QBO automatically signing me out early

Hello there, @astonishedman. I'll share some details about why QuickBooks automatically logged you out even though you've set it to automatically sign your account out after 3 hours.

First, know that this isn't the experience we want you to have here in QuickBooks. Please be aware that even if you've set your company settings to sign you out after 3 hours, you'll still be logged out of your account when your computer or laptop experience a small break in the internet connection. You may not even notice if there a brief connection issues. However, it will affect QuickBooks Online but not affect other sites.

If you didn't experience any small break in your internet connection, let's  perform some basic browser troubleshooting to rule out the possibility of a webpage issue. This way, we can sort this out. I'll gladly input the process below so you can proceed. To begin, you'll need to access your QBO account in an incognito or private browser. You can use the following shortcut keys:

• Chrome: Ctrl+Shift+N
• Firefox: Ctrl+Shift+P
• Safari: Command+Shift+N

Once you're in, try to access your QBO account. If it works and QBO won't sign you out of your account, you can proceed to clear your browser's cache. Refer to this article for the steps: Clear cache and cookies to fix issues when using QuickBooks Online.

You can also consider using other compatible browser if issue persist. Refer to this article to see the list of compatible browsers in QuickBooks Online: Other browsers.

Additionally, I've got you this article in case you'd like to edit company details in QBO: Change your business name, contact info, or EIN in QuickBooks Online.

You can also check this page about managing QBO login credentials: Reset or change your login information for QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Online Accountant, and Quic....

@astonishedman, if there's anything else that you'd like me to assist you with, feel free to get back to me here in the Community. I'll be more than happy to help you out again. Take care.

Thank you for your reply. I should have added in the OP that I always us incognito because if I don't it will make me send 2 factor verify every time I log in, which makes the frequent login even more cumbersome. So, yes, I still get logged out in an incognito browser window. I use Firefox (latest) on Mac OS Monterey 12.5.1. I might just try on another browser, but I shouldn't have to.

I do not accept the notion of "experience a small break in the internet connection" causing the problem. If no other site kicks you out on these theorized "small breaks" then QBO needs to find out how the other sites manage to maintain login through these connection breaks. The reason I know this is bogus, I am a web developer and create many online applications for my clients with login functionality. None of them drop a session upon connection issues. QBO is a big ticket software operation and should have resources to make this a better experience for its customers instead offering shaky excuses.

This is a real bug, a real issue that real QBO customers are experiencing. We deserve to be taken seriously about it. I'm willing to cooperate with additional troubleshooting methods.

Hey, I just received a call from someone offering support. I could only understand about 2/3 of what they would say. But they knew the details of this issue and wanted me to share my screen so they could troubleshoot. Plus, they wanted me to agree that if they fixed something there would be a charge. Since I had no way to verify this was actually QB sanctioned, or who it was I was talking to, and not feeling like this is an issue I should be charged to resolve I declined. It sounded easily like it could have been a scam. Was it really a QB support tech that called me, or did I do the right thing?

Hello there, astonishedman.

I appreciate the additional information, especially in informing us about the previously offered assistance. I'm here to make sure the sign-out problem is handled properly by the right support channel.

To determine why QuickBooks Online (QBO) automatically signs out even if it is set to 3 hours, we will need to check your company and review the setup. Because the security of your account is our top priority, I recommend contacting the QBO Care Team for additional assistance. They can perform further troubleshooting steps in a secure environment and then guide you on how to implement the permanent solution.

Please know that we offer free assistance to our customers and do not charge any fees when contacting support. Here's how to get in touch with them:

1. In your company, head to the Help icon in the upper right to display the support window.
2. Select the Assistant tab, then enter a brief description of your concern in the Type something field.
3. Click the Get help from a human link, and key in a phrase or keyword in the What can we help you with? field box.
4. Press the Continue button to view the support options. 
5. Choose Chat to start a conversation and Callback to speak with an agent.

More information about support hours and types can be found in this article: QuickBooks Online Support.

You can save the Community resource in your browser for future use. It includes a list of topics that will teach users how to perform accounting tasks and other QuickBooks-related activities efficiently.

If you require further assistance while working in QBO, do not hesitate to return to the Community. I'm always willing to help in any way I can.

For the last couple of weeks I've been trying some experiments on my own. I was previously using QBO in Firefox. I switched to Chrome just for QBO. This should have eliminated any cache thoughts as I had not previously used Chrome for QBO. I still have auto logout set to 3 hours. This morning I logged in and did some work. It sat idle for about 1.5 to 2 hours and I needed to access it again. I had to log back in as it had signed me out.

I don't know how to interpret this any other way than a flaw in QBO programming making this not work as expected. Any other ideas or thoughts?

I am experiencing the same issue. I know your query was a year ago but I'm curious as to whether you found a solution to this.

I can imagine how it must be causing you frustration having the same issue, garylmer.

Have you tried performing the troubleshooting steps suggested on this thread? If you haven't, I encourage you to do so to resolve the issue.

However, if you do and the problem continues, I suggest contacting our Customer Care Support. They have the tools necessary to access your account and investigate this further. 

You can run reports to see how specific business areas are doing for future reference. By generating reports, you can understand how individual business areas are performing, enabling you to evaluate your organization's overall performance. This approach facilitates the measurement of key performance indicators, the monitoring of goal achievement, and the identification of areas that can be improved.

If you require further assistance managing your QBO account or related matters, reply to this thread. I am here to support you at any time.

One of the REAL downsides I see with "cloud based" applications is this auto-logout feature on them.  I use both QBO and Time and seems like I'm logging into each multiple times per day.  While it doesn't seem like that is much time (maybe 30 seconds each time) it adds up.  When I had local apps I NEVER logged out during the day and it wasn't considered a security problem.  Should be the same with a cloud based application.  I also believe these applications should be single sign on (SSO) so that once you are logged into one, the other doesn't require a separate login (which the do now).

Regards,

Larry [removed]

Time Traveler Backups

Good day Larry,

Thank you for joining the conversation and sharing your experience with the automated logouts in QuickBooks Online (QBO). I appreciate you taking the time to provide detailed feedback.

I understand that frequent logouts can interrupt your daily workflow in QBO. You make some excellent suggestions around adjusting the inactivity thresholds.

With that said, I'd suggest sending feedback to our developers about your recommendations. They can review your suggestions and most likely include this in future updates in QuickBooks. Here's how to send your request:

1. Go to Settings ⚙, then Feedback.
2. Enter your comments or product suggestions. Then, select Next to submit feedback.

Your valuable feedback goes to our Product Development team to help improve your experience in QuickBooks Online. You can track feature requests through the QuickBooks Online Feature Requests website.

You can also check this page about managing QBO login credentials: How to update or change your email address, user ID, password, and other information in QuickBooks.

Please feel free to reach out again if you have any other sign-in questions or concerns about QuickBooks Online. I'll be here to help you out.