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User guides

Change view

Skype has two layouts: default view and compact view. It is set to open in default view, which shows your contact and conversation in one main window. Compact view displays your Contact list, and conversations pop up in their own separate windows.

Switch view

At the top of Skype beside the close, minimise and maximise buttons, click this button.
This will change the layout to a different view. Alternatively, in the main menu, click View and choose Compact View.

To change back, click the button again or alternatively click View > Default View.

Useful things you can do to adjust the layout:

  • Resize the windows – drag window corners to make them bigger or smaller.
  • Widen/narrow your Contact list – drag the sidebar on the right of your Contact list to widen or narrow it.
  • Show/hide profile information – in a coversation, mouse over the contact's/group's profile picture and click close icon to hide their information. Click on their name at the top of the conversation to show it again.
  • See more/see less profile information – as above, mouse over the profile picture and click maximise icon to show the full profile or minimise to show less information.

Need more help Check out our FAQs section.

Heartbeat See how Skype's products and features are performing on the Heartbeat blog.

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