How can I check the last time someone logged into my Gmail account?

I swear someone's logging into my Google Gmail account and reading my email. I know it should be impossible, but I dunno. Is there some way to check and see if that's happening?

Dave's Answer:

There is indeed a neat way that Google makes it possible for you to see a history of who logged into your account, from where, but before I show you that, let me say that the #1 rule for anyone who thinks something funny is going on with your account is:

Change your password.

Now.

Okay, you're back? Good. Changing your password is a very good - though not infallible - way to ensure that everyone else is locked out of your account and should fix the vast majority of sneak attacks.

Now, log in to your Google Gmail account and scroll down to the very bottom of the main window. There you'll see:

As you can see, the last time my own Gmail account was logged into was from the same IP address I used this time, which is as it should be. More interestingly, click on Details and you'll see a history of logins:

I access my Gmail account both through my mobile and main computer, so this makes sense and is accurate. If someone else were also logging in to my account, I'd be able to see it here on this screen and then could map backwards with IP address (Google "reverse IP lookup" to find some tools to help with that).

If you were logged in to more than one location at once, by the way, here's what you'd see:

Armed with that, you should be able to get a better sense of whether someone really is logging in to your Gmail account or not. Good luck!

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Categorized: Google Gmail Help (Article 8412, Written by Dave Taylor)
Tagged: gmail, google mail, identity theft, mail security, privacy, webmail
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Reader Comments To Date: 18

tanveer said, on August 14, 2008 12:24 PM:

Mr Taylor,

Thanks for the useful information.

How can I check the last time someone logged into my YAHOO/HOTMAIL Account.

Waiting for your reply..

Regards,
Tanveer

kunjan said, on October 30, 2008 10:23 AM:

my password is currently working.... with gmail (dudekaps@gmail.com)
but last time i was not able to log in..... i thing some one changed the password.....
but now i m able to log in because i reset the password..... i wanted to know wat was the password previously did that stranger put in..... because on the basis of that i can find out who hacked my account....
if u have any solution for that please reply me

christina said, on January 5, 2009 4:35 PM:

please can you cancel cmchristinamartens7@gmail.com

nicole said, on February 20, 2009 11:34 AM:

Seems like gmail only shows the last 5 log ins. Is there any way that a person can find out the log ins for the previous week? if anyone can help, can you please email me at browneyedgirl@rome.com
thank you

Sarath said, on October 9, 2009 4:15 AM:

Can I know a way to view all the log ins to my acc during the last week?

rahul pandey said, on December 23, 2009 2:31 AM:

hi

i am facing same problem as above, as i feel some body is login to my yahoomail and read & delete the mail , can there is any such provision in yahoo that i can check which ip my yahoo mail have been access.

Thanks
Rahul

deepika said, on December 28, 2009 12:53 AM:

this info is very usefull to me..
good job

Niki said, on February 2, 2010 3:10 PM:

Hey Dave,
Is there any way of monitoring the time that a hotmail account was checked? I think someone else is also checking my account.
Thanks

cc143 said, on February 16, 2010 9:00 PM:

How can I check the last time someone logged into my HOTMAIL account? Sorry if I'm ignorant, I didn't see a response on this post for hotmail.

Sachin said, on April 12, 2010 3:40 AM:

Hi,

Someone has changed my gmail password and i am unable to recover it.that person has changed my profile also.
Please suggest, how i know where the last access (ip address) of my gmail account.

Rgds

brwazalmi said, on November 13, 2010 11:31 PM:

how i can see my gmail password

sam said, on February 24, 2011 12:33 PM:

My GMAIL account activity log is not recoring every time I access my gmail. Is this accurate? Is the IMAP log accurate - meaning the email account has definitely been accessed or does this just record IMAP services looking for mail without being prompted by me?

paprika said, on May 9, 2011 6:32 AM:

Is it possible that someone hacked my account and even though, the passage was not recorded in "Details" section?
A friend of mine saw me online while I was not connected, but there is nothing "strange" in the access to the account. Is it possible?

barbara said, on July 4, 2011 5:51 PM:

Thanks for this.

Do you there if there's a way of seeing more than just the last 10 IP addresses listed?

Or is there a widget we could add to our gmail accounts to log more than just the last 10 IP addresses that were used to sign on? (facebook has something like this)

I know that someone has been logging onto my account but the last time I think they did it was 3 days ago, so the info isn't there anymore.

gail said, on August 11, 2012 3:01 PM:

when I log into my e-mail its in another language I have to translate back to english. why?

Dan7 said, on December 26, 2012 6:47 PM:

What if I accidentally logged into someone else's email? Can i get in toruble?

Anizur said, on March 7, 2013 4:40 PM:

How can I find out my own PC IP address from which I created my gmail account..

ankitaa said, on March 17, 2013 11:25 PM:

thank you very much Dave

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

How can I check the last time someone logged into my Gmail account?

Reader Comments To Date: 18

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

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