Note: The legacy Skype for Linux application (v4.*) is now discontinued and was removed from Canonical’s partner repositories¹, so most of the answers here are obsolete. Skype may log you out from these unsupported clients.²

All Ubuntu releases as of July 2017

To install the Skype for Linux application (version 8+):

1. 
   

   Download the Deb package for Skype for Linux with your favourite web browser or HTTP client.

   
   
   
   
   
   • 
     

     For a terminal-based solution use:

     
     
     

     wget https://repo.skype.com/latest/skypeforlinux-64.deb
     
     

     
     
   
   
   
   


2. 
   

   Install the Deb package with your favourite package manager, e. g. Software Center or GDebi.

   
   
   
   
   
   • 
     

     For a terminal-based solution or to debug the package installation use:

     
     
     

     sudo dpkg -i skypeforlinux-64.deb
     
     sudo apt install -f
     
     

     
     
   
   
   
   



3. You’re done! When you installed the package it automatically added a repository […] to keep your installation of Skype up to date via Ubuntu's package update process.

^(source)

The new Skype application works only on 64-bit (amd64) installations of Ubuntu.

¹ You can verify that it was removed by searching for skype in the partner repository package list:

wget -O- "http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/dists/$(lsb_release -sc)/partner/binary-$(dpkg --print-architecture)/Packages.gz" | gzip -d |

grep -xFe 'Package: skype' || echo 'Not found!'

Skype is now available in the snap store.

  Skype snap package

Skype has been released as a snap package.

snap find skype

Name      Version      Developer  Notes    Summary

skype     8.14.0.10    skype      classic  One Skype for all your devices. New features. New look. All Skype.

To install Skype in all currently supported versions of Ubuntu open the terminal and type:

sudo snap install skype --classic  

The skype snap package will be updated automatically when updates are available.

1. I went to the Skype web site.



2. 
   

   Then I choose to "download Skype for Linux DEB".

   
   
   

   

   
   


3. 
   

   After the download I just double-click on the file or right-click and open with Software Center and click on Install.

   
   
   

   It will install the Deb package that you downloaded and after finishing you will find it by typing Skype in the search box. You can pin it's icon if you like.

   
   
   

   

   
   

Installing packages manually is not recommended. But I have been installing Skype package manually for a quite some time through the Ubuntu Package manager without any problem. Just make sure you check any warning shown by during the installation.

Go to: http://www.skype.com/intl/en/get-skype/on-your-computer/linux/

Download the 64bit Ubuntu package. Once the download is finished, double click the package to start the installation through the Ubuntu Package manager. It will download any dependency and instal

Recently, Skype has become very easy to get for Linux users. In fact, the package from the website works but the one in the repositories didn't for me (on Ubuntu 16.04). Just go to skype.com and download the Debian .deb file, which you can open directly by double-clicking the downloaded file in the folder, and it will install through the software centre. As of now it's still in Beta version.

For the new (2017) client

Since 2017, Skype has stopped to support the old client and the new ones are not in Canonical’s partner repositories. In order to install the new client and have it automatically upgraded through apt upgrade, you can follow the recipe below, lifted from websiteforstudents.com and tested on Ubuntu 17.10.

1. Remove the old Skype client

Either sudo apt remove skype or sudo apt remove skypeforlinux.

2. Ensure you have apt-transport-https and curl installed

sudo apt install apt-transport-https curl

apt-transport-https allows you to apt update and apt upgrade from a .deb file on available on the web. curl will allow you to download Skype’s GPG key from the web.

3. Add skype.com’s deb to your apt source

Add Skype’s GPG key: curl https://repo.skype.com/data/SKYPE-GPG-KEY | sudo apt-key add -

Create a file /etc/apt/sources.list.d/skype-stable.list containing the line deb [arch=amd64] https://repo.skype.com/deb stable main. This tells apt that it has to check skype.com for the repository. A way to do this in a single command: echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://repo.skype.com/deb stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/skype-stable.list.

Then update the repository : sudo apt update

4. Install Skype itself

sudo apt install skypeforlinux will do the job.

Later, skypeforlinux will be upgraded when needed, like the other Ubuntu softwares.

Skype and some other popular applications can be currently (August 2017) installed with Flatpack.

To use the latest version of Flatpack on Ubuntu, it is recommended to use a PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexlarsson/flatpak

sudo apt update

sudo apt install flatpak

To install Skype with flatpak for all users, execute:

flatpak install --from https://s3.amazonaws.com/alexlarsson/skype-repo/skype.flatpakref

After restarting the graphical shell or logging out and logging in, Skype should appear in application menus and in search results, and it then can be added to the favourites. It can also be started from the command line with

flatpak run com.skype.Client