For increased WordPress security, do not install WordPress sites using the username “admin”.
This is the default installation username for WordPress and one of the leading causes of brute force attacks and security threats on the WordPress CMS.
In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to change the WordPress admin username from ‘admin’ to a more secure user name.
Changing Your WP Admin Username
Normally, on a new WordPress website installation, the first user is the admin.
The default WordPress user name admin is not recommended, as it poses a security risk to your WordPress site …
Let’s change the admin username in WordPress from ‘admin’ to a more secure user name.
There are several ways to view your username details after logging into WP:
Select the Users > All Users section in the main menu …
Click on your username, or the Edit link when hovering over the username with your mouse …
Or, select Edit My Profile from the “Howdy, User” drop-down menu near the top-right hand corner of your admin area …
You can also access your “Profile” area by selecting Users > Your Profile from the admin menu.
You will discover in the Profile page that your user name cannot be changed from your Dashboard …
So, how can you change your WordPress admin username?
Change Admin Username By Creating A New Admin User
If your user name is “admin,” here’s the easiest way to change your username without accessing your server and touching WordPress database:
Click Add New to create a new user …
Next, create a more secure user name, and assign your new user account the role of “Administrator”. Save your changes to update your settings …
You should now see a new admin user with a new user name, as well as your original username (i.e. “admin”) …
Log out of your WordPress admin area …
Log in with the new admin details for the user you have just created …
You should see your new username details displayed in the “Howdy, User” panel …
Select Users > All Users in the main menu …
Delete your old administrator account …
Choose the option to assign all content owned by the old user account and reassigned it to the new admin, then confirm the deletion of the old account …
You are now left with only the new Admin account, effectively changing your WordPress admin user name …
Change Admin Username Using A WordPress Plugin
Another easy way to change the username is to use a plugin like the one shown below.
Username Changer
(Username changer)
Username Changer is a free WordPress plugin that lets you easily change your admin username (and allow other users to change their usernames too!)
Installing The Plugin
To install the plugin from your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins > Add Plugins and type in “username” into the Keyword search field (if you need help see our tutorial on installing WordPress plugins).
There are several plugins you can use to perform a similar function. Locate the Username Changer plugin and click on ‘Install Now’ …
(Install the plugin)
After installing the plugin, click the ‘Activate’ button …
(Activate the plugin)
Configuring The Plugin
After installing and activating the plugin, go to Settings > Username Changer …
(Settings – Username Changer menu)
This brings you to the ‘Settings’ screen.
Here, you can allow other user roles to change their usernames too (be careful about doing this!) …
(Username Changer Settings – Allowed Roles)
You can also configure email notifications (if you choose to allow users to change their usernames) …
(Username Changer Settings – Email notifications)
Using The Plugin
To change your username, go to Users > Your Profile …
(Users – Your Profile menu)
Scroll down to the ‘Name’ section and you will see a ‘Change Username’ link next to the grayed out username field. Click on this link to change your username …
(Click on ‘Change Username’ link)
The ‘Username’ field will become editable. Change your username and click the ‘Save Username’ button …
(Save your new username)
Changing your username will log you out of your WordPress admin area. You will need to log back into your WordPress site.
Click on the link to log back in …
(Click on the link to log back in)
Log back into your site with your new username (note: your password should remain the same) …
(Log back in with your new username)
Note: If you don’t click on the link to log back in you will find yourself logged out of your site …
(Changing your username will expire your session)
After logging back into your site, go to your User Profile section and you will see that your username has been changed.
(Username changed)
To learn more about this plugin, go here: Username Changer
Although this tutorial is mostly aimed for non-technical WordPress users, let’s go one step further and show you how to change your user name inside the WordPress database.
All you need is admin access to your server’s control panel.
To learn how to search and replace content in your WordPress database without touching code or editing WordPress database tables, see the tutorial below:
How To Change A User Name Inside The WordPress Database
For our example, the server is using cPanel …
cPanel management application
Log into your server admin account …
cPanel administration area
Scroll down to the “Databases” section and open phpMyAdmin …
phpMyAdmin
Click on your WordPress database.
Note: If you have multiple databases set up on your domain, make sure that you choose the correct one …
phpMyAdmin databases
Don’t worry about the complicated-looking screen.
Click on wp_users in the left-hand column …
The user name is located in the “user login” column. To edit the field just double-click on the text you want to change …
Type in the new username and click outside the edit box to update the field with the new username …
Log out of your server if you’re done and reopen the browser to your WordPress site. You may find that your session has expired. Log in again with your new Admin credentials …
You should see that your user name is now updated. However, your admin details will probably still be displaying the old “nickname” …
To choose a new “nickname”, go to your Users screen and click on the Edit link below the user name …
You can also get to your Profile section if you click on the Edit My Profile link in the “Howdy, User” panel …
Choose a new name to display publicly from the drop-down menu …
Note: You can also create a new Nickname in the Nickname field and it will then be available for selection in the Display name publicly as dropdown menu …
Click Update Profile to save your new settings …
You admin area is now updated with a new username and nickname …
Congratulations! Now you know how to change your WordPress admin user name on your website or blog.
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"This is an awesome training series. I have a pretty good understanding of WordPress already, but this is helping me to move somewhere from intermediate to advanced user!" - Kim Lednum