Can’t log back into your WordPress site?
Finding yourself unable to access your site’s administration area because you’ve forgotten or lost your password or username can be really frustrating.
Fortunately, if you are a WordPress user, there is always a way to get back into the backend of your website or blog.
In this tutorial for non-technical WordPress users, we show you the process of recovering a forgotten password or username and getting back into your website. We’ll go as far as we can without getting into complicated technical areas, and then, if the information still doesn’t help you, we’ll explain to you what your other options for login recovery are.
Let’s start at the beginning.
Typing In The Wrong Login Details
Normally, if you you type in the wrong username and/or password when trying to login in WordPress, you will see an error message like the one below …
Your first clue, is that if you get the username correct but the password is wrong, WordPress will actually tell you this …
For security reasons, 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 WordPress sites.
If you want to learn how to change your username, see this tutorial:
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If you have lost your password, but you do know your username or email address, then click on the “Lost your password?” link in the error message …
You can also access the lost password area by clicking on the link at the bottom of the login box …
Alternatively, type the URL below into your browser (where “domain” is your domain and “tld” is the domain extension, eg. “com”, “net”, “org”, etc.) …
Type in your username or registered email address and click on the Get New Password button …
At this stage, there is no password “recovery” option, only password “reset”.
You will receive a system notification via email with a password reset link. Click on the link to reset your password.
Enter your new password into the “Password reset” field. Make sure to choose a strong password containing upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols, like “@, $, %, &, ^” etc …
Use a password generator tool to help you come up with a secure password.
You can use a free password generator tool like PasswordsGenerator.net (shown below) …
Or use a password management program like RoboForm, which is not only great for generating secure passwords, but also for storing and managing all your passwords …
Use A Password Generator Tool If You Need Help Creating A Strong Password
To learn more about password management software, see the tutorial below:
After resetting your password, log in using your new password …
How To Change Your Password Inside WordPress
To change your password inside your admin, log into your site and select Edit My Profile from the “Howdy, User” dropdown menu at the top-right hand corner of your screen …
You can also access your “Profile” screen by selecting Users > Your Profile from your main admin menu.
Towards the bottom section of the page, you will see the “change password” fields. Enter a new password and confirm this password here.
Note: Avoid using weak passwords. Use the built-in WordPress password strength meter to help you set up a strong password.
Click the Update Profile button when you’re done to update your password settings.
What If I’ve Lost My Username And Password?
So far, the above steps work if you’ve lost your password but you remember your username or email address.
How can you log in if you’ve forgotten both your username and password?
You can still log into your WordPress site, but here is where you will need to have some technical knowledge and be able to change things inside your server.
As this tutorial is mostly designed for non-technical WordPress users, we recommend that if the information above hasn’t helped you get back into your WordPress backend, then either contact someone who can provide you with technical assistance (i.e. your webmaster, website management person or your webhost) and let them know that you need to change your WordPress Password from phpMyAdmin, or you can try using the method below, which will simply reveal your username and email address, so you can at least get your password reset and log back in.
All you need is admin access to your server’s control panel. Don’t worry, you won’t be changing anything … you’ll just be taking a look!
If you don’t feel comfortable taking a look inside your web server or database, then please ask an experienced WordPress user to assist you.
In the example below, we’ll be working with cPanel …
cPanel management application
Note: For a complete set of video tutorials on using cPanel, go here: How To Use cPanel.
Log into your server administration area …
cPanel administration area
Scroll down to the “Databases” section and open phpMyAdmin …
phpMyAdmin
Open up your WP database.
Note: If you have multiple databases set up on your domain, make sure you select the right one …
phpMyAdmin databases
Don’t be concerned about the complicated screen.
Click on wp_users …
mySQL database tables
This section contains a list of all your site’s users with their usernames and emails. Typically, the first line is assigned to the site administrator, but if you have more users and need to locate their username or email, then scroll down the list until you find what you are looking for …
Note: The user password is also included in this section of the database (in the “user_pass” column”), but as you can see from the screenshot above, it is encrypted and displays only random-looking characters in the field.
For security reasons, WordPress stores all passwords as a cryptographic hash function (MD5 Hash) rather than plain text. This prevents even the site administrator from knowing a user’s password.
To change this password you will need an encryption tool that lets you generate an MD5 hash, which you would then copy and paste into the password field. You can search for “free MD5 generators online” if you want to change the password yourself, but as suggested earlier, ask for professional help if you really don’t know what you are doing, and want to avoid causing errors.
Now that you know the username and email address, log out of your server, go back to your login screen and request a new password …
We hope that you have found this tutorial useful and can now resume working.
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