WPBeginner

Beginner's Guide for WordPress

  • Blog
    • Beginners Guide
    • News
    • Opinion
    • Showcase
    • Themes
    • Tutorials
    • WordPress Plugins
  • Start Here
  • Deals
  • Glossary
  • Videos
  • Products
X
☰
Beginner's Guide for WordPress / Start your WordPress Blog in minutes
Choosing the Best
WordPress Hosting
How to Easily
Install WordPress
Recommended
WordPress Plugins
View all Guides

WPBeginner» Blog» WordPress Plugins» How to Automatically Log out Idle Users in WordPress

How to Automatically Log out Idle Users in WordPress

Last updated on September 29th, 2016 by Editorial Staff
61 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share
Special WordPress Hosting offer for WPBeginner Readers
How to Automatically Log out Idle Users in WordPress

Running a multi author WordPress site comes with new challenges. For a security conscious site admin, inactive users may pose a session hijacking threat. This is why many banking and financial sites automatically log out an inactive user. You can implement similar functionality on your WordPress site as well. In this article, we will show you how to automatically log out idle users in WordPress.

Logout idle user in WordPress

First thing you need to do is install and activate the Idle User Logout plugin. Upon activation, simply go to Settings » Idle User Logout to configure the plugin.

Settings page for Idle User Logout plugin

Start by entering the Idle time. The default value is 20 seconds, but you can set it to a lower or higher value. Next, you need to choose whether to count idle time in WordPress admin area as well. Make sure you uncheck this box for better security.

Click on the save changes button to store your changes.

Now you need to click on the behavior tab on the plugins settings page. On this page, you can fine tune the plugin behavior. You can set different logout rules for different user roles.

Set idle user behavior and rules

You can also select what to do when a user is idle for the given time. You can log out the user and send them back to login page, redirect them to a custom page, show them a popup, etc.

Don’t forget to click on the save changes button to store your changes.

That’s all. We hope this article helped you learn how to automatically log out idle users in WordPress. You may also want to take a look at this tutorial on how to force strong passwords on users in WordPress.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

61 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share
Popular on WPBeginner Right Now!
  • Google Analytics in WordPress

    How to Install Google Analytics in WordPress for Beginners

  • Checklist

    Checklist: 15 Things You MUST DO Before Changing WordPress Themes

  • How to Properly Move Your Blog from WordPress.com to WordPress.org

  • Error Establishing a Database Connection in WordPress

    How to Fix the Error Establishing a Database Connection in WordPress

About the Editorial Staff

Editorial Staff at WPBeginner is a team of WordPress experts led by Syed Balkhi. Page maintained by Syed Balkhi.

The Ultimate WordPress Toolkit

5 Comments

Leave a Reply
  1. Gina Davis says:
    Aug 31, 2017 at 7:24 am

    I’m looking at ‘Inactive Logout’ It was updated a week ago.

    I have a co-worker holding a post hostage. So going to use this to kick from the post & website. I hope.

    Reply
  2. Jesse Brede says:
    Oct 20, 2016 at 11:38 pm

    Yeah, this is no longer a working solution.

    Reply
  3. David says:
    Sep 28, 2015 at 12:09 pm

    Has anyone found plugin that will do the same thing, but that is actively updated? Reading the forum for WP Idle Logout, people are reporting it is buggy current versions of WP.

    Thanks.

    Reply
  4. esp says:
    Feb 4, 2015 at 9:21 pm

    this plugin hasn’t been updated for a while and isn’t tested in WP 4.1 too bad

    Reply
    • Yoshitoka says:
      Jul 5, 2015 at 2:12 pm

      True story. I had some trouble myself with this plugin. I had to login twice before I was able to get to the wp-admin part with this plugin enabled.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Thanks for choosing to leave a comment. Please keep in mind that all comments are moderated according to our comment policy, and your email address will NOT be published. Please Do NOT use keywords in the name field. Let's have a personal and meaningful conversation.

Over 600,000+ Readers

Get fresh content from WPBeginner

Featured WordPress Plugin
OptinMonster
OptinMonster
Convert website visitors into email subscribers. Learn More »
How to Start a Blog How to Start a Blog
I need help with ...
Starting a
Blog
WordPress
Performance
WordPress
Security
WordPress
SEO
WordPress
Errors
Building an
Online Store
Useful WordPress Guides
    • 7 Best WordPress Backup Plugins Compared (Pros and Cons)
    • How to Fix the Error Establishing a Database Connection in WordPress
    • Why You Need a CDN for your WordPress Blog? [Infographic]
    • 25 Legit Ways to Make Money Online Blogging with WordPress
    • Self Hosted WordPress.org vs. Free WordPress.com [Infograph]
    • Free Recording: WordPress Workshop for Beginners
    • 24 Must Have WordPress Plugins for Business Websites
    • How to Properly Move Your Blog from WordPress.com to WordPress.org
    • 5 Best Contact Form Plugins for WordPress Compared
    • Which is the Best WordPress Popup Plugin? (Comparison)
    • Best WooCommerce Hosting in 2018 (Comparison)
    • How to Fix the Internal Server Error in WordPress
    • How to Install WordPress - Complete WordPress Installation Tutorial
    • Why You Should Start Building an Email List Right Away
    • How to Properly Move WordPress to a New Domain Without Losing SEO
    • How to Choose the Best WordPress Hosting for Your Website
    • How to Choose the Best Blogging Platform (Comparison)
    • WordPress Tutorials - 200+ Step by Step WordPress Tutorials
    • 5 Best WordPress Ecommerce Plugins Compared
    • 5 Best WordPress Membership Plugins (Compared)
    • 7 Best Email Marketing Services for Small Business (2018)
    • Which is the Best WordPress Slider? Performance + Quality Compared
    • The Truth About Shared WordPress Web Hosting
    • When Do You Really Need Managed WordPress Hosting?
    • 5 Best Drag and Drop WordPress Page Builders Compared
    • How to Switch from Blogger to WordPress without Losing Google Rankings
    • How to Properly Switch From Wix to WordPress (Step by Step)
    • How to Properly Move from Weebly to WordPress (Step by Step)
    • Do You Really Need a VPS? Best WordPress VPS Hosting Compared
    • How to Properly Move from Squarespace to WordPress
    • 5 Best VPN Services for WordPress Users (Compared)
    • HostGator Review - An Honest Look at Speed & Uptime (2018)
    • SiteGround Reviews from 1032 Users & Our Experts (2018)
    • Bluehost Review from Real Users + Performance Stats (2018)
    • How Much Does It Really Cost to Build a WordPress Website?
    • How to Start a Podcast with WordPress (Step by Step)
    • How to Choose the Best Domain Name (8 Tips and Tools)
    • How to Setup a Professional Email Address with Google Apps and Gmail
    • How to Install Google Analytics in WordPress for Beginners
    • How to Move WordPress to a New Host or Server With No Downtime
    • Why is WordPress Free? What are the Costs? What is the Catch?
    • How to Make a Website in 2018 – Step by Step Guide
Deals & Coupons (view all)
MonsterInsights Coupon Code
MonsterInsights Coupon
Get 10% off MonsterInsights, the best Google Analytics plugin for WordPress.
De:comments for WordPress
De:Comments Coupon
Get 30% off on DeComments WordPress plugin. Exclusive offer for WPBeginner users only.
Featured In
About WPBeginner®

WPBeginner is a free WordPress resource site for Beginners. WPBeginner was founded in July 2009 by Syed Balkhi. The main goal of this site is to provide quality tips, tricks, hacks, and other WordPress resources that allows WordPress beginners to improve their site(s).

Site Links
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • FTC Disclosure
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Free Blog Setup
Our Sites
  • OptinMonster
  • MonsterInsights
  • WPForms
  • List25
  • Awesome Motive
  •  

Copyright © 2009 - 2018 WPBeginner LLC. All Rights Reserved. WPBeginner® is a registered trademark.

WordPress hosting by HostGator | WordPress CDN by MaxCDN | WordPress Security by Sucuri.