If your computer stays at home or in a secure office and no one else ever uses it, then it's perfectly all right to leave yourself signed into your Google account at all times. The same is true if your phone is never out of arm's reach.
On the other hand, signing back into Google takes all of 10 seconds, so you may want to consider signing out of your Google account when you're done using it anyway.
And if you use a shared computer or you have a habit of leaving your phone or tablet lying around, you need to get into the habit of logging out of Google regularly.
This is because when you leave yourself signed into your Google account, you run the risk of allowing access to your email, your Google Docs, any files in your Drive folders, your calendar, and lots of other personal information.
Here's how to sign out of your Google account.
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How to sign out of Google on a computer
Logging out of your Google account couldn't be much simpler, so there's no excuse not to do it. You can do it from just about any Google page, such as your Gmail or a Google Doc.
1. Locate your profile picture in the top right hand corner of the screen.
2. Click on the image to open a dropdown menu.
3. Click "Sign out" on the bottom of the menu.
And that's it, you just signed out of Google. Want to sign back in? Just click that blue box that replaced your profile picture that reads "Sign In" and follow the steps Google gives you.
How to sign out of Google on an iPhone
There's one major difference between signing out of Google on your iPhone compared to signing out on a computer: When you log out on mobile, you won't be signing out of your Gmail app or any other Google apps, just from your Google account in a mobile browser.
And here's how to do it:
1. Go to the Google homepage in your mobile browser.
2. Tap your profile picture in the top right corner.
3. Tap the words "Sign out" at the bottom of the menu that appears.
And ... you're out. See? It really is so easy that it's hard to justify not doing it.
How to sign out of Google on an Android
Signing out of your Google account on an Android works slightly differently as you can't do so from a web browser. You will have to access through the Settings in order to sign out from your Google account.
1. Tap on Settings and select Accounts.
2. Select Google.
3. When you see the Sync now and Remove account options at the bottom of the screen, select Remove account.
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