Want to Automatically Logout of Gmail or Google Account?

Google Accounts are a part of your personal and professional life, especially with Single Sign On (SSO) helping you log in to almost any platform or app with a single click. Sometimes you may need to allow a friend or family member to access your computer. When this happens, you may be wondering how to log out of gmail automatically.

google doesn’t have a built-in feature that allows you to automatically sign out of google accounts. therefore, you will need to use one or more of the following methods to sign out of all your google accounts.

use two-step verification

Let’s say you have a computer at work where you’re logged into your gmail. You have called to report that he is sick and resting at home, but his colleague needs to use his computer to access some documents. you realize you’re not logged out of your gmail on your work pc.

That’s a problem, right? well it wouldn’t be if you had enabled two factor authentication (or two step verification) on your gmail. Two-factor authentication not only requires a manual login each time, it also adds an extra layer of security to your Google account.

1. go to your google account.
2. select security in the top navigation panel.
3. scroll down and find 2 step-by-step verification.

1. You will now see a screen where you can start setting up 2-Step Verification. select start.

1. Log in to your gmail and you will now see a screen where you need to enter your phone number for verification. enter your phone number, select whether to verify with a text or phone call, and select next.

1. Enter the code you received on your phone in the next step and select next. Google will ask you to turn on 2-Step Verification. select activate.

1. You have set up 2-Step Verification. If you want, you can add additional verification steps, including verification using the Google Authenticator app.

once you’ve set up two-step verification, you’ll automatically be signed out of your google account every time you close the tab.

this adds an extra step for you whenever you want to login. Still, you can make the process a little easier by saving your username and password in your device’s browser so you can use autofill to insert login credentials quickly.

You don’t have to worry about other people accessing your google account through autofill because they’ll still need your verification code to sign in.

use private browsing

You could use private browsing (also called incognito mode in chrome) to automatically log you out after each session. also, have you configured google chrome browser sync? now is a good time to turn off sync because it will sync any information you enter into your browser, including passwords.

When you use private browsing, no information is saved. If you sign in to a Google account using private browsing, closing the browser window will automatically sign you out, so you’ll need to sign in again the next time you use the browser. you can even create a shortcut to directly launch the browser in private browsing mode.

this is how you can use private browsing in chrome, firefox and edge:

1. chrome and edge: press ctrl + shift + n.

1. firefox: press ctrl + shift + p.

clear cookies when window is closed

Another way to automatically log out of Google accounts is to set your browser to automatically delete cookies. This is how you can change the settings in chrome to remove cookies automatically:

1. select the ellipses at the top and select settings.

1. select privacy and security in the left panel and then cookies and other site data in the right panel.

1. scroll down to the custom behaviors section and select addnext to the text always delete cookies when windows are closed .

1. add this as a site:

[*.]google.com

When you’re done, select add. this will add all google subdomains to the list, like mail.google.com, calendar.google.com, etc.

1. You will be signed out of all google accounts when you close the browser window.

remove device

If you’re in a situation where you haven’t set up 2-step verification or automatic cookie deletion, you can remotely wipe your device from your google account.

1. Go to your devices page on google.
2. Find the device you want to remove and select more details.

1. select log out on the next screen and confirm log out when prompted.

that’s it; you will now be signed out of your google account.

now you have control

Now you can control access to your google account even if you use multiple devices and even on devices you don’t have physical access to. It’s probably best to use 2-Step Verification as it also adds an extra layer of security. still, you can use the other methods if you want to quickly sign in without going through the verification steps.