Hi everyone, we appreciate the interest surrounding this idea, however we want to be open that we're unable to extend our log-out time past 60 minutes. Xero hold a lot of sensitive information including bank data and we're required to be as secure as online banking.
Any session information running on a web browser can potentially be stolen. If the session does not time out. You then have an infinitely long vulnerability window to session hijacking. Our best option is to keep a tight expiration window on the session cookie, and regenerate them frequently. Even setting a long timeout doesn't help with this - too long a timeout will greatly increase the risk of invasion or potentially jeopardise your personal data and the safety and integrity of the Xero application itself. This is why we maintain control of this.
If we detect there's been no activity on a page (e.g move movements, clicks, keyboard) for 10 minutes you'll receive an inactivity prompt ('Hey Kelly, are you still there?') and if your session reaches 60 minutes you'll be redirected to the login page.
As a suggestion you can periodically refresh the screen <F5> to prevent the security timeout kicking in.
In more recent comments here it sounds like some of you are having issues with the login process or staying logged into Xero for less than 60 minutes. If you're experiencing unexpected behaviour, we'd highly recommend raising a case with our team of specialists at Xero Support where we have tools to investigate and confirm what's going on - Any details you can provide the team on the page you're trying to sign in from (e.g URL, error 500 received) or actions you were making when the login issue occurred will help. Thanks
Hi everyone, we appreciate the interest surrounding this idea, however we want to be open that we're unable to extend our log-out time past 60 minutes. Xero hold a lot of sensitive information including bank data and we're required to be as secure as online banking.
Any session information running on a web browser can potentially be stolen. If the session does not time out. You then have an infinitely long vulnerability window to session hijacking. Our best option is to keep a tight expiration window on the session cookie, and regenerate them frequently. Even setting a long timeout doesn't help with this - too long a timeout will greatly increase the risk of invasion or potentially jeopardise your personal data and the safety and integrity of the Xero application itself. This is why we maintain control of this.
If we detect there's been no activity on a page (e.g…
Please introduce a user-configurable session inactivity timeout in Xero, allowing users to choose how long the application can remain idle before automatically logging them out, similar to the adjustable timeout settings for a computer's screen saver or automatic lock, rather than enforcing a fixed session expiry period. Having to repeatedly log back into Xero several times throughout the working day is frustrating and unnecessarily disruptive, particularly when switching between tasks or returning to the application after short periods of inactivity. Each login interrupts workflow, wastes time and reduces productivity. Allowing users to configure their preferred session inactivity timeout would provide a better balance between security and convenience, rather than imposing the same automatic logout period on everyone. Ideally, Xero should offer configurable inactivity timeout options of 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours or 8 hours, with a sensible default of 30 minutes. This would allow users working on secure, trusted devices to remain logged in throughout their working day without repeatedly interrupting their workflow, whilst maintaining appropriate security controls.
Shideh Esfandiari
supported this idea
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Please introduce a user-configurable session inactivity timeout in Xero, allowing users to choose how long the application can remain idle before automatically logging them out, similar to the adjustable timeout settings for a computer's screen saver or automatic lock, rather than enforcing a fixed session expiry period. Having to repeatedly log back into Xero several times throughout the working day is frustrating and unnecessarily disruptive, particularly when switching between tasks or returning to the application after short periods of inactivity. Each login interrupts workflow, wastes time and reduces productivity. Allowing users to configure their preferred session inactivity timeout would provide a better balance between security and convenience, rather than imposing the same automatic logout period on everyone. Ideally, Xero should offer configurable inactivity timeout options of 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours or 8 hours, with a sensible default of 30 minutes. This would allow users working on secure, trusted devices to remain logged in throughout their working day without repeatedly interrupting their workflow, whilst maintaining appropriate security controls.