Security & Good Practice
Signing Out of Shared or Public Devices
This guide explains how to properly sign out of your Microsoft 365 account on any device that is not yours — including shared work computers, hotel business centres, and borrowed laptops.
Time needed
5 minutes
Platform
Microsoft 365
Guide steps
3 clear sections
Before you begin
You are signed in to Microsoft 365 on a device that is shared or not your own.
Follow along
Step-by-step guide
Sign out of Microsoft 365 on the web (any browser)
- Instruction 1: Go to portal.office.com or any Microsoft 365 web app.
- Instruction 2: Click your profile picture or initials in the top-right corner.
- Instruction 3: Click Sign out.
- Instruction 4: Close every browser tab related to Microsoft 365.
- Instruction 5: Consider clearing the browser's browsing data (history, cookies, saved passwords) if this is a public or shared computer: in most browsers, press Ctrl+Shift+Delete (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+Delete (Mac) and clear the data for the last session.
Action map
Sign out of Microsoft 365 on the web (any browser)
- 01
Go to portal.office.com or any Microsoft 365 web app.
- 02
Click your profile picture or initials in the top-right corner.
- 03
Click Sign out.
Visual guide
Use this visual action map alongside the written instructions above.
Open Microsoft security guidance for Signing Out of Shared or Public DevicesSign out of Teams on a shared device
- Instruction 1: Click your profile picture in the top-right corner of Teams.
- Instruction 2: Click Sign out.
- Instruction 3: If you were using the Teams web app, also close the browser tab.
- Instruction 4: Do not just close the Teams window — on Windows, Teams may continue running in the system tray. Right-click the Teams icon in the tray and click Quit to close it fully.
Remotely sign out from all devices via My Account
- Instruction 1: If you have already left a shared device and suspect you did not sign out, go to myaccount.microsoft.com from any trusted device.
- Instruction 2: Sign in with your work credentials.
- Instruction 3: Click Devices, then click Sign out everywhere (or view Active sessions and sign out individual sessions).
- Instruction 4: This remotely signs your account out from all browsers and devices — the shared device will no longer have access to your account.
- Instruction 5: If you suspect your account was accessed by someone else, change your password immediately and contact the helpdesk.
Quick fixes
Troubleshooting
After signing out on the web, the next person opened the browser and was still signed in
Most browsers save session cookies that can automatically restore a signed-in state. Always clear cookies and browsing data after signing out on a shared computer, or use a private/incognito window for your session so nothing is saved.
I cannot access the remote sign-out option
Go to myaccount.microsoft.com and look under Devices or Security > Sign-in activity. If the option is not available, contact the helpdesk — they can terminate active sessions from the admin portal.
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