Dashboard session timeout

[llij96]

Within the last week or so, Dashboard started logging me out after a period of inactivity.  This is annoying as I'm used to being logged in all day and coming back to it as needed, and now I have to log back in MANY times a day.  Is there a way to turn this off or adjust in settings or is this a bug?

[MackenzieK · Accepted solution]

Mackenzie here from the Product Insights team – I definitely hear the frustration in the thread, and agree that this change could have been handled better. Although from one perspective we've fixed the bug that kept everybody logged in indefinitely, I completely understand how the bug resulted in new workflows that you relied on – workflows that were disrupted when we implemented a fix without warning you ahead of time.

Your account security is our top concern, and we're always evaluating how to balance safety with experience. I hear your desire for customization, and I've let our product management team know so they can track the request. For now, we'll probably be leaving the timeout as-is, so I recommend using one of the password tools mentioned elsewhere on the thread to help make the experience a little more convenient.

Thanks again for your patience and feedback.

[Nigel_LC · Accepted solution]

If you are using Firefox the 'Auto Reload Tab' extension by Alan Ramsey may help:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/auto-reload-tab/

The extension allows you to set a time interval, after which, the page will be reloaded,

keeping the session kept alive. It has pre-set intervals that can be selected or you can

add you own interval time. It also provides the option to reset the timer whenever

you react with the page (type/click) so it will not reload while your working.

I haven't lookd but there may be similar extension/add-ons for other browsers.

Seems to me that this it the feature that Square should provide intrinsically.

[VanKalkerFarms · Accepted solution]

in chrome, I use ChromeReloadPlus extension to keep the session active.

[segwoodworker]

Add me to the people that are dissatisfied.  It would be one thing if it would timeout due to inactivity, but it's another thing when it isn't checking for keyboard activity.  I was literally in the middle of entering a new item, and while typing I got the popup message saying that I was logged off due to inactivity.

Yes, it was poorly communicated and all that, but it doesn't even work as expected.  Inactivity says that I'm not typing anything, not that I haven't clicked the save button or clicked on anything else for a period of time.  And, there must be some sort of industry standard as to what is a normal timeout.  It seems to me that Square has that set at 25-50% of that standard.  I don't need it to be adjustable, just reasonable.

[Gigis]

Look at the suggestions from the community. People want a user defined timeout. Folks lets think about this. Gmail does not timeout and this has lots and lots of private information. If there are critical things Square thinks it needs to protect, like what bank acccount deposits are made in or such, then ask for the password again. There are many alternatives!

[katieand]

Hi @Gigis - Thanks for bringing this up! You bring up a really good example in talking about bank websites. Bank sites handle financial information, similar to Square (unlike Gmail which can contain a variety of information). They too timeout very quickly after inactivity. 

As Mackenzie said in her previous post, we're tracking all this information and will pass it along to our product team. However, for the time being, this timeout will probably remain. A password manager is a great option to get logged back in more quickly. 

[NatalieSIMM]

Please add us to the list of customers not happy with this change.  I am currently doing end-of-quarter bookkeeping and doing quality assurance matching and it keeps logging me out and it's an annoyance to have to log back in when I am switching between QBO and Square. Inactivity time should be a user-defined option (make the default short). I would not set it as short as it is now.  I work with my dashboard (not POS) on a PC, in a secure area (no public access), so do not require such short timeout periods.

[BIOGIME]

Session timeout is more than just an annoyance. It times out way too quickly and disturbs our workflow dramatically. We also have our setup in a private location with no public access, so it is really aggravating to have to login constantly throughout the day. What I find to be annoying is Square's replies to our complaints. Why should we have to seek out a resolution elsewhere to help us enter our login information quicker? Because the problem is the timeout! Finding something to help us with our login information doesn't fix the issue. We have all come here to find the resolution from Square. I don't think that our requests are unreasonable. Square, please help us with this! You don't have to remove the feature....just adjust the timeout! Thank you

[Pdiscoe]

I just finished reading all of the concerns & complaints regarding sessions being "timed out". This is also an incredibly frustrating situation that I am dealing with. I will enter an item into inventory (which takes several minutes)s then when I go to save the item, I frequentlly get a "timed out" message. This is something that many other subscibers are also frustrated about, so I know I am not the only one. I run a small business & my computer is secure, so that is the last of my worries. Please reconsider this situation & make it better for your subscribers.

[Tom]

Hey @Pdiscoe, sorry for the frustration. Thank you for taking the time to share why extended timing is important for your business.

Out of curiosity, are you working out of an incognito browser window? I will be sure to surface your post with our Point of Sale team. In the meantime, hopefully the suggested password manager above from @katieand offers some relief.

[ness23456]

Any changes to the Dashboard Session Time out feature?

[Helen]

Thanks for your post @ness23456! There haven't been any changes to the Dashboard Session Timeout feature. Do you have any specific feedback to share with the Dashboard team? 

[fparmenter]

I was going to use your services at our auction this year until I discovered that you make people logging after the session expires.  It is hard enough for me to teach some people the auction check out procedure, much less for them to have to have re-login periodically.  Your customers should be able to choose their a session timeout time interval which would best serve their needs.

[Cafegratitudere]

Please fix this. I have to re log in several times throughout the day. It is very frustrating.  Please give us the option to stay logged in

[gepettopizzas]

I am literally getting timed out after each task...there is no period of inactivity.  This is truly annoying.

[417Paparazzi]

This is a huge time waster, as I have to sometimes rewrite invoices 2 or 3 times because of time out. I will not continue to use square if this doesn't get fixed.

[CBQuiltco]

Appears to me you have created a new bug with the change.  I can no longer use dashboard as it comes on and says timout within seconds when I click on a new tab.  

Every time I hit the ITEMS Tab to go into do some items management it logs me out for inactivity.

Very frustrating.  

[JustinC]

@CBQuiltco, have you tried any of the browser troubleshooting steps I linked in the comment I posted above? If you've run through those steps and your Dashboard is still acting weird, call into Support so they can take a look on the back end to see what's going on. 

[moonmist]

The session timeout sets up a loop that will not let me sign back in. I just keep getting messages - when signing back in - that my session has timed out. This is intensely frustrating!!!

[jan54]

Is the decision for how long we want to stay logged in ever going to be back in the merchant's hands?  I have to keep logging in all day long. How annoying.  This has been going on for almost TWO years now.  Give us back some control!

[prwilli]

Hello 

Square keeps signing me out as times out as soon as I sign in. It only does this on my desktop. 

[Joe]

Hi there, @prwilli 👋 Thanks for reaching out to us here on the Seller Community and letting us know about your issue. So sorry to hear about the trouble with your Dashboard logging out!

I've merged your post with a separate thread of Sellers who were also experiencing issues like this. Merging helps our Product Teams keep track of these sort of issues for record keeping purposes.

Would you mind trying these Dashboard Troubleshooting Steps? They should be able to get you back in business.

Keep me updated! I want to make sure this gets resolved for you.

[notechjoy]

I am being logged out while 
I am editing clients about every two minutes! help I can not get anything done!

[Kassi_]

Welcome @notechjoy - 

Could you give me some more information on how you're accessing your Dashboard? The kind of browser you're using? On what device? 

I will keep an eye out for your reply!