What can cause all the accounts (facebook, SO, gmail, …) to be disconnected all at once

google-chromeweb-browser

I usually don't have to login to Facebook, Gmail, … the browser "remembers" me, and I surf the web a few times a day.

And this evening (I used the computer a few hours ago) All my accounts were disconnected, which I find strange. Every 30(?) days gmail asks for my password again, Facebook more rarely, … and those should be independent events. Is there another cause?

I don't remember doing anything else than checking emails / surfing a bit the news. Thanks

Best Answer

A few possibilities I can think of:

  1. Cleared Cookies

    Cookies are the basis of how a site remembers your session details. If you clear the cookies the session details are forgotten and you won't be logged in automatically when you next visit the sites.

  2. Using a different browswer

    Probably not the problem, but if you switch from chrome to safari or similar the session information isn't transferred.

  3. The cookies expired at the same time

    Sessions usually have an expiration time. It is possible they have all expired since you last visited those sites.

  4. Someone signed you out

    Hopefully this isn't the case. Some services allow you to sign out other logged-in devices. If someone did have access to your account it may be possible for them to sign you out of the other devices.

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