Disabling text formatting in Skype

Skype is one of those programs that I have on every device I own, not just for the free/cheap calling, but also for text chatting with friends. It’s something that I use almost every day. It does have its issues however.

Such as the fact that sometime in the last year, they added automatic text formatting so that things like *asterisks* turn into bold text. Which isn’t a big deal in itself, except that there’s no option to turn it off if you don’t want it. I’ve seen programmers in particular who hate this “feature” because it can completely mess up code that they share with each other. For me personally, I like to use the asterisks to indicate an action rather than something I said (something I picked up from roleplaying in WoW).

Luckily, some industrious folks created a solution! It’s called the Skype Utility Project and all it involves is placing a single file in the same folder as the Skype executable. They say that it only works for the Windows desktop version of Skype, but I can confirm that it also works with the (unofficial) portable version. It also can do other things such as hiding ads and adjusting the position of the notification popup.

You’ll have to place the file again each time Skype updates but it’s a small inconvenience. Hopefully the Skype developers will realize that new features are great, but making them optional is even better. Especially since there’s nothing I can do about the Android version of Skype on my phone yet.

April 14, 2015 No comments

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