How to sign out of a Google account on your desktop or mobile device

It is important that you actively sign out of your Google account if you are using a device which may be shared with other people.
Signing out of Google protects your data from unwanted eyes and ensures no one uses your account to wreak havoc, such as spending money through the Google Play Store .

If your computer stays at home or in a secure office and no one else ever uses it, then it's perfectly all right to leave yourself signed into your Google account at all times. The same is true if your phone is never out of arm's reach.

On the other hand, signing back into Google takes all of 10 seconds, so you may want to consider signing out of your Google account every time you are done using it.

And if you use a shared computer or you have a habit of leaving your phone or tablet lying around, you need to get into the habit of logging out of Google regularly.

When you leave yourself signed into your Google account, you run the risk of allowing access to your email, your Google docs, any files in your Drive folders, your calendar, and lots of personal information.

How to sign out of Google on a computer

Logging out of your Google account couldn't be much simpler, so there's no excuse not to do it. You can do it from just about any Google page, such as your Gmail or a Google Doc.

1. Locate your profile picture in the top right hand corner of the screen.

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2. Click on the image to open a dropdown menu.

3. Click "Sign out" on the bottom of the menu.

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And that's it, you just signed out of Google. Want to sign back in? Just click that blue box that replaced your profile picture that reads "Sign In" and follow the steps Google gives you.

How to sign out of Google on mobile

There's one major difference between signing out of Google on your mobile browser compared to signing out on a computer: When you log out on mobile, you won't be signing out of your Gmail app or any other Google apps, just from your Google account in a mobile browser.

And here's how to do it:

1. Go to the Google homepage in your mobile browser.

2. Tap your profile picture in the top right corner.