Like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, Pinterest is an application where you can spend hours exploring ideas. It can also keep you signed in between visits. To end your session, choose Log out from the account menu; closing a tab or putting your phone to sleep is not the same action.
The steps below cover iPhone, iPad, Android and desktop browsers. Pinterest changes its layout occasionally, and business accounts can have a different route to the menu. Look for your profile and the labelled logout option rather than relying only on an old screenshot or the shape of an icon.
Steps to log out of Pinterest on your iPhone or iPad
- Open the Pinterest app and tap your profile photo at the bottom right.
- Tap your profile photo at the top left to open the account menu.
- Scroll down and tap Log out.
For a business account, Pinterest’s Help Centre gives a slightly different route: open your profile from the bottom right, tap the three-dot menu at the top right, then scroll to Log out. These are account-menu controls, not the menu attached to an individual Pin.
How to log out on Android
Open the app, go to your profile using the bottom-right photo, and tap the profile photo at the top left. Scroll down to Log out. Business users should look for the three-dot menu on their profile. The old instruction to find an Android profile button only at the top right does not describe every current layout.
Steps to log out on a computer or laptop
Not everyone uses the Pinterest app. If you browse on a computer, open the account menu at the top right of the Pinterest page and select Log out. This is the website’s menu, not your browser’s profile menu. Afterwards, check that your signed-in account controls are no longer available.
How to check that logout worked
Try opening your profile or a feature that needs your account, such as saving a new Pin. A sign-in prompt is a useful confirmation. Seeing public Pins is not evidence that you are still signed in: public browsing and access to your personal account are different things.
A page left open before logout may still show information it already loaded. Refresh that page before judging the result. If it returns immediately to your account, check whether you have selected a saved-account button or used a connected sign-in option. Do not keep testing by saving unwanted Pins; checking the account menu is usually enough.
Using Pinterest on a shared computer
Before handing the computer to someone else, check the browser window you actually used. A second browser or a different browser profile can have its own signed-in session. Logging out in one place should not be treated as proof that every device you own is signed out.
Also check whether the browser offers to remember your password. Decline that offer on a shared or public machine. If you previously saved a password there, use the browser’s password-management controls to remove that saved entry. Removing a saved password and ending a website session solve different problems, so check both when necessary.
If you signed in through another provider, consider that provider’s session too. Someone with access to an already signed-in browser may be able to use a connected login again. Use a personal browser profile on your own computer, or a private browsing window for a temporary session, and close that private window when finished.
Logging out, switching accounts and deleting an account
Choose logout when you want to stop using Pinterest on the current device. Choose account switching when you intend to move between profiles you control. Before posting or saving content after a switch, check the profile name and picture; a familiar feed alone is a poor way to identify the active account.
Deactivation and deletion are separate account-management actions. They are unnecessary when your aim is simply to leave a shared computer or take a break for the evening. Read those options carefully before selecting them, especially if you want to keep access to existing boards and Pins.
Before you sign out of an account you rarely use
Make sure you know which sign-in method belongs to the account. A person who normally uses a connected login may not have been typing a Pinterest password at all. Check your recovery email while you still have access, rather than discovering after logout that it belongs to an old workplace or unused mailbox.
Write down the account’s username if you manage several similar profiles, but do not put passwords in an unsecured note. This small check helps you avoid accidentally creating another account when you meant to return to the existing one.
If you cannot find Log out
Return to your own profile rather than a board, Pin or another person’s page. Check whether you are using a business account, then try its menu route. If the app interface appears incomplete, update the official app and reopen it. When a button still fails, note your device and app version before contacting Pinterest support; those details make the problem easier to reproduce.
