Log out of Facebook on the iPhone?

There's got to be a way to do this without actually deleting and reinstalling the app! Dave, how the $#@$&(&* do I log my daughter out of her Facebook app on my iPhone so I can log in to my own Facebook account?

Dave's Answer:

There is indeed a way to log out of the Facebook app on the iPhone, but I'm not surprised that you're a bit frustrated as it's not at all easy to figure out and I almost think the Facebook team has made it extra hard to figure out, since they want you to always be logged in and constantly be using Facebook.

Now you could use the Web-based interface on your smartphone or mobile device, that'd be one solution, but I have to say that the iPhone / iPad Facebook app has become pretty slick and I think it's much superior as a user experience (even if it's often slower than I'd like). The key to navigating the new Facebook iOS app is that the button on the top left with the series of horizontal lines is the main menu and navigational starting point.

Let's have a look.

Here's my iPhone 4 running Facebook, logging in and showing a pretty typical view:

As I said earlier, the key is to tap on the button on the top left with the three horizontal white lines... Tap on it, and you'll bring up the main navigational menu. Scroll down to the very bottom:

Ahhh... "Account". That's a good place to go. Tap on it and a set of buttons will appear:

If you guessed that the big red "Log Out" button is what you seek, congratulations! You've just won a cigar!

Now you can log in to your own Facebook account and tell your daughter to get her own $#@$@ smartphone. :-)

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Categorized: Facebook Help , iPhone and Cell Phone Help (Article 10187, Written by Dave Taylor)
Tagged: account security, facebook app, facebook mobile, iphone facebook app, log out facebook
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Reader Comments To Date: 14

Rich Dominguez said, on December 24, 2011 10:36 AM:

Dave, thank you so much for posting this solution to a thorny Facebook problem. I'm an old dog learning new tricks and don't always have the insight to grasp the tricks and tips of managing a Smartphone app. And you are so correct when you imply that Fb is always for itself FIRST and then its users. It's all about snagging the consumer and keeping them there as long as you can.
Best wishes for a great Christmas!

vikas said, on January 13, 2012 10:40 PM:

even though am online and available for chat it is not showng green l8 r am online to my friends why like that

Maria said, on March 26, 2012 3:04 PM:

When I log out, then try to log back in, it forces me to input a security code first that I get emailed to me to log in. But I don't have to do that on my iMac. Why only my iPhone app? I checked my settings and both my iMac and iPhone are set as recognized devices. What gives??

Dave Taylor said, on March 26, 2012 3:17 PM:

Probably has to do with timing: my experience with these numeric confirmation codes is that they have a 30day lifespan. It's entirely possible that in two weeks you'll be trying to figure out why FB on your Mac asks for the code and your iPhone doesn't. :-)

Lucy said, on May 8, 2012 7:43 PM:

I have a new IPhone4 and this was driving crazy, too! I followed your steps to log out of Facebook and guess what I found... THERE IS NO "ACCOUNT" tab listed...
Instead, there is one called "SETTINGS" and when I clicked on it, I found that menu you mentioned -with the LOGOUT option in it.
Thanks for the help and hope this will also help others who do not have the "ACCOUNT" tab on their IPhones. Everything else was just as you described.

Sumarwanti said, on July 6, 2012 9:11 PM:

Thanks Dave.., really helpful .. !!! Mine doesn’t say ACCOUNT but SETTING :-) But without yr advice I would just gone round and round and round without getting anywhere..

Lyle said, on October 22, 2012 12:31 AM:

I am having no luck at all ... I have an iPhone 4S and have uploaded iOS ... on my FB front page it says I am Logged into iOS as ................. above a Continue button

Curt said, on October 28, 2012 4:05 PM:

Dave, like Lyle above I am very frustrated by the iPhone FB app. When I try to logout it keeps telling me that I am "Logged into iOS as ..." above a 'Continue' button. I have killed the app and reloaded, with no luck. I also deactivated the account online with no luck. Do you know if the is a bug on FBs side? Thanks for the help, also my app does not have any 'Logout' button in the settings that I can find, just under the menu and it is not logging me out.

Curt said, on October 29, 2012 9:02 AM:

On my iPhone, this appears to have something to do with SSO (Single Sign On), as I said earlier I deactivated the FB account that the app seems to be locked into and when I hit the 'Continue' with the "Logged into iOS .." it give me this SSO error message. Any idea how to fix? Thanks

Curt said, on October 30, 2012 6:15 AM:

Okay, found the fix on my iPhone 4. In iPhone sttings, not FB app. 'Setting'->'Facebook'->'Delete account' This stopped the auto-login.

Celia said, on December 12, 2012 9:06 AM:

Just got iphone4, don't want to be logged on FB all the time, as I no longer have unlimited data. I cannot log out of Facebook. The above posts do not help. When I go to the bottom of the list on the left, I have a logout tab, when I click the tab it takes me to another screen that say you are logged in as Celia f, then below there is a continue tab, when I click continue it takes me back into my Facebook. ??? Thee is an option under account settings to delete my Facebook account, but I don't want to permanently delete my account.

Dave Taylor said, on December 13, 2012 8:32 AM:

You're right that they've changed this Celia, but as I explain in this newer article, it appears that even though it shows your email address on the "log out" screen, you really are logged out of Facebook at that point:

http://www.askdavetaylor.com/log_out_of_the_facebook_app_on_my_iphone.html

Carlos said, on December 14, 2012 10:14 AM:

Curt, you rock! finally someone explained how to really log out. thank you.
Celia, read Curt post "Okay, found the fix on my iPhone 4. In iPhone sttings, not FB app. 'Setting'->'Facebook'->'Delete account' This stopped the auto-login."

mattko said, on December 15, 2012 2:07 PM:

I had this same problem...logging out and getting the "continue" button. I want to be able to log out for security reasons (if someone else is playing with my phone i don't want them messing with my Facebook).

I finally fixed it by going to the Phone Settings, scroll down to the Facebook entry and click. Then there under "allow these apps to use your account" I switched Facebook to "off".

This fixed it for me. This was driving me nuts and I've been trying to figure this out for hours. I've tried everything, searched the web. Nothing. What a joke.

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!

Log out of Facebook on the iPhone?

Reader Comments To Date: 14

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

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