Skype in 2020 has different versions.

Skype for Desktop and Skype for Mobile.

There is also a business purpose app.

Windows 10users are confused with Skype.

There are two types 1.

Skype App (UWP).

EachSkypetype has a different method of stopping automatically in Windows 10.

Programs and Apps starting automatically in Windows 10 take some CPU and RAM power.

To stopSkype Appfrom running automatically in Windows 10, it’s crucial that you sign out.

This is the best possible solution.

The above picture with S icon indicates Skype Store or UWP app.

The above image with green tick mark indicates Skype program is running.

In this post we are going to see6 methodstoprevent Skype from starting automatically in Windows 10.

Task Manager

This is the first weapon against this issue.

In Windows 10, it’s possible for you to disable programs in Start up tab.

This works out in the older versions of Skype.

In the new version, it doesnt show as a startup item.

Temporarily you could kill Skype related tasks.

But this will not stop Skype from automatically running again.

There are 3 Skype related programs running in Windows 10 1909 version.

They are the following 1.

SkypeBridge.exe

These 3 programs or services need to be disabled to prevent Skype from starting again on autostart.

you should probably provide some permissions to the folder containing these files.

But this is little complicated and can cause security breaches.

So its better you follow the next method.

Sign Out from Skype App

This is the best method suited for Skype UWP app.

It is commonly found in Microsoft Store.

It comes pre-installed with Windows 10 version.

This is because Store apps are handled differently in Windows 10.

This is unlike the traditional Win32 applications.

Press theWin + Ikey to open prefs.2.

Scroll through until you see Background apps.4.

On the right-hand side, you should see Skype.5.

Turn off the slider to prevent Skype Background app from running.

To maximize Skype UWP you will just need to tap on the tool icon.

Source:https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/skype/forum/skype_win10-skype_startms-skype_signms/how-do-i-stop-skype-from-auto-start-when-starting/9d30ab87-d3ff-490a-8a39-2fc36e4448ed?auth=1

But there is a disadvantage with this kind of operation.

When apps run in the background, they show live tiles, download new data and receive notifications.

This functions may fail if you shut down the Skype app service.

This causes resource hog on some versions of Windows 10.

As an alternative, you might install Skype program and uninstall Skype app.

For this do these things.

PressWin + Ikey to open configs.2.

choose Apps & features.4.

On the right-hand side, scroll through till you see Skype app.5.

Click it and you could see Uninstall button.

Next tap on Terminate button.

This will Immediately terminate this app and its related processes.

Using Batch file

This is another method to terminate the Skype app processes on computer restart.

Select any folder on your setup.2.

Create a .bat file.3.

Then add a line to it taskkill /f /IM skype*4.

Create a shortcut to it.5.

Place it in Start up folder of your profile.

This batch file will automatically run everytime computer starts.

This code will terminate the Skype app and its related background apps.

It will also login to your Skype account, every time your system starts.

you could still launch the app in normal way.

The Skype app typically took around 330MB of RAM memory on my system.

There were 4 sub-processes below the name of Skype under Processes tab.1.

SkypeBridge

The CPU resource was negligible compared to other apps.

But Skype sub-processes takes the majority of RAM resource.

It automatically closes majority of Skype processes in Task manager.

https://www.skype.com/en/get-skype/

The current install file size is around 69MB for 64 bit Windows 10.

The current version is 8.58 as of April 2020.

Skype program app only takes around 150MB of memory usage on my computer.

This is 50% less than Skype app of Windows 10.

If you have both Skype app and desktop program installed, you will see a similar interface.

Click the3 horizontal dotsat the top.2.

hit General on the pop-up window.4.

Toggle off the option Automatically start Skype.

Then reboot your laptop or PC to check whether Skype program has stopped from starting automatically.

There are two more options here.1.

Lauch Skype in the background.2.

On close, keep Skype running.

Turn off these two prefs.

This should completely disable Skype from automatically starting in Windows 10.