Be careful when using a public PC: from February we will remain logged in to our Microsoft account

Anyone who uses a public computer, such as that of a library, while traveling or at work, will do well to pay attention to this detail: starting in February, they will automatically remain logged in to their Microsoft account. What does that mean? Now, when we access the Redmond company’s online platform of services, which includes Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive, OneNote and Teams (along with all other applications such as Designer and Family Safety), we are asks if we want to stay connected. We must therefore actively check: if we do not do so, when closing the page, the service will automatically log us out of our account. But since February, things have changed. When the page is closed, Microsoft will keep us logged in even if we haven’t asked it. This doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a nice change for people who have always been used to using public computers and closing the page without worrying about anything else.

This means that we have two alternatives: either we use a private browsing window in the browser (incognito), which will not keep the browsing data and therefore will not keep us connected at the end of the session, or we will have to think about log out at the end of the session. To do this, from the Microsoft365 page for example, simply click on your profile icon at the bottom left and then select Exit. What if we remembered it now that we are far from the computer? Fortunately, there is a solution for this too. When accessing the Advanced Security Options page of your Microsoft account from any device and signing in, simply scroll down and click Sign out of all. In this way, within 24 hours, Microsoft will log us out of all browsers, applications and other access systems on which the account has been used, except Xbox consoles. Of course, it’s not an ideal solution, but it’s better than nothing.