How to Tell If Someone Else Is Using Your Twitter Account

In the past, Twitter has often been criticized for its somewhat loose security measures. However, in recent years, they’ve cracked down on this issue, and tweeting has never been safer.

Still, no social media platform is perfect, and breaches do happen. If you’re worried someone else has been using your Twitter account, you’ll want to know how to find out for sure.

But would you be able to tell exactly who has been messing with your Twitter profile? The answer is both yes and no. You might be able to detect suspicious activity, but it doesn’t mean you’ll know who the culprit is.

How to See Last Active Uses

If you’re a regular Twitter user, then you’ll likely scroll through your page numerous times per day. Even if all you do is read funny tweets rather than participate in political debate. But you might also be fervently tweeting yourself.

In that case, it’s easier to notice any suspicious activity on your Twitter account. All of a sudden, there are replies and mentions that you don’t remember posting. Or your DMs contain random messages.

This could be a major cause for concern, so it’s important to investigate the issue. You probably know exactly when you were last active on Twitter, and that’s great because you’ll need that information.

The good news is that you can check all your latest Twitter sessions and from which devices they originated. The bad news is that if you’ve disabled the Precise Location feature, you might not be able to learn more about the problem. But first, let’s see how you check your active status and Twitter login history.

From iPhone or Android

Using Twitter via the iOS and Android apps is often more convenient than from the browser. The UI is much more responsive, and there’s that little sound every time you refresh your feed that gives you a sense of reassurance.

So, if you want to check your Twitter login history via the Twitter app, that’s a straightforward process. Regardless of whether you’re using an iPhone or Android device, the steps are going to be the same:

Tap Profile Picture

1. Open the Twitter app on your phone and tap on your profile picture in the top left corner of the screen.
   
2. Scroll down and select the Settings and privacy option.
   
3. Now, select Security and account access, followed by Apps and sessions.
   

On the top of the screen, you’ll see other Apps that are connected to your Twitter account. But just underneath you’ll see the Sessions section. Twitter will show that you’re Active now from your phone and will display your location as well.

But you’ll also see an entire list of currently active sessions. You can click on each of them and see the date, time, and location of the initial login, as well as which device was used for access.

You’ll probably recognize all of your devices and sessions, but you might also see activity and devices that you don’t recognize. Therefore, try and remember if you’ve used a friend’s phone or logged in at work a few times. Also, don’t let the location stamps alarm you.

As mentioned, if the Precise Location option is off, Twitter won’t be able to pick up the exact location of your logins. It will likely show several different locations during the same day that are often hundreds of miles apart.

From PC or Mac

You can access your Twitter login history using a web browser, whether you’re a Mac or PC user. The website will look the same, and all the steps to check your sessions will be the same too. So, let’s see what those steps look like:

1. Open the Twitter web portal using any browser. On the left side of your Home page, select More.
   
2. A menu will pop-up. Select Settings and privacy.
   
3. Select Security and account access, followed by Apps and sessions.
   

From there, click on Sessions. The page will look exactly the same as it would when you open the Twitter app on your phone. You’ll see your current session labeled as active with a blue color, and you’ll see all other sessions below your activity status.

Downloading Twitter Data

Another approach to checking if someone has been using your Twitter account is to download all of your Twitter Data. You’ll have every interaction, post, and image neatly packed in a zip file. Keep in mind, you can only request your entire archive once in 30 days. Here’s how you do it:

1. Open the Twitter app or browser and select More.
   
2. Select Settings and privacy then Your Account.
   
3. Select Download an archive of your data.
   
4. Enter your password and confirm.
   

Under data and permissions select Your Twitter Data.

After a few minutes, your Twitter will gather all your data and you can then select the “Download Archive” option. Then you can review all the activity to see if there are any discrepancies.

Now that you can see all your Twitter sessions, you can identify those that shouldn’t be on the list. Even if Twitter missed the mark on location and that was a session you don’t recall, it’s probably best to log out anyway.

Logout of All Devices – Mobile

You can logout from a Twitter session using the Twitter app on your smartphone. It will only take a few taps on the screen. Follow all three steps from accessing Apps and Session from the above section. And then follow these steps:

Tap on the session you want to log out from.

Tap on Log out the device shown option.

When a pop-up screen appears, confirm your selection.

The session will immediately disappear from the list. You can then continue to repeat these steps with any sessions that you’re not sure about.

Logout of All Devices – PC or MAC

Logging out of problematic sessions and devices on your Twitter account will look the same when you do it via a web browser.

Follow the steps from above to access Apps and Sessions and logout from the session you want. Confirm your selection, and you needn’t worry anymore.

But there’s another way to go that’s probably a more prudent approach. You can choose to logout from all sessions at once. Twitter gives you this option to make sure you eliminate a threat even if you’re not sure which one it was.

You’ll be able to access this feature using the computer or the Twitter app. Instead of selecting one session at a time, click on Log out all other sessions. Don’t worry, though. Your current session will remain active and Twitter won’t log out automatically.

Security-wise, that’s probably the best course of action, although you can go about it as you see fit. Also, if apps like TikTok, Instagram, or any other are linked to your Twitter account, you might want to consider disconnecting them. Go to Apps and Sessions>Apps>(Choose app)>Revoke access.

Security Measures

Staying safe online is essential nowadays because you never know when your privacy might be jeopardized. Someone could specifically target you, or you could, unfortunately, download a bad virus to your devices and social media accounts.

When it comes to preemptive security measures, the general rule of thumb is to never share your username and password with anyone. Not even if a third-party app promises that to get you more followers or that it’s somehow for your own good.

You should also keep in mind that Twitter will never ask you to send your password via DM or even via email. Also, when Twitter registers a new login, whether it’s a new device or a new IP address, it will send you an email notification.

So, you’ll know to react immediately if you have to. The notification of a new login will also appear on your Twitter web portal home page to alert you.

Change Your Password

It’s always advisable to create a very strong password comprised of numbers, letters, caps, and a reasonable length. Sure, everyone’s more-or-less aware of this, but somehow people tend to stick to their pet’s name and anniversary dates, nonetheless.

That’s why if you had to logout of all devices and sessions, it’s a good idea to also change your password. You can do this using the Twitter web portal or Twitter mobile app, and we’ll show you how to do both.

Using your browser, log into your Twitter account, and then follow these steps:

1. Select the More option and then click on Settings and Privacy.
   
   
   
2. Select Account and then Password.
   
   
   
3. Type in your current password.
4. Pick a new password. Make sure it’s very secure.
5. Confirm the changes by selecting Save.
   

The tricky part here is when you want to login but can’t remember your current password.

That’s okay, as you can reset the password by going to the “password settings page”. Also, keep in mind that this action will automatically log you out of every session except the one you’re using to change your password.

If you’re using an iPhone or Android phone to change your password by sending a password reset to your email, here’s what you need to do:

1. If you’re logged into Twitter on your device, make sure to logout first.
2. Then select Sign in option followed by Forgot Password?.
   
   
   
3. Type in your email address, or even username if it’s more convenient. If your phone number is connected to your Twitter account, you’ll receive an SMS with the reset code. If not, you’ll get the reset code via email.
   

Run Antivirus

The reality none of us like to contemplate is our computers and other devices getting infected with a virus that causes all kinds of unfortunate consequences.

How do you even know if your computer has a virus? Sometimes it’s clear, and other times, not so readily apparent. A warning sign can be when your computer suddenly slows down and doesn’t perform as it did recently. Also, random spam popping up from everywhere is a real red flag.

And if you’re locked out of your folders, or social media accounts, that’s never a good thing. But one of the eeriest occurrences is when one of your Twitter friends sends you a message asking why you sent them that weird or suspicious link.

What about pictures and posts that show up on your feed that you have no idea where they came from? This means it’s time to run an antivirus on your device, computer, tablet, or smartphone to see what’s going on.

It’s probably best to choose trusted antivirus software and let the program do its job instead of manually removing problematic installs. The software will run a scan and then detect whether you’ve got a virus or not. If it turns out that a virus has indeed attacked you, you should change all of your login information, not just on Twitter.

But if Twitter is the only place where you’ve seen unwanted activity, and everything else seems fine, then you might’ve been hacked by someone who was able to login to your account. Still, the same protocol applies – logout of all sessions and change the password.

Your Twitter Account Is Just for You

By this, we mean that maybe it’s not a good idea to share your login information even with your friends and family. Not because of a lack of trust, but because it’s so easy to forget when we logged in and where we left our phones. And, more importantly, who can get access to them.

There’s no reason to be paranoid about someone else using your Twitter account, but there’s also no reason to be careless about it either.

Have you ever had someone hack into your Twitter account? Let us know in the comments section below.