Sessions allow a web server to identify clients between page requests. The server assigns each client a unique session ID stored in a cookie. This ID associates multiple requests from the same client as part of the same session. Sessions expire after a period of inactivity to prevent unauthorized access to a logged-in user's session by another user. PHP manages sessions through the session.auto_start and session.gc_maxlifetime settings in php.ini. Session functions like session_start(), session_unset(), and session_destroy() control session behavior.