How to log out of other users on Windows 11

Each active user session on your PC means your computer resources are shared with others, which can affect system performance. If someone is not actively using their session, you can log the inactive user out of your account to reclaim those system resources.

1. Log out of other users using Task Manager

Task Manager's Users tab keeps track of all active user sessions on your computer. You can use it to manage user accounts on Windows, switch between different user accounts, and log out of other user accounts. However, if you just need to log out of your current session on Windows 11, the process is much simpler.

You must log in as admin to log out other user accounts (check if your user account has admin rights if you are not sure). It's important that when you log out a user, that user's unsaved data may be lost. So be careful!

To log out other users using Task Manager:

1. Right-click Start and select Task Manager. Alternatively, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + Esc .

2. In Task Manager, open the Users tab on the left to display the number of users currently logged in. If you don't see it, click the Open Navigation button (three horizontal bars) in the top left corner.

3. In the Users tab , find the account you want to log out of.

4. Right click on the user account and select Sign off .

5. Click Sign out user . Windows will close all open applications and running processes, then log the user out.

2. Log out of other users using Command Prompt

On Windows 11 Pro, Edu and Enterprise versions, you can use the Command Prompt "query sessions" command to check and log out active user accounts. This command cannot work on Windows 11 Home, limiting your options.

To log out another user using Command Prompt:

1. Press the Win key and type cmd.

2. Right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator .

3. In the Command Prompt window, type the following command to see all active user sessions with the query:

query session

4. The output will display all active user sessions on your computer. Note down the user account ID you want to log out of. In this case, we have Tashreef as 1 and Guest21 as 3 in the ID column .

5. Enter the following command to log out the specified user. Replace the 2 below with the user account ID you want to log out of:

Logoff 3

6. After successful execution, Windows will log out the specified user account.

7. Once completed, type exit and press Enter to close Command Prompt.

3. Log out of other users using Process Explorer

Process Explorer is part of Windows Sysinternal Tools, a suite of system administration utilities from Microsoft. While this freeware is popular among developers and system administrators, anyone can use Process Explorer to use some of its advanced features. Process Explorer is a powerful tool that maps all currently active processes and DLL files to the accounts running them.

1. Visit Microsoft's official Process Explorer site and download Process Explorer as a zip file to a location on the desktop.

2. Right-click the ProcessExplorer.zip archive and select Extract All . Choose a location and unzip the folder.

3. Open the ProcessExplorer folder , right-click procexp64.exe and select Run as administrator .

4. In the Process Explorer window , click Users to view all active user sessions.

5. Move the cursor over the user account name and select Logoff .

Process Explorer will log the selected user account out of your computer. If you get an access denied error, run the procexp64.exe executable with admin rights and try again.

Lesley Montoya

Update 11 December 2023