Enter you realize you’ve sent it to the wrong person. No problem – you can remove that message after you’ve sent it.

To remove a message, right-click it and select Remove Message. This option is only available for a short time after you send a message.

If you’ve just made a typo and want to correct it, right-click the sent message and select Edit Message (or use the Up arrow on your keyboard to edit the last message you sent). Correct the error and press Enter.

Find out more about deleting your conversation history.

Formatting your instant messages

You can change the size and type of your IM font to suit you. This is a useful option if you’re having trouble reading the default font. Find out how to change your IM font.

You can also use some basic formatting in your instant messages to make them more interesting.

Italics

Put _underscores_ around the words you want to emphasize.

Bold

Put *asterisks* around the words you want to make bold.

Strikethrough

Bookend your text with ~tildes~ to put a strike through it. You might use this to convey sarcasm or show what’s changed, for example.

Monospace

For that plain text look, wrap {code} around words like this:
{code}This will be monospaced{code}.

To send your entire IM in monospace font, start the message with two exclamation marks and a space (!! ).

Override special formatting

Put two @ symbols and a space (@@ ) at the beginning of a message to prevent special formatting. You can also switch off formatting in your IM settings. You’ll still see other people’s formatting; you just won’t send any.

Changing your IM settings

You can set your IM privacy preferences, change the way messages behave and customize the appearance of your IMs.

In the menu bar, click Tools and then Options.
Choose IM & SMS from the left and click the Show advanced options button to see all of the options.
Change your IM settings to your preference.
To change the appearance of your instant messages, select IM appearance on the left, and then use the check-boxes to customize how your messages are displayed.