As a Gmail user, you may have noticed that you’re automatically logged into your account each time you open Gmail in your browser. While this can be a convenient feature in most cases, automatic logins pose a security risk, especially if you share your computer with other users or access your email from a public network. The good news is that you can change this in just a few simple steps. To disable automatic login, you will need to either adjust the settings in your browser, or change your settings in your Gmail account.
Disable Auto Login through Your Browser
Firefox, Chrome and Internet Explorer all allow you to save your passwords for various websites. Although this is a convenient feature, it can pose a security risk. It may also be the reason why your Gmail automatically logs you into your account each time you visit gmail.com. Changing this setting is relatively simple no matter which browser you use.
Note: If you don’t have any passwords saved on your browser, you can skip ahead to the next section.
For Chrome
- Navigate to Settings, and click “Show advanced settings”.
- Scroll down to Passwords and Forms.
- Click on “Manage passwords” next to the “Offer to save your web passwords” checkbox.
- A list of your saved passwords should appear in the Saved Passwords
- If your Gmail password is under the Saved Passwords list, you can remove it by simply clicking on the “X” at the end of the row.
You may also consider unchecking the “Offer to save your web passwords” box under Settings. This will prevent Chrome from asking to save your passwords in the future.
For Firefox
- Click on the menu button and select “Options”.
- Navigate to the Security
- Click on the “Saved Passwords” button to open the Password Manager.
- Click “Show Passwords” to view any passwords you have stored on Firefox.
- Select your Gmail password, and click “Remove”.
You also have the option of clicking “Remove All” to remove all of your stored passwords and usernames. Keep in mind that this is a permanent removal of your data, so think carefully before removing all of your stored passwords and usernames.
If you navigate back to the Security tab under Options, you can uncheck the “Remember passwords for sites” box to prevent Firefox from asking you to save passwords in the future.
For Internet Explorer
- Navigate to Settings.
- Click or tap Accounts.
- Select your Gmail account, and tap or click “Remove”.
If you would like Internet Explorer to stop asking to save passwords, you can navigate back to Settings and tap or click on Options. Under the Passwords section, turn off the option to save passwords when you log into websites.
Disable Auto Sign In through Gmail
If you don’t have any passwords saved in your browser, you can disable the automatic sign-in feature right through Gmail.
- Head over the Google Account homepage, and check to see if the checkbox underneath the “Sign In” button is checked. If so, you will need to delete your browser’s cookies.
- Once you have cleared your cookies, head back to the login page.
- Make sure that the “Stay signed in” option is not selected before you sign in.
If you’re having issues disabling Gmail’s auto-login feature, you may need to clear your browser’s cookies and cache, or disable cookies altogether.