Certain websites keep logging me out (Chrome)

Question

I use Chrome on a personal PC on which I am the only user. I am logged into several websites, all of them with the "stay logged in" tickbox checked. Even so, very often when I go back to some of these websites, I find I am logged out and need to log back in every time. This happens even if the previous visit was recent; I suspect the critical action is the restarting of the browser rather than time elapsed.

Strangely, this problem happens only with certain websites (among them, booking.com, leo.org, oebb.at) but not with others (such as the StackExchange sites, or the Google sites such as Gmail/YouTube)

I used to think this is a problem with those former websites, but I realise it probably has to do with Chrome itself. What can I do to diagnose it? The only way I'd know how to do this is to disable each extension (add-on) at a time to see if any one of them is at fault, but that would take quite a while.

I am on Windows 10 and let Chrome update itself (currently at v77.0.3865.90).

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EDIT Sep 2021: Meanwhile Chrome is at 92.0.4515.159, but this problem still persists. The same websites (listed above; but also others I could list) constantly log me out after a mere few hours since I last logged in, while other websites (the remaining 50% of them or so) keep me logged in, as per the checked tickbox in the login form.

I do not at all think this is intended behavior by the website owner, as @LPChip and @WilliamDiaz suggest below, because it would be completely impractical for any website to be so configured, and bound to only annoy its users if it did.

I've restarted Chrome (many times) and cleared cookies. Has anyone else run into this problem and suggest what else can I try (short of trying to disable Chrome's addons one by one)?

EDIT #2: I did some testing in Firefox, and it mightbe that the same happens there, which would give support to the hypothesis of this being a website-end issue (a 'feature not a bug', though I'd claim it's a shitty feature, since the logout happens after a few hours only)

Solution 1

It is possible that your cookies are corrupt. It are cookies where the login information is stored. If this is corrupt, it may not update properly, and thus the expiration date is set to a date in the past, which effectively means that every time you login, the cookie is expired and it requests you to login again.

To solve this problem, clear your cookies. This will log you out of every site though, but once you login again, it should stay.

Solution 2

In my experience, many websites don't manage correctly the "Remember me" option. This happens even with some very large companies that I use, where this option never works in their websites, no matter which browser or platform that I use. Unfortunately, a large company does not always have the best website or employs the best developers.

It's also my suspicion that for some websites the "Remember me" checkbox actually does nothing.

I recommend using a cloud service for keeping your logins, for example Bitwarden or its alternatives.

A password manager, especially cross-platform one, can much simplify the repetitive logon to such badly-programmed websites.

Comments

[z8080]

Would this explain why this problem is so selective, with some sites never logging me out? I tried clearing all cookies a while ago but can try again...

[LPChip]

Yes. If some cookies are corrupt but not all, some cookies will update correctly, while others will fail, basically.

[z8080]

Thanks! For now it seems to work but I'l report back if the fix is durable

[LPChip]

It will be until the cookies go corrupt again. If this happens in a short fashion, something else is wrong. This could be an unstable browser crashing or a failing harddrive.

[z8080]

This has already happned (with 2 of the 3 sites I mentioned) - much too soon to not think that something else is wrong, as you say. I've not noticed CHrome chrashing, any I don't know of any failures with my HDD. Is there anything else I can try?

[LPChip]

The 2 sites may actually set a short lifespan for the cookie and log you out simply because the cookie expires normally. If this is the case, then it is normal behavior for that site and only the website owner can fix it. You can run CrystalDiskInfo to read the SMART info for your hardware to rule out any hardware defects. Also, you can verify the behavior by using a different browser and/or pc. If it does not happen there, it is something on your pc. If it happens there also, it is something with the website itself.

[z8080]

I see, so it might actually be on the website-end after all. Makes sense.

[harrymc]

In some websites this is done on purpose, meaning that they will remember your email or user-id, but will force you to enter the password every browser session, by using session-specific cookies that are lost when the browser terminates. As I don't reuse passwords for websites, I'm simply lost without a product such as Bitwarden.