Security these days is very important since we live in a digital age. Once our email or other important account gets compromised, it is hard to get back the data. In some cases, the user doesn’t even know that someone is accessing their account. That’s why it is important to keep a check on the account activity feature of your email provider such as Gmail.
Why should you check your Gmail account activity
This account activity feature is very useful when you think that someone might have logged into your Gmail account. Plus, if you have sensitive information in your account, it can be doubly important.
This feature gives you information on which method is used to login (browser, mobile, POP/IMAP), where have the user logged-in from, (IP address) and when (date and time). But that’s not all, as you can also set alert preferences if you want to receive an alert when unusual activity is detected.
How to access your Gmail account activity
Log in to your Gmail account, and click on “Details” from the bottom right corner. This will open a small new window for account activity.
Observe each detail from here carefully and check for any suspicious activity. For example; if the access type is showing Mobile, and you haven’t logged-in to your Gmail from your mobile, then it means that your account has been compromised. In such a situation, the best thing that you can do is to change your password immediately to prevent unauthorized access.
You also have the option to “Sign out all other sessions”, so that you can instantly sign-out from all locations. If you’ve logged-in from some other location, then you’ll be logged out from that location too. You’ll need to re-enter your login credentials to access your account.
Gmail will automatically send you alerts in case of any unusual activity. By default, this alert is enabled, but you can also disable this alert (but disabling is strongly not recommended).
If you ever thought that there’s some unusual activity going on in your Gmail, then you now know how to check and prevent it.
