# Should "log out" be prominent in the UI?
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-log-out-be-prominent-in-the-ui/32665
**Category:** UX
**Created:** [Août 28, 2015, 10:17 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-log-out-be-prominent-in-the-ui/32665 "2015-08-28T22:17:06Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@cpradio](https://meta.discourse.org/u/cpradio)
#### Post date: [Août 28, 2015, 9:43 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-log-out-be-prominent-in-the-ui/32665/1 "2015-08-28T21:43:55Z")
Can one of those glyphs be for logout? As I miss seeing that option, and I think a glyph will make it less “in your face logout whilst you see your notifications”
**Edit:** Updated the title to reflect the true idea being proposed, as I don’t care for it to be prominent.
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [Août 28, 2015, 9:44 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-log-out-be-prominent-in-the-ui/32665/2 "2015-08-28T21:44:34Z")
We don’t really want logout to be first class function, to the point that we’re encouraging logging out every time you view your notifications.
I log out from Discourse about once every 3 months…
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### Author:  [@cpradio](https://meta.discourse.org/u/cpradio)
#### Post date: [Août 28, 2015, 9:51 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-log-out-be-prominent-in-the-ui/32665/3 "2015-08-28T21:51:18Z")
I was thinking this, wouldn’t be “in your face logout”
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### Author:  [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [Août 28, 2015, 9:55 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-log-out-be-prominent-in-the-ui/32665/4 "2015-08-28T21:55:06Z")
Logout must be text and red otherwise it’s a confusing accident waiting to happen
Strongly object to logout being anywhere near my notifications
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [Août 28, 2015, 9:56 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-log-out-be-prominent-in-the-ui/32665/5 "2015-08-28T21:56:14Z")
I want to understand why you need to log out every day.
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### Author:  [@cpradio](https://meta.discourse.org/u/cpradio)
#### Post date: [Août 28, 2015, 9:57 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-log-out-be-prominent-in-the-ui/32665/6 "2015-08-28T21:57:51Z")
Some sites, I simply do, as I have access that shouldn’t fall into hands of someone else and the computer isn’t my own. Having to navigate to the Profile and then click Logout is just cumbersome.
Just about every site I know has logout available form a menu, you don’t have to navigate to a specific page to get to it.
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### Author:  [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [Août 28, 2015, 10:00 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-log-out-be-prominent-in-the-ui/32665/8 "2015-08-28T22:00:33Z")
Maybe… But I have seen zero sites that allow you to logout from the same spot as notifications, have you seen any examples of that?
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### Author:  [@cpradio](https://meta.discourse.org/u/cpradio)
#### Post date: [Août 28, 2015, 10:02 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-log-out-be-prominent-in-the-ui/32665/9 "2015-08-28T22:02:05Z")
No, but notifications weren’t there before, I’m okay with Logout being in the Hamburger menu (it is still awkward, but accessible).
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### Author:  [@Mittineague](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Mittineague)
#### Post date: [Août 28, 2015, 10:15 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-log-out-be-prominent-in-the-ui/32665/10 "2015-08-28T22:15:03Z")
I log in and log out several times a day.
Of course I have a script that fills in the name and password fields so it’s only a single click for me to log in and so the process isn’t a bother for me.
If one were to not log out would SESSION tokens expire and renew?
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### Author:  [@gerhard](https://meta.discourse.org/u/gerhard)
#### Post date: [Août 28, 2015, 10:21 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-log-out-be-prominent-in-the-ui/32665/11 "2015-08-28T22:21:27Z")
Well, in my experience users expect to find a logout link after clicking their avatar or some kind of menu button (hamburger).
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [Août 28, 2015, 10:28 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-log-out-be-prominent-in-the-ui/32665/12 "2015-08-28T22:28:35Z")
Can you provide screenshots of examples from other sites?
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### Author:  [@cpradio](https://meta.discourse.org/u/cpradio)
#### Post date: [Août 28, 2015, 10:50 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-log-out-be-prominent-in-the-ui/32665/13 "2015-08-28T22:50:49Z")
Youtube:
Facebook:
Github:
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [Août 28, 2015, 10:52 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-log-out-be-prominent-in-the-ui/32665/14 "2015-08-28T22:52:09Z")
Looking at the examples – and thanks for that – maybe at the bottom-bottom of that menu could be a possibility? Like in the lower right corner, in grey?
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### Author:  [@cpradio](https://meta.discourse.org/u/cpradio)
#### Post date: [Août 28, 2015, 10:55 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-log-out-be-prominent-in-the-ui/32665/15 "2015-08-28T22:55:06Z")
Sounds logical to me. I disagree with Sam that it needs to be big and red. No other site gives it that much attention. So I don’t mind it being a color that makes it less obvious to your immediate attention.
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### Author:  [@DJ\_Lobster](https://meta.discourse.org/u/DJ_Lobster)
#### Post date: [Août 28, 2015, 10:56 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-log-out-be-prominent-in-the-ui/32665/16 "2015-08-28T22:56:45Z")
I agree that having the logout button in a place where people would see it a lot isn’t something we really want.
What if when logging in there was a checkbox that said something to effect of “I’m logging in on a public device.” and have it set your session to expire after x amount of time (after being inactive?)?
Alternatively this could all be avoided for the time being by using incognito mode on whatever browser you are using. No need to worry about logging out.
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### Author:  [@wesochuck](https://meta.discourse.org/u/wesochuck)
#### Post date: [Août 29, 2015, 2:08 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-log-out-be-prominent-in-the-ui/32665/17 "2015-08-29T02:08:27Z")
I think Log Out is something that folks do commonly look for especially when using software in public places (like public library computers in the USA). It seems to be common to place it at the bottom of most “account” menus.
Facebook seems to be the outlier here (they stick it in the middle). Who knows, maybe that is how they managed to have a billion active users earlier this week. No one could figure out how to log out 😉
Just to add a few more examples to those @cpradio already shared.
Amazon:
[](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/68aokjnprsgpk0n/Screenshot%202015-08-28%2021.59.13.png?dl=0)
Airbnb:
[](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/jufi3lsxr9tdbs0/Screenshot%202015-08-28%2021.58.36.png?dl=0)
Library Software we manage (called Polaris):
[](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/e0m48350tsrg273/Screenshot%202015-08-28%2022.01.14.png?dl=0)
Tripadvisor:
[](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/g3qu1y2apu5xynu/Screenshot%202015-08-28%2022.04.14.png?dl=0)
Mac:
[](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/o328dj5gxitbkbl/Screenshot%202015-08-28%2022.10.37.png?dl=0)
Slickdeals:
[](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/sud3b3ysk67vtsd/Screenshot%202015-08-28%2022.16.33.png?dl=0)
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### Author:  [@TechnoBear](https://meta.discourse.org/u/TechnoBear)
#### Post date: [Août 29, 2015, 11:20 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-log-out-be-prominent-in-the-ui/32665/18 "2015-08-29T11:20:05Z")
[quote=“cpradio, post:6, topic:32665”]
Some sites, I simply do, as I have access that shouldn’t fall into hands of someone else and the computer isn’t my own.[/quote]I also log out when I leave a site. Personal preference.
[quote=“cpradio, post:6, topic:32665”]
Having to navigate to the Profile and then click Logout is just cumbersome.
[/quote]I take it you haven’t yet tried to do it via keyboard, because that’s not cumbersome - it’s impossible. I’ve tabbed endlessly through various pages on my Profile without ever reaching the Logout button.
It wasn’t a problem on the Profile menu.
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### Author:  [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [Août 29, 2015, 11:32 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-log-out-be-prominent-in-the-ui/32665/19 "2015-08-29T11:32:45Z")
I can accept an unstyled logout right at the bottom
My biggest objection was around having a big red logout button at the top always inviting me to log out
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### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [Août 29, 2015, 2:21 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-log-out-be-prominent-in-the-ui/32665/20 "2015-08-29T14:21:15Z")
Right. Unless you are using a computer that isn’t yours, there is little reason to log out. Encouraging people to log out encourages them to waste time.
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### Author:  [@TechnoBear](https://meta.discourse.org/u/TechnoBear)
#### Post date: [Août 29, 2015, 2:35 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-log-out-be-prominent-in-the-ui/32665/21 "2015-08-29T14:35:42Z")
> [@pfaffman](#):
>
> Encouraging people to log out encourages them to waste time.
??
Those of us who wish to log out will do so. What wastes time is having to hunt for the logout button if it isn’t in an obvious place. It won’t stop me logging out - but it might make me think twice about logging in again.
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