How to Automatically Log Out of Your Google Account

In order to provide a more seamless experience, Google lets users stay signed in with their account 24/7. But for privacy reasons it would be a better idea to make sure you log out of your account every time you’re done using it. This can be done manually or automatically, with the latter option being the more convenient one. While Google doesn’t have a built-in option that allows you to log out of your account automatically, there are a few methods you can employ to achieve this end goal. This article details them for you.

Also read: Help! I Am Locked Out of My Google Account

1. Enable Two-Factor Authentication for Your Account

Enabling two-factor authentication for your Google account adds another layer of protection to the standard password method of online identification. Doing so also has an additional effect – it logs you out of your account each time you close your browsing window. If you wish to jump onboard with two-factor authentication, this is how to do it.

1. Go to your Google account page.

2. Alternatively, if you’re in Gmail, click on your profile picture in the top right corner. Then select “Manage your Google Account” to go to the same page.

3. Go to Security.

4. Scroll down the page until you find the “2-Step Verification” option. Click on the arrow.

5. You’ve now entered the 2-Step Verification screen. To continue the process, click on “Get Started” at the bottom.

6. Log in with your Google credentials and then click Next.
7. Next, press on Continue.

8. Select how you want to receive the additional code needed for authentication. Your options include “Text message” and “Phone call”. Click on Send.

9. Enter the code you’ve just received on your phone and click on Next.

10. Google will now prompt you to turn on two-step verification. Do so by pressing on the “Turn on” button.

Two-step verification is now enabled. You can opt for additional layers of protection including Google prompts or verification via an Authenticator app.

You can activate the privacy feature on your mobile device, as well. The process is quite similar to the one we described above.

1. Go to your Google account page in your mobile browser.
2. Alternatively, if you’re in Gmail click on your profile picture in the top right corner. Then select “Manage your Google Account” to go to the same page.

3. The next steps are pretty much the same, so follow them as outline above to enable two-step verification from your mobile device.

With this option enabled you will have to sign in every time you wish to use your Google account. Even if this might seem a little repetitive, the privacy benefits are pretty great. You also have the option of making the process a bit easier by using autofill to insert your login credentials automatically.

Also read: How to Set Up Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) on Various Social Networks

2. Use Private Browsing

Another method to ensure you log out of your Google account after every session is to opt for private browsing instead of normal browsing. Private browsing is a feature that major web browsers offer that keeps your temporary browsing data private including browsing history, search records, log ins, and cookies. Since none of this data is saved, your Google login will be automatically reset once you end your private session. In this section we’ll show you how you can activate private browsing in major browsers.

Chrome

If you’re using Chrome on your PC or mobile device, here’s how you can open a private session in your browser.

1. Open Chrome on your PC or mobile device.
2. Tap on the three-dots in the upper right corner.

1. Click on “New Incognito window”
2. A private browsing window should now open up.

Firefox

Firefox users can also turn to private browsing if they wish to make sure their Google login isn’t saved. Here’s how to access the feature.

1. Open Firefox on your PC.
2. Tap on the hamburger menu in the upper right corner.

3. Select “New private window”.
4. Voila! Your private window should now open on your screen.
5. On mobile, just tap on the tiny Mask icon underneath the search bar to open a private window.

Alternatively, you can use the Firefox Focus browser, which runs on private mode by default.

Opera

Those who prefer using Opera on their PC or mobile device, can access their private browser by following these steps.

1. Open Opera on your PC.
2. Tap on the “O” in the upper left corner.

3. Select “New private window”.
4. Your private session can begin now.
5. On mobile, tap on the Tabs icon at the bottom.

6. Switch from Normal to Private to start an incognito browsing session.

Also read: How to Create a Gmail Desktop App

3. Clear Cookies After Each Session

Another solution for when you want to automatically log out of your account(s) is to remember to delete cookies after each browsing session. Here’s how it’s done in major browsers on PC and mobile.

Chrome

If you’re a Chrome user, then you should know that you don’t even have to clear cookies manually (although it’s possible to do so). The browser allows you to enable an option that deletes cookies automatically.

1. Open Chrome on your PC.
2. Tap on the three-dots in the upper right corner.

3. Select Settings.

4. Go to “Security and Privacy”.

5. Click on “Cookies and other site data”.

6. Scroll down until you find the “Clear cookies and site data when you close all windows” and toggle it on.

7. In Chrome mobile start by going “Settings-> Privacy and security-> Clear browsing data” and then switch to Advanced.
8. Select “Cookies and site data” and make sure the “Time range” is set to “All time”.

Firefox

Firefox has a similar option that allows you to automatically delete cookies after each browsing session, which is available in the desktop, as well as mobile versions.

1. Open Firefox on your PC.
2. Tap on the hamburger menu in the upper right corner.

3. Select Settings.
4. Go to “Privacy & Security”.

5. Scroll down and check the “Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed” option box.
6. If you’re on mobile, you need to go to “Settings-> Privacy and security->Delete browsing data on quit”. This option should be off by default, and so you’ll need to activate and select which type of data (Cookies) should be erased after each session.

Opera

Opera users also have a similar option at their disposal, and here’s how you can activate it on desktop and mobile.

1. Open Opera on your PC.
2. Tap on the “O” in the upper left corner.

3. Select Settings

4. Click “Advanced-> Privacy and security.”

4. Press on “Cookies and other site data”.

5. Toggle on the “Clear cookies and site data when you quit Opera” option.

6. On mobile, tap on the Profile icon at the bottom and then on the Gear icon on the card that pops up from the bottom.

7. This will take you Settings. Here scroll down until you find the Privacy section. Tap on the “Clear data on exit” option and make your selection.

Also read: How to Delete a Gmail Account Permanently

4. Create a Sign-out Shortcut on Your Screen

Deleting cookies will have the effect of removing your saved settings for the sites you’ve visited. If you don’t want to happen, and you’re also not keen on using any of the other methods described above, you can simply manually sign out of your Google every time you use it.

The problem is that you might forget to do so sometimes. In order to solve this problem, you can create a shortcut to the Google Sign-out page on your desktop. It’s really easy to do so.

1. On your desktop, right click on your mouse.
2. This will bring a bunch of options. Select “New -> Create shortcut”.

2. Input the following URL: https://accounts.google.com/Logout?service=mail and press Next.

3. Name your shortcut. You can use something like “Google logout”. Then click on Finish.

4. There you go! The icon has been created. You can go ahead and place it somewhere in the center of your desktop, so it’s easy for you to spot and access it whenever you need to log out.

If you end up opting for this method, there’s a few things you need to do for it to function properly. You see, if you previously instructed your browser to save your password, when you will go ahead and use “Sign in” button again, it will remember the password. In which case, you need to delete your Google account password and instruct the browser not to save it the next time you log in with it. Here’s how to do that.

Chrome

1. In Chrome, tap your profile picture in the upper right corner.
2. Tap on the little key icon underneath the image.

3. Locate your Google account and take a look below. You’ll see all the passwords that you’ve used to log into websites while using this Google account.

4. Scroll down until you find your Google account and tap on the three-dots next to it.

5. Click Remove to delete the password from the database.
6. From the same page, you can also toggle off the “Auto Sign-in” option at the top, which forces you to log into your accounts every time you want to use them.

7. On mobile, go to “Settings -> Passwords”.

8. Tap on “View and manage saved passwords in your Google Account” to view a list of your passwords.

9. Find your Google account and tap on it.

10. Tap on the Delete button to get forget this password.

Firefox

1. In Firefox on PC, tap on the hamburger menu in the upper right corner.
2. Select Passwords.

3. Select your Google account from the list and press “Remove”.

4. Now go back to the Google account sign in page and log in with by inputting your password again.
5. The browser will ask you if you want to save the password.

6. Respond by pressing on “Don’t save”.
7. On mobile, go to “Settings -> Logins ad Passwords”.

8. Make sure you toggle off the option to “Autofill in Firefox”.

Opera

1. Open Opera on your PC.
2. Tap on the “O” in the upper left corner.

3. Select Settings.
4. Click on Advanced.

5. Scroll down to the Autofill area and click on Passwords. This section looks a lot like Chrome, down to the “Auto sign-in” toggle which you can disable. The rest also works just like in Google’s browser.

6. On mobile go to “Settings -> Passwords”.

7. Tap on “Saved passwords” to view all the passwords you’ve saved while using Opera.

8. Find your Google account and delete its associated password.

Also read: The Best Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) Apps That Sync With Multiple Devices

5. Sign Out Remotely

If you find yourself in a situation where you just forgot to log out from your Google account, don’t worry you can do so remotely. Here’s how.

1. Open up Google’s device page in your browser.
2. Find the device you want to remove and then click on “More details”.

3. Press on the “Sign out” button and the confirm the action.
4. That’s it, now you’re signed out of your Google account.
5. Keep in mind that you can sign out of multiple devices from this page.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are some of the best authenticator apps out there?

If you enabled two-step verification for your Google account, then an authenticator app will come in handy. Perhaps the best known is Google Authenticator, but there are some other worthy alternatives out there. Learn about the top 8 by reading our previous article on the matter.

2. How can I sign out of multiple Google accounts at once?

If you routinely use multiple Google accounts throughout your day and you’d like to sign out of all of them automatically once you’re done with your session, the good news is that all methods above work.