Workaround to Disable Skype Home from Appearing on Startup

After upgrading to Skype 5.5, and if a Skype users choose the Compact View option instead of Default View, a window titled Skype Home will automatically open and appear every time Skype program is starting or on computer reboot. The additional “Skype Home” window effectively defeat the purpose of Compact View, where users who supposed to get a smaller Skype main window now is getting two windows instead of one.

To make matter worse, Skype does not provide an option to disable or stop Skype Home screen from autostart.

As a workaround, Andrew Worcester wrote a tiny program that taking care of any extra Skype Home window. The “Kill Skype Home” app is designed to start with Windows. It will search any any open windows named “Skype Home”, and when found, to silently kill and close the window.

Once the Skype Home window is killed, the app will also automatically closes itself so that it does not take up any system resources. A nifty feature as Skype Home window won’t auto open except during the loading of Skype program, which usually happen only when starting Windows.

While it’s not a parameter that directly disable the Skype Home feature within Skype, the app is still the best alternative available that get rid of the Skype Home pop up automatically as soon as it happens, and without the need to move your mouse.

Download Kill Skype Home: KillSkypeHome.zip

After installing, right click on the Kill Skype Home icon on system tray (notification area), and select “Start with Windows” so that it can force Skype Home window to exit on system startup.