Skype Can’t Connect – How to Quickly Fix This Error

On August second two thousand fourteen, I was unable to sign in to Microsoft Skype successfully. I kept getting a “Skype Can’t Connect” error message. I was using Linux Ubuntu 12.04 with Microsoft Skype version 4.2 installed.

I quickly looked on the Internet for some possible solutions. One solution was to try to delete the Microsoft Skype folder. In your linux operating system you will want to browse to your home folder and delete the .Skype folder.

It might be hidden, so you can type in “ls -al” in a command prompt, without quotations, so that all your files and folders are listed. Also, you can quickly delete this folder with a “rm -fr .Skype” linux command, without any quotations. Any commands you type are without quotations.

Obviously, you can use file manager to delete this folder, but since it is hidden you will want to enable “Show Hidden Files”. On Microsoft Windows eXPerience operating system, Microsoft Windows Vista operating system, Microsoft Windows seven operating system, and Microsoft Windows eight operating system you will want to find the Microsoft Skype software configuration folder somewhere under your user profile. On Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows seven, and Microsoft Windows eight operating systems you would want to browse to C:\Users\”your username”\.

On Microsoft Windows eXPerience operating system you can look for your profile under C:\Documents and Settings\”your username”\. Also, on any Microsoft operating system you could use a search tool and look for a Microsoft Skype folder under your user profile. You will want to make sure to not delete your Microsoft Skype folder under “Program Files” on Windows eXPerience or “Programs and Features” on Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows seven, or Microsoft Windows eight operating systems.

Once you delete that Microsoft Skype software configuration folder, you can try to start Microsoft Skype application again and see if you are now able to successfully sign in. If that does not fix your issue you can try to sign in to your Microsoft Skype account on Skype.com. If you are able to successfully sign in to the web based version of Microsoft Skype then it is not a problem with your Microsoft Skype account.

In my case what fixed that “Skype Can’t Connect” error message was when I upgraded from Microsoft Skype version 4.2 to Microsoft Skype version 4.3 on Ubuntu Linux x64 bit. I quickly ran this “apt-get dist-upgrade”, command without quotations and Microsoft Skype was upgraded from a previous 4.2.x.x version to 4.3.0.37 version. Once I upgraded Microsoft Skype to version 4.3.0.37 I tried signing in.

Now I was able to sign in successfully to Microsoft Skype. Hopefully, these tips will help you to fix your “Skype Can’t Connect” error message on Microsoft Windows, Linux, and maybe even possibly Apple Macintosh operating systems.

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Skype Can’t Connect – How to Quickly Fix This Error Video Transcript

00:00
this is Aaron with Anet computers from a
00:02
net computers comm with an I impromptu
00:04
video I wanted to discuss Skype earlier
00:08
today my skype quick working I was using
00:11
Skype version 4.2 which as you can see
00:14
I’ve upgraded and I kept receiving this
00:18
message Skype can’t connect Skype can’t
00:22
connect exactly as it’s typed here and I
00:27
was certain that I was using my correct
00:29
password because I had it enabled where
00:34
Skype remembered my password and sign in
00:37
and it would always automatically sign
00:39
in even on Linux
00:40
so what occurred was that the first fix
00:46
I tried was to delete a local Skype
00:50
directory and I found that off of this
00:52
website on skype comm can’t sign in
00:59
Ubuntu 12.04 this was an older post 2012
01:05
but I tried one of their quick fixes
01:10
delete the home directory and then slash
01:13
dot Skype so that’s what I tried and
01:17
I’ll show you what command I would use
01:27
I’m not going to hit enter because I
01:30
don’t want to leap that folder because
01:31
Skype works for me now so I just no
01:34
point but let me go over real quick this
01:37
is for Linux users you have your home
01:41
folder and then you have all these
01:46
folders and files that might be hidden
01:50
so I typed it here I can show you this
01:52
command
02:04
ls- al will show everything and that’s
02:08
what I did so you can see where I’ve
02:10
highlighted the Skype right here as you
02:14
can see it might be a little bit
02:16
difficult to see but where my mouse
02:17
cursor is its dot sky pet with a capital
02:22
S and it’s case sensitive so then once
02:24
again in the future you might have this
02:27
problem so this tip might help you it
02:30
did not help help this specific problem
02:33
I was having with Skype and I’ll get to
02:35
that that’s why I decided to create this
02:37
video because this problem just arose
02:39
within the last couple of days and it
02:42
has to deal with Skype so and I’ll get
02:44
to that but just in in the future if you
02:48
watch this video and then I might what
02:53
write a blog post if I write a blog post
02:55
about this I will make sure I put the
02:59
URL to my website a net computers comm –
03:03
the exact URL for the blog post in the
03:07
video description so that you can
03:09
quickly go to my website and then read
03:12
over what solve my problem and then some
03:15
other additional tips or steps that
03:16
might help fix your issue if it is a
03:18
problem in the future or Skype isn’t
03:21
working this is what you can try you can
03:23
delete your dot Skype hidden folder on
03:28
Linux it’s in your home folder and then
03:32
it’s a dot and then capital SK YP e on
03:36
windows it’s going to be a little bit
03:37
different it will be your Skype folder
03:39
in your User Profile Windows XP
03:42
documents and settings and then your
03:45
user folder your you know whatever your
03:48
username is and then somewhere in there
03:51
somewhere in your profile same thing
03:55
with Windows 7 Vista 8 in on Windows 7
04:01
I think Vista and higher its C users on
04:06
Windows XP at C documents and settings
04:09
and then your profile same thing with
04:12
the Vista 7 8 it’s C users and then your
04:15
profile somewhere in your profile you
04:18
will have your
04:18
folder you want to delete that folder
04:21
that just has settings you don’t want to
04:23
delete Skype installation folder under
04:27
programs no or programs and features on
04:31
Vista 7 8 no your Skype folder in under
04:36
your User Profile that’s where some of
04:37
your Skype settings are saved
04:39
same thing with Linux so I would so to
04:45
go over it on Linux I’m using Ubuntu you
04:48
would it’s exactly the way I typed it
04:56
our M space minus sign or – F are
05:02
lowercase both of them are lowercase
05:05
space dot capital s KY PE I’m not going
05:09
to enter hit enter because I will delete
05:11
that folder that will completely remove
05:13
that hidden folder the dot means
05:16
basically it’s hidden on Linux a lot of
05:20
folders are hidden a lot of the profile
05:23
folders for programs are hidden you
05:27
could do an LS – L it won’t show hidden
05:30
files LS – al will show everything so
05:34
I’ll go over quickly what the f and the
05:36
are and why I type this command in this
05:38
way RM will remove files on Linux
05:42
well the quickest way I’ve learned to
05:44
remove files and folders so we’ll it
05:47
will do is it will delete any files and
05:51
subfolders within that folder Skype
05:55
that’s why it that’s what the F and the
05:57
R is for files and then recursive files
06:02
and folders recursively meaning anything
06:04
any subfolders that way otherwise it can
06:07
take you forever if you just remove
06:09
files if you don’t type in the command
06:13
correctly you have to go into each
06:14
folder delete all the files then go back
06:17
up a folder then delete see that there’s
06:20
a security procedure with Linux where if
06:25
you just use the RM command you remove
06:30
it won’t let you
06:31
remove folders that’s why you have to
06:35
delete all the files within the folder
06:37
then it will allow you to remove that
06:39
folder when all files are removed well
06:42
there’s another command that will remove
06:43
everything it will remove that entire
06:46
folder any other files within it and any
06:50
other folders within it recursively so
06:53
be careful this is a warning I guess if
06:56
you’re used to Linux you know but if
06:59
you’re not accustomed to Linux yet just
07:01
be careful with this type of a command
07:03
because you want to make sure that you
07:06
want to delete that folder because it
07:08
deletes everything everything on there
07:10
so so that I will show you that I’m not
07:15
then going to Skype I want to show you
07:18
that it works now and I want to show you
07:21
that I upgraded I upgraded it from Skype
07:24
4.2 I just upgraded it about I don’t
07:27
know 20 minutes ago I was running Skype
07:29
4.2 on my Linux distribution and then
07:34
what I did was I typed in I can show you
07:36
that too real quick and apt-get
07:58
I don’t have anything else to upgrade
07:59
because I just ran in about 20 minutes
08:01
ago but what happened was I found
08:05
another oh let me show you the tip first
08:07
maybe that’ll be easier for you so I can
08:11
close this website it didn’t help
08:13
because that’s what wasn’t an issue what
08:15
happened was was that Skype for what I
08:18
don’t know why yet I haven’t looked into
08:20
it yet but Skype allegedly has blocked
08:27
people from logging in with older
08:30
versions of Skype I was using 4.2 that’s
08:35
pretty new and I was not able to login
08:38
with any my Skype accounts I verified it
08:41
I’ll show you that I verified I’m
08:43
already signed in see with this account
08:46
that’s another tip that’s the second
08:49
thing I tried I was like well me I
08:52
wanted to make sure whether see I
08:53
thought maybe somebody locked my Skype
08:56
account or you know what I’m saying
08:58
sometimes that happens people will try
09:00
to hack your account or even robots will
09:02
go out there and you know whatever
09:05
disable your account or try to sign in
09:08
too many times or they forgot their
09:10
account and whatever so I quickly went
09:13
to Skype comm and I signed in and I
09:16
signed in successfully as you can see so
09:18
it wasn’t an issue with my Skype account
09:20
that’s another thing you can check is go
09:23
out to Skype comm and make sure that
09:25
it’s not a problem with your account
09:26
that way you’re not messing around
09:28
wasting time thinking that it’s your
09:32
software see that I almost was going to
09:34
reinstall my software but I’m like wait
09:36
a minute let’s go out to their web
09:39
interface and make sure whether or not
09:41
it’s an issue with my account now if
09:44
it’s an issue with your account that
09:46
could be something else it could be
09:47
locked or you mistyped your password too
09:52
many times or I don’t maybe you’ve got
09:53
your account disabled or I don’t you
09:56
know something like that but that’s not
09:58
the case with my problem so I’ll close
10:02
this and then I will show you that I can
10:08
sign in now
10:14
so it’s signing in signing in notice how
10:18
I didn’t receive that error
10:31
and I typed I added this to my update my
10:35
little profile Skype 4.3 works because
10:39
Skype 4.2 wasn’t working for me so as
10:43
you can see I was able to successfully
10:45
sign-in and I wanted to show you that
10:47
and then I wanted to show you this
10:50
article or forum post on ask you buncher
10:54
comm this is where I receive my
10:56
information as you can see Skype can’t
10:58
connect I received this exact same error
11:00
verbatim with Skype 4.2 about a half an
11:04
hour ago not too long ago after I
11:07
restarted my computer to finish an
11:08
upgrade I cannot log in at Skype anymore
11:11
it only shows the message Skype can’t
11:13
connect if I try a web version it works
11:16
I’m using Skype 4.2 that’s exactly my
11:19
same problem I was able to login with
11:23
their web version but not with my Skype
11:25
client and I was using the exact same
11:28
version of Skype 4.2 and I was also
11:30
using Ubuntu well here’s where I found
11:35
out this was yesterday
11:36
try again Skype is working now so it
11:39
seems like it was intermittent yesterday
11:41
I just tried the problem remains the
11:43
post about 4.2 being retired is probably
11:47
the most correct yes allegedly they
11:49
retired 4.2 I don’t know that for a fact
11:52
I haven’t independently verified it with
11:55
Skype but I think that’s possible
11:58
however I’m on 4.2 0.13 and for whatever
12:04
reason it still works so maybe maybe
12:05
that’s what it was maybe certain
12:07
versions are 4.2 do not allow you to
12:11
login I didn’t I didn’t I knew I was
12:15
running 4.2 but I don’t know now what
12:17
exact version me again when I upgrade
12:20
with Ubuntu it automatically jumped to
12:24
4.3 it didn’t even upgrade you know from
12:27
four point two point zero point nine to
12:31
four point two point zero one five
12:34
whatever it automatically skipped the
12:36
4.2 s and directly to four point three
12:39
so it could be a bug or an issue with
12:45
versions or 4.2 I just don’t know
12:47
according to this post Skype versions
12:50
older than 4.3 are unable to connect as
12:53
of today as you can see the date August
12:56
1st 2014 though it could have just been
13:00
a temporary outage of the Skype servers
13:02
I was able to connect after updating
13:05
Skype I just updated to 4.3 following
13:08
this link and it worked
13:11
typical Microsoft this link explains the
13:14
instructions for install installing
13:15
Skype 4.3 on a lot of distros including
13:19
Ubuntu 12.04 till 1404 for both 32-bit
13:24
and 64-bit systems I’m running a 64-bit
13:27
system so that was it that was my fix
13:32
and that’s what my youtube video is
13:34
about is my tip is that hopefully by you
13:38
upgrading your version of Skype I would
13:42
even say Windows XP Vista 7 8 try
13:50
upgrading your Skype first well you
13:53
could try number one delete your Skype
13:56
folder if that doesn’t fix your issue
13:58
number two go-to skypes web-based
14:01
version go to Skype comm and sign in and
14:04
make sure whether or not it’s a problem
14:07
with your Skype account if it’s if you
14:08
can able your able to sign in that tells
14:11
you that it’s a problem with your Skype
14:13
client number 3 try to upgrade your
14:16
version of Skype if you’re on Windows XP
14:18
Vista 7 8 however you upgrade your Skype
14:26
if it’s with your Windows updates or you
14:28
could go directly to Skype comm here we
14:32
could do that really quick
14:38
skype.com go to downloads select
14:42
downloads and it’s proper it’ll detect I
14:46
think that’s what this website does it’s
14:48
detecting that I’m using Linux I’m
14:51
signed in and it says Skype for Linux on
14:55
your computer your Windows computer XP
14:58
Vista 7 8 it should tell you Skype for
15:00
Windows but here I can even choose my
15:03
distribution it detects that I’m running
15:06
Linux but it looks like it’s not you
15:10
know completely 100 percent but that’s
15:13
ok
15:13
so then I click on choose another
15:17
version windows desktop modern Windows
15:19
Mac so I would say that if you’re
15:26
running Windows you should be able to
15:27
sign in or you don’t even have to sign
15:29
in just go to Skype to comm go to
15:31
downloads it should detect your web
15:33
browser which and then it probably it
15:35
should detect your operating system oh
15:37
you’re running Windows and then but it
15:40
might have a drop-down where it chooses
15:42
choose your version windows if you’re
15:45
running XP choose XP or Vista or 7 or 8
15:48
and then download a most current version
15:51
of Skype I don’t know for a fact I’m not
15:54
going to tell you the oh I know for a
15:56
fact that Microsoft shut everybody down
15:59
that we’re using older versions of Skype
16:02
from 4.2 all the way down and only 4.3
16:06
versions can work I don’t know that I
16:09
know for a fact that when I upgraded my
16:11
version of Skype from 4.2 to 4.3 it
16:14
worked so I know that much so try to
16:18
upgrade your version of Skype hopefully
16:21
that solves your problem whether you are
16:24
on Linux or Windows and I would even say
16:26
Mac it’s possible that you know I would
16:29
assume that if people can’t sign in with
16:32
4.2 on Linux and windows how could they
16:36
sign in on 4.2 with Macs so also you
16:39
could try these tips if you’re using Mac
16:41
obviously a way that you resolve your
16:45
issue is a little bit different you’re
16:47
going to have to you know however you
16:49
delete your profile folder on
16:51
Mac and then however you upgrade etc so
16:56
anyways you can always browse to init
17:00
computers comm for more potential tips
17:03
and fixes to solve your most common
17:05
computer problems thank you for
17:06
listening