Facebook does provide users with the ability to view a history of logins to their account. This can be useful for monitoring account activity and ensuring that only authorized logins are occurring. There are a few different ways to access your Facebook login history.
Viewing Login Notifications
One easy way to keep track of recent logins is through Facebook’s login notifications. Whenever someone logs into your Facebook account from a new device or browser, Facebook will send you a notification alerting you of the login. This includes logins from your own devices if it’s a device you haven’t used to access Facebook before.
You’ll see these notifications in a few different places:
- In your notifications tab – You’ll see a list of recent login notifications.
- In your email inbox – If you’ve enabled email notifications from Facebook, you’ll receive emails about new logins.
- On your mobile device – If you have the Facebook app installed, you may receive mobile push notifications about new logins.
These notifications make it easy to monitor logins in real time. However, they only show you recent logins and not a full history.
Login Activity Log
For a complete login history, you’ll need to check your Facebook Login Activity Log. This shows you a list of all the times someone (or you) logged into your Facebook account. Here’s how to view it:
- Click on the arrow in the top right corner of Facebook.
- Select “Settings & Privacy”.
- Click on “Settings”.
- On the left side, click “Security and Login”.
- Under “Where You’re Logged In”, click “See More”.
This will show you a log of all recent Facebook logins. It shows the location, device, and browser for each login. If you see any logins you don’t recognize, you can click “Not You?” to secure your account.
What does the login history show?
For each login, you’ll see:
- Date and time of login
- Location – City and state/region the login came from
- Device – Device type used to log in (Computer, iPhone, etc)
- Browser – Browser used if logged in from a computer
This information can help you identify suspicious logins from unknown locations or devices.
Downloading Your Full Login History
For a downloadable copy of your complete login history, follow these steps:
- Click on the arrow in the top right corner.
- Select “Settings & Privacy”.
- Click on “Settings”.
- Click “Your Facebook Information” on the left.
- Under “Download Your Information”, click “View”.
- Click “Logins and Logouts” to toggle it on.
- Deselect any other categories you don’t want to download.
- Click “Create File”.
Facebook will compile all your account information and send you a download link when it’s ready. This can take up to a few days. Your login history will be in the Logins and Logouts section.
How Far Back Does Facebook Login History Go?
Facebook’s login history goes back up to 90 days. So you can see all logins from the past 90 days via the security tools mentioned above.
If you download your complete account information, your login history in that file will go back up to 1 year.
So in summary:
- Login notifications – Recent logins only
- Security login history – Past 90 days
- Downloaded account info – Past 1 year
Deleted Logins
If you logout of a session manually, by clicking “Log Out” on Facebook, that session will no longer appear in your login history. So your login history only shows current and past logins that have not been manually ended.
Incognito/Private Browsing Sessions
If you log into your Facebook account in an incognito or private browsing window, that login will still be recorded in your login history. Facebook records all logins regardless of the browser mode used.
IP Addresses in Login History
The login history does not display the IP addresses of each login. It only shows the location, device type, and browser.
To view the IP addresses used on your account, you would need to request your extended account history data directly from Facebook.
Is Login History Perfect?
Facebook’s login history provides useful information to identify unauthorized account access, but it isn’t perfect. There are some cases where it can show misleading information:
- Incorrect locations – The location shown is based on IP address, which doesn’t always accurately match to a physical location.
- Shared devices – If you log in on a shared/public device, it may show other user logins as well.
- Facebook bugs – Technical glitches can occasionally lead to errors in the history.
So while login history is very helpful, you should still report suspicious activity for Facebook to fully investigate.
Other Facebook Security Features
In addition to monitoring your login history, here are some other things you can do to secure your Facebook account:
- Set up two-factor authentication – This requires you to enter a code from your phone whenever logging in from a new device.
- Use strong passwords – Don’t use obvious passwords that are easy to guess.
- Be cautious of third-party apps – Don’t give your login info to any suspicious looking third-party apps.
- Recognize scam emails/messages – Facebook will never ask for your password via email or message.
Conclusion
Here are the key points about Facebook’s login history and monitoring account access:
- You can view recent and past account logins through Facebook’s security tools.
- The history goes back up to 90 days, or 1 year if downloaded.
- It shows location, device, and browser for each login.
- While very useful, the history isn’t perfect and you should still report suspicious activity.
- Enabling two-factor authentication is recommended for extra security.
Being able to view a login history enables you to closely monitor activity on your Facebook account and ensure only authorized people are accessing it. Along with strong passwords and other security best practices, regularly checking your Facebook login history can help prevent unauthorized access.