Several Contacts Missing

• If several of your Skype contacts are missing from your contact list, chances are good that you're looking at the wrong list. This is especially true if the missing contacts are people with whom you have not chatted recently. Sign in to Skype, and then look to the left panel of the screen. Above your list of contacts, you should see two tabs: "Contacts" and "Recent." Click the "Contacts" tab here. This displays a list of all of your contacts. If you were previously looking at the "Recent" tab, chances are good many contacts would be missing. This tab only shows the contacts with whom you have interacted recently.
  
  

Skype Contacts Always Offline

• If some of your Skype contacts never seem to be online, there are two basic possibilities. They may have blocked you, or they may be operating in Skype's invisible mode. When a contact blocks you -- but does not remove you as a contact -- you still see her in your contact list. She always appears offline, however, regardless of her true online status. The same is true of someone who has opted to go invisible. She may be chatting away with other Skype friends even while you cannot see her. Keep in mind, however, that Skype does not allow you to go invisible to only one person; if your friend is invisible to you, no one else can see her either. She can, however, still chat, make phone calls and otherwise use Skype as normal.
  
  

Testing for Invisibility

• If you don't know whether a contact has blocked you, is offline, or has simply gone invisible, you can do a simple check. This does not determine whether you are blocked, but only whether the person in question is invisible. Click his name in your "Contacts" list to show your chat window with him. Type a message here as normal, and then send it. Wait a moment, and then look at the message. You should see your name, followed by a message, followed by the time you sent the message. Look just to the right of that time. If you see a black line moving in a circle, your message could not be delivered and your contact is offline or has blocked you. If this circle does not appear, your message went through. This means your contact is simply invisible.
  
  

Contact Completely Gone

• Most things that would cause a contact not to show up as online -- such as being offline, invisible or having blocked you -- do not remove this person from your contact list. If a Skype contact is actually gone from your contact list, the reason may be more ominous. Double-check to ensure that you are in your "Contacts" tab rather than the "Recent" tab. If so, and the contact is not there, he may have removed you as a contact. This means neither of you can chat with the other via Skype until you become contacts again.
  
  

Your Contact Is Definitely Online

• From time to time, you may know for certain that a particular Skype contact is online. For example, you could be on the phone with a trustworthy friend who is insisting that she is signed in and not invisible. Regardless, you may not see her. If this occurs, set your status to "Offline" or sign out of Skype. Wait a moment, and then set your status to "Available" or sign back in to your account. This generally resolves the problem and shows your contact as online.