Idle Session Timeout in Office 365 Web Apps

Owned by Dan Jakubiak
Last updated: Jul 25, 2024 by John Tindall
2 min read

Students, faculty, and staff may use Microsoft 365 apps in a web browser and in the respective desktop applications. Those who are using their web browser to access the 365 apps on unmanaged devices will be asked to reauthenticate their session after 1 hour of inactivity.

The following guide applies to non-managed computers accessing 365 in a web browser. If you are using a managed computer, or if you are using the installed apps, you are not subject to the 1hr timeout.

Managed vs Unmanaged Computer

All university owned computers enrolled in Intune, the main UConn centralized device management system, are considered managed.

All macOS devices, such as MacBooks and iMacs, are considered unmanaged for this purpose.

Authentication in the web app (website)

When navigating to a 365 web app, such as s.uconn.edu/outlook or s.uconn.edu/onedrive, you will be asked to sign in (authenticate) with your UConn NetID.

All 365 apps use your UConn email address and your NetID as your log in credentials.

These websites will sign you out of your account after 1 hour of inactivity.

What qualifies as inactivity?

  • Leaving your computer at the end of the workday.

  • Computer is locked.

  • Closing your web browser.

  • Minimizing your web browser.

  • Switching to another tab in your web browser.

  • Focus is on another window.*

*Focus is a computer term to describe where your actions are taking place. For example, if you have your web browser open and a Word document open, you can only type in one of those windows at a time. If you begin typing on your keyboard and see the letters appear in Word, then you can be certain that the focus is on Word. Once you click on your web browser, the focus will switch to the browser application. This allows a window to be visible and inactive at the same time.

Result: If you leave your computer in one of the above listed states for an hour or longer, you will be required to authenticate (sign in) to access your data.

Authentication in the desktop apps

Microsoft desktop apps, such as Word and Excel, feature a tool named Seamless Single Sign-On. This tool allows these apps to connect to the account that you sign into your computer with.

As a result, these apps do not require you to reauthenticate every hour. Learn more about .

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