Can You See the Skype Chat History on a Different Computer?
NICK PEERS
TECH
Skype chats are stored locally on your computer in a file. You can view them at any time or erase the archive if you want to delete all of them at once. As long as you don't delete the archive, you can move it to a different computer and read the chats. You must sign in with the same Skype ID and password, otherwise you won't be able to open the history.
1 Exit Skype
Exit Skype, press "Windows-X" and choose "File Explorer" from the Power User menu.
2 Select the View tab
Select the "View" tab and then check the "Hidden items" check box in the Current View group to display all hidden files and folders.
3 Select the system drive
Select the system drive and then open the Users\User_Name\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.SkypeApp\Localstate\Skype_Name folder. You must replace "User_Name" with your Windows username and "Skype_Name" with your Skype name.
4 Locate the Main.db file
Locate the Main.db file. Skype stores your entire chat history in this file. Transfer the Main.db file to the second computer.
5 Select the Main.db file
Select the Main.db file on the second computer and press "Ctrl-C" to copy it to the clipboard.
6 Open the File Explorer
Open the File Explorer on the second computer, display hidden files and folders, and then navigate to the path where you found the chat history file.
7 Right click the Main.db file
Right-click the Main.db file if it exists on the second computer. Choose "Rename" from the context menu, type a different name for the file and press "Enter" to rename it.
8 To paste
Press "Ctrl-V" to paste the Main.db file you imported from the first computer into the folder.
9 Launch Skype and log and
Launch Skype and log in using your Skype ID and password. The chat history is imported from the Main.db file and displayed in Skype.
- If you don't rename the second Main.db file, you will overwrite it when you paste the imported file. If you overwrite the file, you lose the chat history of the second computer.
- Information in this article applies to Skype 6.6. Procedures may vary with other versions or products.
- You can't recover or transfer the chats if you clear the history.
- If you want to view the other chat history on the second computer, rename the imported Main.db file and then change the name of the old file to Main.db.
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