How to Uninstall Skype for Business on Windows 10

Skype for Business is a great enterprise messaging and video tool developed by Microsoft. That said, perhaps your company is now using an alternative like Zoom or Microsoft Teams, and you want to uninstall Skype for Business.

If so, we’re here to help. You might find it a bit trickier to uninstall than other software, so we’re going to show you all the ways to uninstall Skype for Business on Windows 10.

How to Stop Skype for Business From Starting Automatically

Are you sure you want to uninstall Skype for Business completely? If you might use it again in the future, you might prefer to simply stop the program from opening automatically when you log in to Windows.

To do this:

1. Open Skype for Business.
2. Click the cog icon (if you click the dropdown, click Tools > Options).
3. Click Personal.
4. Uncheck Automatically start the app when I log on to Windows.
5. Click OK.

Now you will need to manually open Skype for Business each time you want to use it.

Do You Have Permission to Uninstall Skype for Business?

Skype for Business is primarily an enterprise program, so it’s likely installed on your work computer.

If so, you might not have the ability to uninstall Skype for Business. Your system administrator can restrict your user account from carrying out certain actions; uninstalling Skype for Business might be one of those.

Related: Microsoft Reminds Skype for Business Online Customers to Switch to Microsoft Teams

Even if your account has no restrictions, it’s wise to check with your IT administrator before uninstalling Skype for Business. Doing so might cause them a headache down the line.

1. Uninstall Skype for Business via Settings

Before trying anything advanced, attempt to uninstall Skype for Business like you would any other app or program.

1. Press Windows Key + I to open Settings.
2. Click Apps.
3. Within the Search this list field, input Skype for Business.
4. If Skype for Business appears, select it and click Uninstall.

If you don’t see Skype for Business here, it’s because you’re using a version that is integrated with other Microsoft 365 apps.

If you want, you can uninstall Microsoft 365 or Office from here, but obviously, that will remove other programs like Word, PowerPoint, and Access that you probably want to keep. As such, keep reading.

Related: Microsoft 365 vs. Office: What Are the Differences?

2. Install Office Without Skype for Business

Though the standard Office installation doesn’t let you choose not to install Skype for Business, you can use an advanced technique to achieve it.

First, uninstall Office using the steps described above. Alternatively, go to the “Uninstall Office from a PC” Microsoft support page and use the second option to download the Office uninstall support tool.

Next, download the Office Deployment Tool. Open it and choose where to extract the files to. This will give you three configuration.xml files and a setup.exe file.

Decide which configuration file you need: x64 is for 32-bit systems, x86 is for 64-bit systems, and Enterprise is if you are installing Office Enterprise edition.

Right-click the configuration file and choose Open with > Notepad.

First, look for the line that begins with:

Add OfficeClientEdition=

Amend the opening of the line as follows, replacing C:Office with the path of where you extracted the files:

Add SourcePath="C:Office" OfficeClientEdition=

Next, look for these two lines (your product ID may be “ProPlus2019Volume” instead of “OF365ProPlusRetail” and your language ID may be different):

Product ID="O365ProPlusRetail"
Language ID="en-us"

Paste this line beneath:

ExcludeApp ID="Lync"

Then save the file.

Do a system search for Command Prompt and click Run as administrator.

Input this into Command Prompt:

cd C:Office

Again, replace the C:Office path with where you extracted the files.

Then, run the following commands one after another (replace the configuration file name with whichever you are using), which may take some time:

setup.exe /download configuration-Office2019Enterprise.xml
setup.exe /configure configuration-Office2019Enterprise.xml

This will then install Office without Skype for Business.

Keep Skype for Business and Host Great Meetings

Not convinced that uninstalling Skype for Business is worth the effort? Fair enough. Try giving it a second chance.

With Skype for Business, you can screen share, run polls, have a collaborative whiteboard, record the call, and much more.

Source: makeuseof.com