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I volunteer for many organizations, earning me several Google accounts to manage. The Multiple account sign-in feature built into Google is wonderful, except when I click Sign out, its signs out of all my accounts at once.

Is there a different way to just sign out of one account at a time? If there is, I can't seem to find it.

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    I use Firefox's Multifox add-on br.mozdev.org/multifox to keep a separate window for each account to deal with special cases like Google Analytics etc. which do not have proper multiaccount support. Allocate one account per one window and they don't conflict. Might work for you too.
    – Mikko Ohtamaa
    Commented Apr 1, 2013 at 7:23
  • If using Chrome, use the MultiLogin extension chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/multilogin/…
    – Jayden Lawson
    Commented Oct 6, 2017 at 23:08
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    Oh and in Firefox, the solution in comment #1 is now easier with the now built-in firefox containers feature. Each container can have its own login or logins active.
    – user1521620
    Commented Jul 24, 2019 at 18:41
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    Idea: Has anyone tried examining and editing or selectively deleting google cookies in order to do what the OP is asking? I’m guessing that by comparing cookies when logged in in different scenarios one might be able to figure this out… Then one could make a plug-in to do it. Worst-case scenario a specialized password manager could achieve the desired result through brute force: By logging out and then logging in each the accounts but the desired one(s). (And stackexchange is CC-By, so anybody can use my idea?)
    – user1521620
    Commented Jul 24, 2019 at 18:46
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    I found a solution to this recently that works at least for gmail (though it is rather hacky): 1) open an incognito window, 2) sign into the account that you want to log out of, 3) then click the "Sign out of all other web sessions" button, which will sign you out of only that account on the original browser, 4) now, close the incognito window (which will finish signing out of that account). [Posting as a comment instead of answer as I don't have sufficient reputation to answer.]
    – David Slater
    Commented Feb 3, 2020 at 16:40

5 Answers 5

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You cannot - This is not supported as of now, and I don't think there could be any alternate solution until Google offers an improvement to its Multiple-sign-on capability.

Google's multiple sign-on capability helps you manage more than one of your accounts simultaneously. Signing-in to a different account when you're already signed-in, would link both your accounts (on the client side). And on each additional sign-in, each of the accounts are linked to one other. Signing-out from one account would implicitly mean that you sign-out from all your accounts (similar to a domino effect).

Google must support unlinking of two signed-in accounts for you being able to selectively signing-out of an account, but retaining the signed-in status of other accounts.

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    This is sad news. Can you give me a reference to where you found that info so I can verify its validity and accept your answer?
    – Bryan Wolfford
    Commented Oct 25, 2012 at 5:45
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    Unfortunately I do not know of any official statement from Google. But you can find many such complaints & details here.. productforums.google.com/forum/#!searchin/gmail/…
    – agirish
    Commented Oct 25, 2012 at 14:36
  • Yeah, see, this is incorrect (or at least incomplete). I logged in to my personal account while already logged in to my work account, and never linked them - yet, I still see the buggy behavior that the OP describes.
    – Izkata
    Commented Apr 8, 2013 at 3:04
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    How did you manage to log into another account without logging out of the first account or linking them using multiple sign-on.
    – agirish
    Commented Apr 8, 2013 at 6:14
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    I provided an edit to the answer, as its highly misleading that logging into multiple accounts links them together. As the author stated in the comments, they meant "on the client" so I added the edit.
    – redfox05
    Commented Mar 26, 2018 at 22:29
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https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/1721977?hl=en

Signing out

If you choose to sign out of any account while using multiple sign-in, you will be signed out of all your accounts. To resume using multiple sign-in, you will need sign in to one account and then use the Add Account option to sign in to your other account(s).

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While a log out does sign you out of all linked Google Accounts, you can use Incognito (or private) mode to open additional accounts (one at a time) that you do not want to remain logged in with. Alternatively, use multiple browsers to accomplish NEARLY what you want by logging in with another set of Google accounts.

I use 4 Google Accounts at once with Chrome (there may be an account limit to how many can be logged in) and then use Chrome's Incognito (Private browsing) mode to open additional accounts as I need.

Not the best way, but does work around the current process.

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This is possible, as described here. To sign out of one Google account when using multiple accounts, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Google app on your phone.
  2. Tap on your profile picture and select the Manage your Google Account option.
  3. Switch to the Security tab.
  4. Go to Your devices section.
  5. Tap on the Manage devices button.
  6. Select the device you want to sign out of.
  7. Tap on the three-dotted icon.
  8. Select the Sign out option.

This also works from your Google account on another desktop device. I have followed the instructions and it worked for me. However, while it signs you out, it doesn't remove the account from the list of accounts available - it simply means you'll need to log in when you click on it.

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I have found Chrome has a new feature for logging into different users. To do it:

  1. Open settings
  2. Click on Signed in as __...
  3. Under the "Users" section, click add new user.

Now I can be logged into as many Google drives as I want, each with their own Chrome instance! To see which window is what, look for the little avatar that you chose in the top left corner near your first Tab.

Official link: http://support.google.com/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2364824

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    This is about signing in, not signing out as asked in the question
    – Chin
    Commented Apr 21, 2015 at 15:25

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