In Skype, errors with different text may pop up. One of the popular phrases is "Could not establish a connection". Is she talking about no internet? What does this error imply? What should you do if you encounter it?

What does the inscription in Skype "Unable to establish a connection" mean?

When we enter our data from our Skype account and click on "Login", the messenger sends this data to its server - they are checked there. The server should respond to the application on your PC whether they are correct or not. If the utility does not receive any response, we see the phrase “Unable to establish a connection” or “Unable to connect to Skype” on the screen.

If you get a message when you log in "Could not establish a connection", most likely there is no Internet on your PC

But first of all, make sure that the Skype servers are working correctly. To do this, follow this link. Pay attention to the Signing into Skype item - the word Normal should be opposite it (that is, the server is operating normally - the problem is not on the side of the Skype developers).

Login services should be running normally

How to recognize and fix a server connection error

Gradually, we will analyze the most common causes of the error and immediately give ready-made solutions.

No internet access

The first obvious reason for the error is the lack of internet on the device. Look down at the "Taskbar": on the right, next to the icons of the battery, clock and other things, there is a network icon. The connection must be active: if you have a yellow circle, then your PC is not connected to the Internet. Click on it and go to your access point (your router).

If there is a yellow circle on the icon, then you have not yet connected to your Wi-Fi

On Windows 10, in this case, there is an asterisk on the Wi-Fi icon.

On Windows 10, instead of a yellow circle, there will be an asterisk

If your PC is connected to the Internet and you see a yellow triangle with a black exclamation mark on the network icon, then you have problems accessing the network - most likely a problem on the provider's side. Call his hotline (support). The phone number is written in the contract.

The yellow triangle indicates that access to your network is currently restricted

An easy way to make sure that there is really no Internet is to load any site in the browser. Nothing opens - restart your PC and router. If you have a cable, take it out and then plug it back in.

Run the regular network troubleshooter as well. Right-click on the icon and select Troubleshoot.

Run troubleshooting via the context menu

If the page in the browser is loaded, but “with a creak”, the problem is in the speed of the Internet. Skype waits a long time for a response from the server and, as a result, does not wait - it thinks that there is simply no Internet on the PC. If you have any large files on the download, for example, you are downloading a torrent, pause the download. Try signing into Skype again. The problem may be in the quality of the "Internet". If you have this situation all the time, you will have to change the provider.

Skype version is outdated - it's time to download the update

If your Skype has not been updated for a long time, it may lack an update to get the right to contact the server. Developers often stop supporting outdated versions of a program. The solution is simple - update Skype.

If you have Windows XP, you will need to additionally download Service Pack 3 in order for Skype to work on your device.

How to update Skype:

The reason is the built-in "Firewall"

"Firewall" - a firewall that scans the incoming Internet stream. It can block the work of certain programs, including Skype. You can find out if this is the case, and immediately correct the situation as follows:

Skype not working due to viruses

Rarely, but still, malicious files and programs on the PC can become the cause. Viruses can block the operation of both individual applications and the PC as a whole, as well as data transfer over the network. An updated home antivirus (the one installed in the system now), for example, Kaspersky, NOD32, Avast and others, will help to detect and immediately destroy the virus. Or the standard Windows Defender (it is in every version of Windows).

The reason is the antivirus that interferes with the work of Skype

The antivirus itself can also block access to Skype servers. Check this theory - turn off your antivirus for a while and try to enter Skype. If the connection goes through, add Skype to the exceptions in the antivirus settings. The procedure will differ depending on the security program. Consider it using the example of Kaspersky:

The reason is critical damage to Skype files

If none of the above helps, your Skype files may have become corrupted in the course of work. You need to change them - reinstall the program. First, remove all application components that you have on your PC:

What to do, there is a provider or network administrator forbade the use of Skype

Access to the Skype servers can be blocked not only by the antivirus or its Firewall. Your ISP or other network administrator may also do this. If the above methods did not help you, contact your ISP's support service.

Ask if access to skype.com domains has been restricted. Or contact your network administrator if, for example, you cannot access Skype at work (often workplaces are restricted so that users are not distracted from work on extraneous matters). If there really was a ban, ask to open access to domains again.

First, check your internet access. If it doesn't, here's your reason. If restarting the router and PC does not help, solve the problem with the provider - most likely, the problem is on his side. If there is an Internet and the speed is good, find out if the antivirus and Firewall are blocking access to Skype domains. If yes, add messenger to the exception. Also check your PC for viruses. As a last resort, reinstall the utility.

A fairly common problem: you try to access Skype, and it drops connections, although there is a network connection and, for example, the browser opens any sites. There can be many reasons why Why Skype does not connect to the Internet, although the Internet is available. Consider the main ones, which in 90% of cases are the culprits of the corresponding problems.

Reason 1. Outdated version of the program

There are users who use very old software that is no longer compatible with current protocols. To try to restore the functionality of the program, visit the Microsoft website and download the latest version of the application from there.

On the other hand, if you installed Skype relatively recently, then the program, if necessary, will offer to update itself.

Cause 2: The connection was blocked by the firewall

Another common reason why Skype does not connect to the Internet, although the Internet is available, is the presence of restrictions assigned in FireWall for Skype. In this case, the connection controller simply does not release the program to the network. If this is the reason, then you will have to give the application the appropriate permissions. For this:

1. Go to the "Control Panel";
2. Select "System and Security" - "Windows Firewall";
3. Click on "Advanced options";
4. In the "Rules for incoming connections" item, find Skype in the list;
5. Double-click on it and check: is there a switch on "Allow connection";
6. If not, install it at this point;
7. Apply the configuration.

If this was the problem, then after the appropriate actions, Skype will work.

Reason 3: Multiple applications use port 80

Skype may also not work due to the fact that some of the programs use port 80. You do not need to uninstall or even disable the corresponding application, just in the Skype settings you should assign a different port that it will use. This is not difficult to do:

1. Open Skype;
2. In the menu, select "Tools" - "Settings";
3. In the window that opens, select "Advanced" - "Connections";
4. In the "Use port" field, enter 443;
5. Save your changes.

This is guaranteed to help in cases where, for example, a person has some kind of web server installed on his computer (for example, xampp).

Reason 4: Connectivity may be blocked by Windows

Sometimes the reason that Skype cannot connect to the Internet is that the corresponding feature is blocked in the Windows operating system itself.

1. To do this, you need to look at what is contained in the Host.
2. It can be found in the following path: "%SystemDrive%\Windows\System32\Drivers".
3. The initial form should contain nothing but the address of the local host: Localhost - 127.0.0.1.
4. If there are any other addresses, try to remove them after making a backup copy of the file.

Reason 5: Change your password

And the last common reason why Skype does not connect to the Internet, although there is a network, is a forgotten or hacked Skype account password. If the connection is not established precisely because of incorrect authorization details, then visit the Skype website and go through a simple password recovery procedure. To do this, go to login.skype.com and click on the link "I can not log into Skype", and then follow all the steps that the system asks.

Often, users are disturbed by notifications about the inability to establish a connection in Skype. This error appears if, when trying to authorize, the messenger could not “reach out” to the server, or simply did not receive a response from it.

In such a situation, he has no choice but to postpone the Skype login process until better times. Why and what to do? You ask.

Here are some reasons for this application behavior:

1. Perhaps you are using an outdated version of the messenger.
2. The application is blocked by the firewall.
3. You are not connected to the World Wide Web "Internet", or its settings are not correct.
4. Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) or the administrator of the network you're on may have blocked access to Skype.
5. Critical violation of the messenger itself.
6. For some reason, the application server may not work, for example, technical work.

We will delve into the essence of each problem and look for reliable solutions.

• The most common cause of an authorization error lies in the use of an outdated version of the program. There is only one way to deal with it - update the old one or reinstall the new version of the application, preferably a recent release.
• The second most common problem of not being able to establish a connection is the incorrect adjustment of Internet Explorer settings. For the operating system, this browser is the main one, so changing its settings affects the operation of other software, and Skype is no exception. To correct the situation, reset your browser settings to the original ones.

• In the case when the first two scenarios are not suitable, you should think about the issue of limited access to Skype domain servers. To check this, use a special test program. If the test results are disappointing, turn off the firewall, or if you are an advanced user, remove the restrictions in it. Re-test. If this time you are denied access, you should contact your Internet service provider for help and clarification.
• The error may also lie on the application server itself due to some technical work. Checking this is easy - you just need to go to one of the many services on the Internet and see if the Skype server is available. If the domain servers are in good condition, then the error occurs on your computer or gadget. Otherwise, you need to wait until the server is up again, often it does not take much time.
• Sometimes the culprits for denied access are corrupted files of the application itself. In this case, restarting the program will help. If the error persists, you will have to send the files "%appdata%\Skype\shared.lck" and "%appdata%\Skype\shared.xml" to the trash.

Skype is one of the most popular programs for communicating people over the Internet. It is used by millions of people almost every day, contacting their relatives, friends, work colleagues, business partners and so on. Everyone knows that no program is perfect, therefore such a “monster” can also have failures, that is, the service automatically generates errors. The most common error that Skype gives is that the connection could not be established.

What is the reason for such failures? As practice shows, there can be a lot of problems and factors due to which the Skype connection could not be established. Some of the problems are minor, so they are easy to fix, others require the service to be configured, which also does not take much time.

Unsuccessful removal

Quite often, there are cases when, after uninstalling old versions, the program is not permanently removed, so files remain on the computer that cause such connection failures. What to do in this case? The answer is quite simple - you need to delete old versions of the messenger from the computer's memory, and also make sure that the work was completed successfully and all program files were deleted.

The second point is that the version that you downloaded must be suitable for the computer's operating system. After all, often errors occur only because of this factor. That is, after installation, the version of the messenger does not “work” with the operating system of the computer device, so Skype cannot establish a connection. There is only one solution to this issue - carefully choose the version of Skype, this will help you quickly install the program and use it in the future without problems.

Firewall settings

It is advisable to check the firewall settings, because it is because of it that Skype very often gives a connection error. If your device is powered by a router signal, then you need to check its connection.

You also need to check the settings of the router, since the mode for blocking applications or the setting “ parental control". Very often, "parental control" is set when PC users have no experience in working with the device, so they can make incorrect settings, as a result, all applications are hard blocked.

To establish a Skype connection, all these settings must be removed.

If the router is not used. The problem might be in the firewall. However, you need to remember that the firewall can be built-in or located in other programs, such as antivirus programs. Therefore, to check the connection, it is advisable to temporarily disable your anti-virus program. This work will only take a few minutes, so you will not have time to catch the virus, but you will know if the firewall is causing the program to crash. If you understand that this is not the case, then you need to check the operation of the built-in Windows firewall, especially for Windows 7, which often has such problems.

It needs to be disabled, which can be done in the settings. To disable the Windows firewall, go to the control panel, then to the security system and disable this application. And if the reason was only this, then you will immediately be able to use the application.

Internet Explorer

The next common reason for not having a download server is Internet Explorer. At first glance, this may not be, but sometimes this program can also cause a lack of connection. The main reason lies in older versions of the browser, in which the installation content becomes corrupted, causing Skype to give an error. Solving this problem is quite simple, there are only two ways:

• install Skype version 6.14 and higher;
• install the latest version of the browser.

Communication program settings

If there is Internet, and all the settings have already been revised, then there is one more option why Skype writes an error, these are the wrong settings of the communication program itself. The user may have specified the wrong communication port or something else. There may also be connection errors if there are problems in the hardware department of the computer. That is, the microphone or video camera could break, and the user could install the drivers incorrectly. After all, early versions do not always make contact with later ones, so there are software-level conflicts. Another very common problem of failures is the congestion of "supernods", that is, the directory that the user accesses when dialing is clogged. And if there are a lot of calls to one node at once, then there may be no connection.

Based on this, you can see that the error when connecting to Skype is insignificant and easily solved. Therefore, if you are faced with this problem, you do not need to be upset. Everything can be solved in a few minutes on your own, without resorting to the services of specialists.

Sometimes users may experience such an error that Skype could not establish a connection. Why is there such a problem with Skype?

The fact is that when you start after entering the login and password, the program sends data to the server, where information about all users is stored.

If such an account is found, login is performed, otherwise the program simply does not log into the account. But the error "Could not establish a connection" means that the program cannot contact the server at all - the program sends a signal, but does not arrive at the server.

Therefore, the account menu in Skype does not open.

So, what does the error “Unable to establish a connection” mean, we have already figured out, now it’s worth understanding what to do.

Solution #1. Internet connection check

First, you should check if there is an internet connection at all. Maybe Skype isn't the problem. This can be done by opening a website in the browser, for example, Google.ru.

If the site does not start either, then you should check whether there is enough money on your account to use the worldwide network or call the technical support of the company whose client you are.

Solution #2. Check program version

Another elementary problem is that the old Skype is installed. To check your version, you need to select the "Help" item in the toolbar and click on "About Skype".

In the window that appears, you can see the version (underlined in green in the figure below).

Clue! Here you can also look at the year of publication (underlined in red in the figure) - if it is current, the version is new.

To install a new Skype, you need to go to the program page on the Internet (skype.com) and click on one of the bright green buttons that says "Download Skype".

Installing a new version will remove the old one. If the new Skype does not install, you must manually uninstall the old version. To do this, go to the "Start" menu, then "Control Panel". After that, select the "Uninstall a program" item.

In the window that appears, find Skype, click on it, after which the uninstall program starts.

After that, you should try to install the program again.

Advice! Not always Skype will start working with the newest version of the program. Practice shows that the most efficient version is 7.14.0.106. Therefore, if installing a new version does not help, install this version and try to work with it.

Decision #3. Disabling the firewall

It's also possible that the built-in firewall in Windows 7 is causing Skype to throw a "Connection failed" error. Therefore, you need to try to turn it off, at least for a while.

To do this, go to the same "Control Panel", where select the "System and Security" item.

After that, you need to click on the "Windows Firewall" item.

Now it remains to check the boxes "Turn off Windows Firewall" - 2 times (circled in red in the figure) and click the "OK" button.

Now you need to try to start Skype and if the program again writes: "The connection could not be established", you can try further methods.

Solution #4. Disable antivirus

It often happens that Skype does not turn on due to the fact that it is blocked by antivirus. To exclude this option, you should go into your antivirus program, search in the settings, for example, for "parental control" or other additional functions of the Skype antivirus.

To exclude this option, you should temporarily disable the antivirus - if Skype works with the antivirus program turned off, then the problem is in it.

As for how to disable the antivirus, it all depends on the specific program.

In Kaspersky Anti-Virus, this is done as follows: you need to right-click on the Kaspersky Internet Security icon and select "Exit" (underlined in green in the photo below). This approach is applicable to almost every modern antivirus.

It is possible that the antivirus automatically added Skype to the list of blocked programs. How to fix this problem? It all depends on the specific antivirus. If it is possible to reset its settings, do so. You can also remove the antivirus.

This is done in exactly the same way as described above for Skype.

Solution #5. Router settings

If Skype writes "Could not establish a connection", the reason may be in the router settings. To remove this error, do the following:

• Go to router settings. To do this, type 192.168.0.1 in the address bar of the browser (depending on the router, this address may change, see the information in the documentation).

Advice! You should enter the router settings through the Google Chrome, Mozilla or any other browser, but not through Opera - the settings work very rarely through this browser.

• Depending on the router, the appearance of this window may be different. If nothing has changed in the router settings before, then the login and password will be the same - “admin”. Enter and click "Login".
• After that, you need to find the item "Virtual servers". Depending on the router model, this item may be in different menus. For one of today's most popular DIR-300NRU routers, the search looks as shown in Fig. No. 12.
  There you need to go to the “Firewall” item in the menu on the left, and then “Virtual servers”.