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“log in to” or “log into” or “login to”

Is there accepted terminology for the process of logging in?

As a verb, would you say "Go to the website and log in", or "Go to the website and login"?

As an adjective, would you say "Click on the Log in form", or "Click on the Login form"?

Does the same apply to logging out? eg: logout?

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I try to avoid confusion by saying Verhoog and Prolaag. It rarely works :( – Jonas Kölker May 27 '09 at 18:27
Enter members area. – user7583 May 7 '10 at 7:59
I wouldn't say login is an adjective. It's a noun used in this case attributively. – hippietrail May 10 '11 at 14:59
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@F'x & @RegDwight -- I do not think this is a duplicate -- the question is different, and so are the answers. – Jay Elston Jun 28 '11 at 23:39
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closed as exact duplicate by F'x, RegDwight ΒВBẞ8♦ Apr 30 '11 at 0:41

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9 Answers

up vote 55 down vote accepted

"Login" is a noun or adjective, and "log in" is a verb phrase.

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This is similar to the way some Germanic languages handle compound nouns. Fish fingers means to fish for fingers, while fishfingers is a noun meaning fish formed into fingers. Unfortunately English doesn't always agree with this. – Marius Mar 26 '09 at 12:04
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I've never seen an Englishman fishing for fingers – Patrick McDonald Jun 23 '09 at 16:17
But do take note that English is a Germanic language... – Daren Thomas Jun 29 '10 at 7:03
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Calling English a Germanic Language is like calling a Sphinx a type of cat. – windfinder Jul 7 '10 at 17:59
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up vote 26 down vote

login as a noun or adjective: login prompt, login screen, etc.

log in as a verb: I'm going to log in now.

Same idea with logout: You can log out by clicking on the logout button.

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Note, though, that the text on the logout button reads "Log out," so you might also refer to it as the "log out" button, just like I'm about to click the "add comment" button. – Rob Kennedy Nov 21 '08 at 2:37
I know login as a noun, it2s the user name. But what is a logout? – Paulo Manuel Santos Oct 8 '09 at 16:18
Yes, This is right ya!! – Muneer Jun 29 '10 at 6:52
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up vote 9 down vote

My preferences (less popular, but many cool websites are using this convention):

[Sign In] [Join]

Welcome, UserName! [Sign Out]

I wouldn't use any of the following: Log On, Logon, Log In, Log Out

Another option is (which is by the way more popular):

[Login] [Register]

Welcome, UserName! [Logout]

Google Stats (hits):

[Sign In], [Sign Out] -> 1 210 000 000 + 300 700 000 = 1 510 700 000
[Login], [Logout]     -> 1 940 000 000 + 88 200 000  = 2 028 200 000
[Log In], [Log Out]   -> 873 000 000   + 83 800 000  =   956 800 000

[Sign Up] for registration link is also a good option but it does't look good near [Sign In], you should use it wether with [Login] or seporatly.

[Sign In] [Join] on a page looks more user-friendly (less official) for me than [Login] [Register]

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+1 You make for good answer. Can I plz hav the codes for it? – anon271334 Sep 30 '10 at 18:28
@lucifer, what kind of "codes" ? – Koistya Navin Oct 1 '10 at 10:26
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up vote 5 down vote

"Login" is not a verb. When you want a verb the proper english is to use "log in."

i.e. "Please click here to log in"

I would use it as a noun, such as "The login form is on the right"

But is it not a verb.

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+1 for the link to notaverb.com. What a great site! – Matt Hamilton Nov 21 '08 at 4:19
"notaverb.com. What a great site!" -- Yes! Just like google, someone should verb them :D – Jonas Kölker May 27 '09 at 18:20
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up vote 4 down vote

To add to what everyone's saying: compound words follow this pattern in English pretty generally. You log in via a login screen. You lay out a layout. You set up a setup. There are some words that smush together as both verb and noun (you download a download), but I can't think of any that go the other way.

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up vote 3 down vote

Google can be useful :)

Results 1 - 10 of about 1,690,000,000 for login

Results 1 - 10 of about 338,000,000 for "log in"

Edit re comment

Results 1 - 10 of about 2,100,000 for "login to the site"

Results 1 - 10 of about 371,000 for "log in to the site"

I think Google can usefully show where the use of language is changing.

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That doesn't help - the question is about which terms to use in certain contexts (adjective/noun vs verb). – Matt Hamilton Nov 21 '08 at 1:34
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Your new search terms are better, but all they really show is that people are prone to abusing the language. :) – Matt Hamilton Nov 21 '08 at 4:17
I must disagree, language changes "gild the lily" is a horrible misquotation and "very unique" is painful, but these are widely used and so correct. "Silly" no longer means "innocent", "gay" has more recently changed its meaning, and to use these words in their old sense in common speech is wrong. – Remou Nov 21 '08 at 10:29
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up vote 3 down vote

The Yahoo style guide states:

login (n., adj.); log in, log in to (v.)
One word when used as a noun or an adjective. Two words when used as a verb, which may be followed by the preposition to. Note that sign in is preferred because it sounds less technical.

logoff (n., adj.), log off (v.)
One word when used as a noun or adjective. Two words when used as a verb. Note that sign out is preferred because it sounds less technical.

logon (n., adj.); log on, log on to (v.)
One word when used as a noun or adjective. Two words when used as a verb, which may be followed by the preposition to. Note that sign in is preferred because it sounds less technical. Don’t use log on to mean simply visiting a website.

logout (n., adj.), log out (v.)
One word when used as a noun or adjective. Two words when used as a verb. Note that sign out is preferred because it sounds less technical. Example: If you forget to log out, you’ll get a logout reminder.

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up vote 1 down vote

I think that they're totally separate terms. You "log in" to a system, whereas your "login" refers to the credentials which you use to "log in" with.

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up vote 0 down vote

Hyphens please people:

"Log in below" and "Click on the log-in form".

No-one can use hyphens nowadays it seems...

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