I was perplexed by the inability to Log Out of my Gnome desktop session.
There was no Log Out option when clicking the system menu in the upper right hand corner of the screen.
There was no Log Out when pressing Ctrl + Alt + Delete.
Turns out, I had to add a 2nd, useless account to my laptop in order to enable the Log Out option.
This is such a strange design choice. There are plenty of times when it is appropriate to log out and then log back in even when there is only one user account on a machine. Instances where you want to reload your user environment but don’t want to reboot your machine.
Most OSes allow a user to log out regardless of how many user accounts are set up.
I understand that Gnome is an “opinionated” desktop environment and I generally agree with the design choices (well, except I have also installed Dash to Dock and Appindicators extensions but, I digress). But, really, please, please, please, reconsider the choice to not have Log Out even when there is only one user account setup.
Thank you. And, thanks for making an otherwise excellent desktop environment for Linux.
Good news: gsettings set org.gnome.shell always-show-log-out true
(Log Out is also available by default if you have more than one desktop session, even if you have only one user account. It’s only hidden by default if there’s only one user and also only one desktop. Run the above command once if you don’t like this!)
Thank you! That worked and it allowed me get rid of the 2nd account I didn’t need. Oddly, that command did not come up on DuckDuckGo or Google with any of the search terms I used. But, I’m glad it exists and that you shared it. (I still think not having the Log Out menu available by default is a bizarre choice.)
Everything is simple, if the only thing you care is what you want, as opposed to figure out how to make things work for other people.
The decision to show the Log Out button only for multi-user/multi-session installations was taken a long time ago; the only reason people started noticing now is that there are more systems with fewer sessions, given the removal of the X11 session in GNOME 49.
Well, they’re not the only one who was confused by it. On Design room on Matrix alone there were several people confused by it, and if we count Reddit too, then it’s utter confusion over there under some posts.
I didn’t say “this confuses nobody”. I said that you have to understand that there are good reasons for this change, and you should know it, since it’s been discussed multiple times in multiple venues.
The trick to finding gsettings commands on Google is to phrase your search like this “How do I do X with gsettings?” If a relevant gsettings option exists it will usually show up in the results.
I’m curious- what are the good reasons to not have Log Out be available by default even for single user / single session logins? I have a feeling, I won’t agree but, I dying to hear what they are.
The main question is: if you only have a single user, and a single session, then what are you logging out of, and logging in into?
If the system has an operation that requires restarting the session but not the entire system, then logging out should be offered as part of that operation.
Why ask even when I know I most likely won’t agree? Didn’t I already answer that by saying I was insanely curious (“dying to know”)?
C’mon. Leave room for other people’s opinions. Please don’t take my admitting up front my biases as a way of telling me that I shouldn’t have even asked.
Also, I was right- I don’t agree with the rhetorical question given as a reason. Saying that if there is only one user and one session then what’s the rationale for logging out is again (to me) a bizarre line of reasoning.
There are often configuration changes that a user makes that won’t take effect until that user logs out and then logs back in (there may be other ways to simulate this but, for regular users this is often the simplest route and even the one recommended in many step by step guides).
Removing the ability to simply and easily log out because of some strange philosophy that it will never be necessary when there is just a single user with a single session creates a new barrier for those regular users to overcome. It creates unnecessary confusion and frustration.
Also, it forces the user to then do a full reboot that was potentially unnecessary and takes longer than the simple logout / login.
There’s simplicity and sparseness that are elegant and make for a better user experience and then there’s simplicity and sparseness that are just for the sake of an unhealthy drive towards minimalism.
So it’s not „it will never be necessary” but more „it’s not a functionality used enough to justify it being there (exposed in Shell’s UI)”
One such scenario I know of (the main reason I log out, typically) is to apply updates to GNOME Shell extensions. Thankfully, the “Extension Manager” app does offer a Logout button when updates are pending, at least.
Usually the only other situations where a logout-login is useful, in my experience, is when something like gnome-keyring or gnome-online-accounts goes kaputt.
Other than that, I guess it’s mostly interesting to those who want to apply desktop-only updates that don’t touch the rest of the operating system; it’s a bit niche, but I wish we could use systemd “soft reboots” when applying non-immutable non-kernel system updates in GNOME Software; however, that doesn’t seem to be part of the plans, unfortunately
What about modifications to a login script?
I can see quite a number of situations where a lg out button will be useful, even in a single user/session situation. And I also don’t see any harm in having the option always available.
So, clear usefulness in a number of cases with the option, against no harm to any other situation. Should be a no-brainer, right? If it does no harm but is useful, even in a limited number of situations, why take it away? That’s not simplification, but actually complication.
