What's the difference between 'log out' and 'sign out'?

They mean the same thing. 'Sign out' is more common in consumer apps like Gmail or Facebook. 'Log out' is more common in technical and enterprise contexts. Both are correct.

Is 'logout' one word or two?

'Log out' (two words) is the verb: 'Please log out of the system.' 'Logout' (one word) is the noun: 'Click the logout button.' This is a common mistake.

Do I say 'log out of' or 'log out from'?

Use 'log out of'. 'Log out of the system' is correct. 'Log out from' is not standard English and sounds awkward to native speakers.

Can I just say 'log out' without 'of'?

Yes, if you don't need to specify what you're logging out of. 'I need to log out' is fine. But if you mention the system or account, use 'of': 'log out of Slack.'

What does 'force log out' mean?

A force log out ends someone's session immediately, usually for security reasons. Admins might force log out a user if they suspect the account is compromised.

How do I ask someone to log out politely?

You can say 'Could you log out of the shared account when you're done?' or 'Please remember to log out of the staging environment.' Both are polite and professional.

What Does "Log Out Of" Mean? | Speak Tech English

Commonness
Versatility
Formality	CasualFormalNeutral
Spoken ↔ Written	SpokenWrittenBoth
Directness ↔ Diplomatic	DirectDiplomaticNeutral
Region

Say it like this

✓Make sure you log out of the staging server when you're done.

✓I forgot to log out of my email on the conference room laptop.

✓Can you log out of the test account so I can log in?

✓The session expired and logged me out automatically.

✓Always log out of AWS before leaving for the day.

Real examples

Standup

"I got logged out of Jira yesterday and lost my unsaved work, so I'll need to redo that ticket."

Slack message

"Hey, can you log out of the shared admin account? I need to test something."

GitHub PR

"Added a feature to automatically log out users after 30 minutes of inactivity."

Jira ticket

"Bug: Users are not being logged out of the app when they close the browser."

Retrospective

"We should remind everyone to log out of production environments after debugging."

Sprint planning

"We need to add a story for implementing the log out functionality on mobile."

Pair programming

"Let me log out of my account first so you can log in with yours."

Don't say this

✕I need to log out from the system.

✓I need to log out of the system.— The correct preposition is 'of', not 'from'. 'Log out of' is the standard phrase.

✕Please logout of your account.

✓Please log out of your account.— 'Log out' is two words when used as a verb. 'Logout' (one word) is a noun.

✕I logged out the application.

✓I logged out of the application.— You must include 'of' when specifying what you logged out of.

Other forms

verb (base)

log out of

"Please log out of the system before you leave."

verb (past)

logged out of

"I logged out of my account an hour ago."

verb (continuous)

logging out of

"I'm logging out of all my sessions now."

noun

logout

"Click the logout button in the top right corner."

Often used with

log out of the systemEnd your session on a computer system

log out of your accountExit your personal account

automatically log outThe system ends your session without you clicking

force log outMake someone's session end, often for security

log out of all devicesEnd sessions everywhere at once

Similar words

sign out ofIdentical meaning; 'sign out' is more common in consumer products like Google

exitMore general; can mean closing an app without ending the session

disconnect fromOften used for network connections, not accounts

end sessionMore technical; often seen in documentation

Opposites

Practice

Try it

4 quick exercises

Choose the most natural sentence

1. Which sentence sounds most natural?

Please logout from your account.Please log out of your account.Please log out your account.Please log off from your account.

Find the error

2. I forgot to logout of the staging server yesterday.

No error'logout' should be 'log out''of' should be 'from''forgot' should be 'forget'

Complete the sentence

3. Don't forget to log ___ ___ the shared admin account when you're done.

Rewrite this sentence correctly

4. I logged out from the application before closing my laptop.

More words

Questions

Quick poll

Have you said "log out of" in a standup this week?

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