For better WordPress site security, avoid creating a WordPress site using the username “admin”.
This is the default installation user name for WordPress and one of the first areas of potential vulnerabilities hackers look for when attempting to break into a WordPress web site.
In this step-by-step tutorial for non-technical WordPress users, you will learn how to change your admin username in WordPress from ‘admin’ to a more secure user name.
How To Change Your WP Admin User Name
By default, with a new WordPress installation, the first registered user is the administrator.
Having the default WordPress username admin is not recommended, as it poses a security risk to your WordPress site …
Let’s change the WordPress admin username from ‘admin’ to a more secure user name.
There are a number of ways to view your username details after logging into your WordPress site admin area:
Select the Users > All Users section in your main menu …
Click either on the user name, or the Edit link when hovering over the user name with your mouse …
Or, select Edit My Profile from the “Howdy, User” menu near the top-right hand corner of your screen …
You can also access your “Profile” section by selecting Users > Your Profile from your admin menu.
What you will discover in the Profile page, however, is that you cannot change usernames inside your Dashboard …
So, how can you edit the user name?
Change Admin Username By Creating A New Admin User
If your WordPress admin login is “admin,” here’s the easiest way to change your user name without going into your server:
First, create a new user …
Next, create a different user name, and assign the new user the role of “Administrator”. Save your changes to update your settings …
You should now have a new admin user with a new username, as well as your original user name (i.e. “admin”) …
Log out of your WordPress admin area …
Log in with your new admin details …
You should see your new username details in the “Howdy, User” panel …
Select Users > All Users in the main menu …
You can now delete your old user account …
Select the option to assign all content owned by the old admin account and reassigned it to the new admin, then confirm the deletion of the old admin account …
You are now left with only the new Admin account, effectively changing your WordPress admin username …
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 intended for non-technical WordPress users, let’s go one step further and show you how to change your WordPress username inside the WordPress database.
All you need is 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:
Changing Your Username Inside The WordPress Database
For our example, we’ll be working with the cPanel management application …
cPanel
Log into your server control panel …
cPanel administration area
Scroll down to the “Databases” section and open up phpMyAdmin …
phpMyAdmin
Open up your WordPress database.
Note: If you have a number of databases set up on your domain, make sure that you select the correct one …
phpMyAdmin databases
Don’t be concerned about the complicated-looking information on your screen screen.
Click on wp_users in the left-hand column …
The username is located in the “user login” column. To edit the field simply double-click on this text you want to change …
Type in the new username and click outside the edit box to update the field with a new user name …
Log out of your server if you’re finished and go back to your WordPress site. You may find that your session is expired. If so, log in again with your new Admin user name and password …
You will see that your user name has been updated. However, your site will probably still be displaying the old “nickname” …
To choose a new “nickname”, open your Users screen and click the Edit link below the username …
You can also reach your Profile section by clicking on the Edit My Profile link in the “Howdy, User” screen …
Select 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 drop down menu …
Click Update Profile to save your new settings …
You admin area is now updated with a new user name and nickname …
Congratulations! Now you know how to change the WordPress admin user name on your website.
***
"I was absolutely amazed at the scope and breadth of these tutorials! The most in-depth training I have ever received on any subject!" - Myke O'Neill, DailyGreenPost.com