What method should I use to prevent automatic login on a site?
What method should I use to prevent automatic login on a site?
Recently, my ISP's customer support encouraged me to test something in Microsoft Edge. They mentioned that certain features on their website wouldn't function if I didn't use Edge or Chrome and that I had to accept all cookies, including commercial ones—something I'm not entirely sure about given the EU regulations like GDPR.
I don’t usually use Edge... I used to refer to Internet Explorer as "Firefox Installer" and now I’d call Microsoft Edge "Brave Browser installer". (Maybe "downloader" would be more accurate than "installer").
So I agreed to try their options in Microsoft Edge and accepted all cookies. But it didn’t improve things much.
While doing that, I noticed a pop-up dialog. I assumed it was similar to other browsers—there to remember auto-fill values for that login form in the specific browser... so I didn’t notice much and clicked OK.
Since then, whenever I type the login URL into any browser (including Brave and Firefox), I’m automatically logged in with that account. I couldn’t even log in with another one, and some actions that once needed a session reset now just don’t reset anymore... it feels like I have a persistent session for that website or login form at the system level.
What happened? How can I stop this automation? I don’t even know where to start looking... (And I’m pretty sure I didn’t install KeePass or anything similar since I reinstalled the system last month.)
Summary after a few responses:
It seems that when I enter the login form, certain actions are automatically filling in,
plus repeating the process, and even across different browsers. What I’d prefer is just auto-filling without any automatic behavior.
Thank you. If this were the case, I would have discovered it immediately.
I attempted to log out, then used CTRL+F5 and similar actions... still no resolution so far.
The issue is that after logging out, visiting the login form causes me to be automatically signed in.
I'm quite sure what was intended by "log out on the website" isn't related to Windows. Most platforms with login options usually include an account management section and a logout feature, though it might be somewhat concealed.
In theory, it could involve a stored IP identifier linked to your ISP, but that's extremely risky and not secure—especially since IP addresses change frequently. Cookie-based methods should only impact the browser itself, not other applications.
Have you verified saved passwords or login details across all browsers? You might want to clear those as well.
I personally don't use Edge; a single test a few years ago was sufficient to conclude it wasn't safe. It would randomly select accounts and create logins without prompting.
In any case, Edge appears to support signing into sites without asking for credentials after the first attempt. The Edge settings page offers options such as saving passwords and signing in automatically if enabled.
Firefox provides a Single Sign-On feature that uses Windows login info for sign-ins. You can locate it in the browser settings.
Chrome has autofill and auto-login capabilities, but based on what you described, they seem limited. Auto-sign-in is available via a password manager option.
Lastly, checking your Windows account settings could reveal additional auto-login options, particularly if you use a Microsoft account for sign-ins.
I created a brand new virtual machine to experiment with browser features and easily revert to its original, clean state each time...
In Brave inside the VM: I can't decide whether to accept or reject site cookies; popups appear and then disappear quickly, making me unsure if they were accepted.
In Firefox inside the VM: I noticed two distinct behaviors:
If I allow only "necessary" cookies, auto-fill works but I don’t get auto-sign-in (as desired).
If I allow all cookies, I get auto-sign-in like on the host system.
This might be a clue to understand the issue... but I still don’t grasp why it varies across browsers.
I employ Control + Shift + Delete to access saved navigation data, then remove all entries from "All time." Restart the browser afterward.
You become disconnected from every account on any websites. You'll need to re-enter the login credentials for each site you wish to connect to.
Avoid this if you only intend to disconnect from a single website.
Proceed if you're okay reconnecting to everything.