Cloud services are useful because anyone can connect to them from anywhere. Despite this being very beneficial, it can also be a great risk if an employee account is compromised. Hence why we believe it’s just as important to be able to disallow access when needed. So as you may have guessed — that will be the focus of this post.
Solution:
- Open the Microsoft 365 admin Centre
- Select “Users”
- Select “Active users”
- Select a user
- Click “Sign out”
Very shortly we’ll be going over a step-by-step image assisted guide of the above solution. To further benefit your security we’ll also be covering how you may change an employee’s password. To finish off, we will also be discussing the circumstances you may wish to sign a user out, or alter their password.
Quick links:
- Sign users out of all devices on Microsoft 365
- Change users’ password on Microsoft 365
- When to sign users out or change passwords
Sign users out of all devices on Microsoft 365
Step 1 – Open the Microsoft 365 admin centre
- Please note that you will require administrative privileges to properly utilise this page. If you do not have the required permissions, you will need to proceed alongside someone who does.
Step 2 – Select “Users” > “Active users”
- On the left side panel you’ll be able to see a series of options. Proceed with opening the “Users” dropdown category and selecting “Active users.” This will allow you to access a list of your current users.
Step 3 – Identify target user
- Hit ctrl+f on windows and type your target user’s name to quickly locate them. Afterwhich, you may select their name, creating a prompt from which you may enact administrative actions on said user’s account.
Step 4 – Begin sign out process
- Find and click “Sign-out.” This will identify each device the user has signed in with, and ensure they are signed out from each device. Please note however, that they will still be able to sign in again, provided they have all their valid credentials. As a result of this, it’s highly recommended you also reset the user’s password prior to signing them out.
Change users’ password on Microsoft 365 to log them out of all devices
Step 1 – Open the Microsoft 365 admin centre
- Please note that you will require administrative privileges to properly utilise this page. If you do not have the required permissions, you will need to proceed alongside someone who does.
Step 2 – Select “Users” > “Active users”
- On the left side panel you’ll be able to see a series of options. Proceed with opening the “Users” dropdown category and selecting “Active users.” This will allow you to access a list of your current users.
Step 3 – Identify target user
- Hit ctrl+f on windows and type your target user’s name to quickly locate them. Afterwhich, you may select their name, creating a prompt from which you may enact administrative actions on said user’s account.
Step 4 – Select “Reset password”
- Below the user’s name, you’ll be able to identify a “Reset password” option. Please select it to proceed. Doing so will produce a pop-out menu needed to alter the user’s password,
Step 5 – Set-up new password
- While you are able to manually set a new password for the user, you will likely have noticed you’re also able to randomly generate a new password for use. Additional options also include having the new sign-in credentials emailed to you(can be insecure on some platforms), as well as requiring the user to create a new password of their own after next signing in once again.
When to sign users out of all devices or change passwords
Changing user’s passwords
Changing a user’s password will typically sign them out of all devices automatically. As such it’s a precaution to utilise only if you feel their account has been accessed without authorisation. This will both prevent the user and their hacker from maintaining access to company assets- thus supporting your data’s security.
Globally signing out users
Because signing the user out is ineffective if they still possess login permissions- it’s not advised to utilise this option immediately in the event of an account being compromised. This should be done last, or at the very least, after the account’s sign-in permissions and/or password have been amended to prevent signing back in. An alternative use for this feature could be to revoke a user’s access to assets after discharge from a role they may have had with the company.
Our related articles:
- How to use conditional access in Microsoft 365 to block anonymous IPs – Spotted an unrecognised connection to your account? No need to worry. Here we’ll discuss blocking access via location/ip with Microsoft 365’s conditional access. A tool that analyses user actions, devices used and location data to provide better security to you.
- Users keep getting locked out of Microsoft 365: Troubleshooting steps – If you’ve been having issues getting into your account on Microsoft 365, this blog post is just the thing for you. Within it we shall discuss the potential causes (and solutions) for your lockouts- as well as providing step-by-step guide for each solution.
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