We’re often asked what Facebook active sessions are, and if it is something you need to be worried or concerned about.
Basically, every time you log into Facebook on a different device or a different browser, you create a session with your Facebook account. Every time you log out from your Facebook account on a particular device or browser, you close that session.
Each device and browser where you are logged in to your Facebook account (but not logged off) will each represent one active session.
So for example, if you have a PC running both the Google Chrome and Internet Explorer browsers, and a smartphone running the Safari browser, and you’re logged into Facebook on all 3, then that will be three active sessions open on your Facebook account.
You can check how many active sessions are open on your Facebook account by going to your main settings, clicking Security and scrolling down to “Where You’re Logged In”.
From there you can see how many active sessions are associated with your account, the approximate location, the browser and the type of device (desktop, phone type etc.)
Despite a rumour (which we debunk here) spreading online, having multiple active sessions open on your account does not necessarily show you “hackers” accessing your account.
It is perfectly normal for Facebook accounts to have a number of active sessions open at any one time, and this doesn’t mean criminals have access to your account.
Sponsored Content. Continued below...
There are a number of reasons why you may have multiple active sessions on your Facebook account, including –
– You have multiple devices and browsers. Every browser and every device you use for Facebook (and Facebook messenger) creates a new active session. If you have a smartphone, a PC and a tablet, that’s 3 active sessions if you’re logged onto Facebook with each one. If you use different browsers on any device, each browser creates a different session too.
– You’ve not logged out of a computer. If you’ve logged in to (for example) a friend’s computer but didn’t log out correctly, this will keep the session open, meaning you’re still logged in.
– Someone has managed to gain unauthorised access to your Facebook account.
For most people, the first option will be the most common, and the last option will be the least common occurrence.
As we said above, for most people, multiple active sessions will simply represent multiple devices and browsers. However it is important to regularly monitor what sessions are active on your Facebook account because –
– They can show you if you’ve not logged off a computer that doesn’t belong to you, whether it’s a friend’s computer or a shared public computer.
– They can show you if someone has access to your account who shouldn’t have.
Closing sessions that you don’t recognise means you’re logging off that particular device, meaning your username/password needs to be re-entered, and no one can login automatically to your account on that device.
It is worth noting, however, that the location of each active session is only approximate. Due to the nature of accessing the Internet via an Internet Service Provider, Facebook don’t know your exact location, meaning the location part of each active session will not be exact. It may be listed as the next town, or each a nearby city. This is perfectly normal.
If you notice an active session that is far away from you, or even a different country, and you don’t see any reason why your account should be logged into that location, close the session immediately.
Additionally if you have used a computer that does not belong to you – for example a computer in a public library – and know that you did not log off that computer properly, close that active session.
If you’re worried about your account security for any reason, you can close all active sessions. This means you will need to log into Facebook on all your own devices again.
Active sessions represent different devices and browsers where your Facebook account is still logged in to. It is normal for accounts to be logged into multiple devices at any one time, especially if like most people you own both a computer and a smartphone.
It is worth monitoring active sessions regularly, and closing suspicious sessions or sessions where you’ve logged into a computer you don’t own but didn’t log off correctly.
