Setting session timeout for users

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Customize session time-out settings to enhance security by automatically signing out inactive users. This helps prevent unauthorized access while ensuring active users remain signed in.
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<div class="body">
<div class="note fastpath" id="ac_session_time__note_mwx_cty_kbc">
<span class="fastpathtitle">Location: </span>
<span class="ph">Admin Center &gt; Account &gt; Security &gt;
Advanced</span>
</div>
<p class="p">
Like most applications, Zendesk implements a session expiration to enhance
security.
Signing users out after a period of inactivity reduces the risk of unauthorized
access.
Admins can customize the session expiration time.
</p>
<p class="p">
Zendesk recommends setting the shortest duration possible for your organization.
Ideally,
use the default settings, 60 minutes for agents and eight hours for end
users, or set
shorter sessions, if possible. Shorter session expiration windows reduce
the amount of
time for a potential session takeover, but does require users to reauthenticate
more
often.
</p>
<div class="p">
This article includes the following topics:
<ul class="ul" id="ac_session_time__ul_qzq_wry_kbc">
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="#topic_oky_wry_kbc">Understanding Zendesk session time</a>
</li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="#topic_i25_yry_kbc">Customizing the inactivity session time-out period</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_oky_wry_kbc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">Understanding Zendesk session time</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">
When users sign in to Zendesk, their session remains valid as long
as user activity
occurs, unless the user explicitly signs out of Zendesk. By default,
a session
expires after 60 minutes of inactivity for agents and after eight
hours of
inactivity for end users.
</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_oky_wry_kbc__ul_tnf_msy_kbc">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">User activity</strong> is when you click
something explicitly in the Zendesk user
interface or when the application pulls information automatically
in the
background. Information pulls often happen to keep the Zendesk
interface up to
date, but pulls don't occur uniformly across all Zendesk pages.
</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Session expiration countdown</strong> starts
when you close your browser or quit
the browser tab where the Zendesk session is running. The countdown
can also be
triggered when you put your computer to sleep or turn it off.
When the session
expiration limit is reached, Zendesk terminates your sign-in
session, and you
have to sign in again to use Zendesk.
</li>
</ul>
<p class="p">
There are other technical differences and edge cases, but the main
idea is that if a
user is active, they will never be signed out. If they are inactive,
the session
will last eight hours by default.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested1" id="topic_i25_yry_kbc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title3">Customizing the inactivity session time-out period</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">
Admins can customize the session expiration period. If your security
requirements
differ for team members and end users, you can set separate expiration
periods for
each.
</p>
<p class="p">
By default, agents are signed out after 60 minutes, and end users
are signed out
after eight hours. Zendesk recommends setting the shortest duration
possible for
your organization.
</p>
<p class="p">
<strong class="ph b">To set an inactivity session time-out period</strong>
</p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_i25_yry_kbc__ol_x3j_wkv_gfb">
<li class="li">
<span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>, click <img class="image" id="topic_i25_yry_kbc__d8e357" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_account_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Account</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Security &gt; Advanced</strong>.</span>
</li>
<li class="li">
Click the <strong class="ph b">Authentication</strong> tab.
</li>
<li class="li">
Select a
<strong class="ph b">Team member session expiration period</strong>
and an
<strong class="ph b">End user session
expiration period</strong>.
<p class="p">
<img class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_i25_yry_kbc__image_l1q_mq1_1zb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_sessionexpiration.png" width="500">
</p>
</li>
<li class="li">
Click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.
</li>
</ol>
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