Sign out of Windows 10  

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    Sign out of Windows 10

    Sign out of Windows 10

    How to Sign out of Windows 10
    Published by Category: User Accounts
    02 May 2021
    Designer Media Ltd

    How to Sign out of Windows 10


    When you sign out of Windows, all of the apps you were using are closed, but the PC isn't turned off. Another person can sign in without needing to restart the PC.

    See also: Sign out of Windows | Microsoft Support

    This tutorial will show you different ways on how to sign out of your account and sign out other local users in Windows 10.


    Contents







    OPTION ONE

    To Sign out from Start Menu


    1 Open the Start menu, click/tap on your user name (ex: Shawn Brink), and click/tap on Sign out. (see screenshots below)

    If you have full-screen Start turned on, then you will need to first click/tap on the Sign out of Windows 10-menu_button.png menu button at the top left corner of Start.

    Sign out of Windows 10-start_menu-2.jpg Sign out of Windows 10-full-screen_start_menu-2.jpg






    OPTION TWO

    To Sign out from Win+X Quick Link Menu


    1. Open the Win+X Quick Link menu, click/tap on Shut down or sign out, and click/tap on Sign out. (see screenshot below)

    OR

    2 Press the Win + X keys, press U, and press i.

    Sign out of Windows 10-win-x.png






    OPTION THREE

    To Sign out from Alt+F4 Shut Down Windows Dialog


    1 Click/tap on your desktop to make it the current focused (active) window, and press the Alt + F4 keys.

    2 Select Sign out in the drop down menu, and click/tap on OK or press Enter. (see screenshots below)

    Sign out of Windows 10-alt-f4.png






    OPTION FOUR

    To Sign out from Ctrl+Alt+Del Screen


    1 Press the Ctrl + Alt + Del keys, and click/tap on Sign out. (see screenshot below)

    Sign out of Windows 10-ctrl-alt-del.jpg






    OPTION FIVE

    To Sign out Other Users from Task Manager


    You must be signed in as an administrator to be able to sign out another user account.

    If you sign out a user, the user's unsaved data might be lost.


    1 Open Task Manager in more details view.

    2 Click/tap on the Users tab, right click or press and hold on an already signed in user (ex: Brink2) that you want to sign out, and click/tap on Sign off. (see screenshot below)

    OR

    Click/tap on the Users tab, select on an already signed in user (ex: Brink2) that you want to sign out, and click/tap on the Sign out button.

    Sign out of Windows 10-task_manager-2.png

    3 Click/tap on Sign out user to confirm. (see screenshot below)

    Sign out of Windows 10-task_manager_sign_out.png






    OPTION SIX

    To Sign out using "Shutdown" Command


    If you like, you can also run the commands below in the Run (Win+R) command dialog.


    1 Open a command prompt, type the command below you want to use into the command prompt, and press Enter.

    shutdown /L

    Closes all your running apps, and then sign out of your account.


    OR

    shutdown /L /f

    Forces your running apps to close, and then sign out of your account.






    OPTION SEVEN

    To Sign out You or Other Users using "Logoff" Command


    1 Do step 2 (you) or step 3 (other user) below for what you would like to do.


     2. To Sign Out of Your Account

    A) Open an command prompt.

    B) Type the Logoff command into the command prompt, and press Enter.


     3. To Sign Out any User Account

    You must be signed in as an administrator to be able to do this step.

    A) Open an elevated command prompt.

    B) Type the query user command into the elevated command prompt, press Enter, and make note of the session ID number (ex: 4) of the username (ex: brink2) you want to sign out.

    Sign out of Windows 10-query_user.png

    C) Type the command you want to use below, and press Enter. (see screenshots below)

    (sign out user without details)
    logoff <ID>

    OR

    (sign out user with details)
    logoff <ID> /v

    Substitute <ID> in the commands above with the session ID number from step 3B.

    For example:

    logoff 4

    OR

    logoff 4 /v

    If you wanted to sign out more than one user at once, then you could use multiple instances of the command above separated like below.

    (Two users)
    logoff <ID> | logoff <ID>

    (Three users)
    logoff <ID> | logoff <ID> | logoff <ID>

    etc....

    Sign out of Windows 10-logoff_command.png
    Sign out of Windows 10-logoff_v_command.png





    OPTION EIGHT

    To Sign out All Users Except Current User in PowerShell


    You must be signed in as an administrator to do this option.


    1 Open an elevated PowerShell.

    2. Copy and paste the command below into the elevated PowerShell, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

    quser | Select-String "Disc" | ForEach {logoff ($_.tostring() -split ' +')[2]}

    3 You can now close the elevated PowerShell if you like.

    Sign out of Windows 10-sign_out_all_users_except_current_user.png


    That's it,
    Shawn






  1. Posts : 41
    windows 10
       #1

    Greetings from Holy Jerusalem
    Many thanks
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 71,662
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #2

    I'm glad it could help aksalaymeh. :)
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 25
    Windows 10 Home
       #3

    Hello again Brink,

    Stupid question, but after a system refresh, the power button on the lock or sign out screen is gone. any idea on how to get it back?

    Cheers,
    Jason
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 71,662
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Hello Jason, :)

    You should be able to use the same tutorial below in Windows 10 to enable the Power menu on the lock and sign-in screen again.

    Shutdown Power Menu - Add or Remove from Sign in Screen
      My Computers


  5. Posts : 25
    Windows 10 Home
       #5

    Brink said:
    Hello Jason, :)

    You should be able to use the same tutorial below in Windows 10 to enable the Power menu on the lock and sign-in screen again.

    Shutdown Power Menu - Add or Remove from Sign in Screen
    Cheers Brink, worked as intended :)
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 71,662
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #6

    You're most welcome. :)
      My Computers


  7. Posts : 388
    Windows 10 Home 21H2
       #7

    The first line of the tutorial says:

    >> When you sign out of Windows, all of the apps you were using are closed

    I signed out a few minutes ago, as instructed in your tutorial to change scroll bar width.

    When I signed back in, the width had changed. But all my taskbar icons were present from the previous session

    That saved me a lot of time - but it was definitely "unexpected behaviour". Has that always happened in Windows?
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 71,662
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Hello OldGrantonian,

    This is odd if the taskbar icons were for opened items and not just pinned items.
      My Computers


  9. Posts : 388
    Windows 10 Home 21H2
       #9

    >> This is odd if the taskbar icons were for opened items and not just pinned items.

    File Explorer was the only pinned icon. The other icons were Chrome (3), MusicBee, WhatsApp, Thunderbird, and FreeCell.

    Here's another statement that seems strange to me. In the same paragraph of the tutorial, you say:

    >> even if someone else turns off the PC, your info won't be lost.

    I'm not quite sure how to respond to that statement. Is it correct? :)
      My Computer


 

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