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I downloaded and installed Skype, but by clicking the icon it just does not start.

What should I do?

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Hello and welcome to Ask Ubuntu. Take a look in the FAQ , try also to give additional information. what version of Ubuntu are you using? –  Alvar Feb 25 '12 at 19:02

4 Answers 4

It's always good to open a terminal and issue the command from there. Failure will at the least reports some output.

Open a terminal and issue the command:


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Just to be sure. You downloaded and installed Skype through Ubuntu's Software Center.

I recommend doing it this way. But in all cases, Skype has a particular issue that if you start it 2 or more times it gets stuck if you did not close it properly.

Do the following in a terminal:

sudo killall skype or sudo killall -9 skype. That should force skype to close even if you do not see it. It kills the Skype process.

After which I also recommend putting the Skype icon in the Launcher. This way, if you double click on it, it will not open twice. It will just open normally and the second click will make it get focus.

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I've had the same problem. Followed the answer here http://askubuntu.com/a/322347/115308, and it is working now.

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Make sure that you install 32-bit / 64-bit Skype on respective hardware. Installing from the Ubuntu Software Center automatically decides what version is appropriate.

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