This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Avatar for Username

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Mulongo oyo etiyamaki na archive. Tuna motuna mosusu soki osengeli na lisalisi

Does FF browser ever log me out of a session due to a timeout?

admin457
admin457
more options

Does FF have any role in logging me out of a website due to some time limit? I complained to a site that I lost a lot of typing because it had silently logged me out. I was told by one of their CS people "The issue is actually with your browser. Browsers have a security feature that automatically logs you out of secure areas if you are not moving around, which unfortunately excludes typing. The idea is if you were logged into your online bank account and left your computer, someone else could not sit down 5 minutes later and start doing things in your account. This feature is for any secured area, any area you have to login to access. It is not something we do or can prevent. I am very sorry for the inconvenience."

IMHO this is BS, but please tell me if FF could have terminated my session somehow. Thanks. GD

Does FF have any role in logging me out of a website due to some time limit? I complained to a site that I lost a lot of typing because it had silently logged me out. I was told by one of their CS people "The issue is actually with your browser. Browsers have a security feature that automatically logs you out of secure areas if you are not moving around, which unfortunately excludes typing. The idea is if you were logged into your online bank account and left your computer, someone else could not sit down 5 minutes later and start doing things in your account. This feature is for any secured area, any area you have to login to access. It is not something we do or can prevent. I am very sorry for the inconvenience." IMHO this is BS, but please tell me if FF could have terminated my session somehow. Thanks. GD

All Replies (1)

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 25 Contributor
more options

That does sound like BS.

The only way Firefox could end your session would be to expire the cookie used to connect your requests to your session on the server. When submitting your form data, Firefox doesn't include expired cookies, so your request would be routed back to login.

Maybe the cookie was only valid for 5 minutes from page load, but that limit is due to the design of the web app and isn't the browser's decision. If the site wants to have a script which monitors typing as a method to extend the session or set an updated cookie, they can do that. (Weirdly, this site has one; it is used to mark a thread as "taken" so other contributors can turn there attention to a different one.)

Anyway, sorry to hear about your data loss. You could take a look at these extensions as a possible workaround, or figure out how to satisfy their server that you are still active on the site (for example, browse other pages in a separate tab from time to time). Note: I don't use either of these myself.