For online security purposes, never install sites with the user name “admin”.
This is the default installation user name for WordPress and one of the leading causes of brute force attacks and security threats on the WordPress platform.
In this step-by-step tutorial for non-technical users, we’ll show you how to change your WordPress admin username to a more secure username.
Changing Your WordPress Username From Admin To A More Secure Username
Generally, with a new WordPress site, the first user is usually 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 user name to a more secure username.
There are several ways to access your “Profile” section inside your admin area:
Select the Users > All Users page in your main menu …
Click either on your username, or click on the Edit link when hovering over the username with your mouse …
Or, select Edit My Profile from the “Howdy, User” dropdown menu near the top-right hand corner of your screen …
You can also access your “Profile” page by selecting Users > Your Profile from your Dashboard side menu.
You will discover in the Profile page that your user name cannot be changed inside your Dashboard …
So, how do you change the admin username?
Change Admin Username By Creating A New Admin User
If your WordPress username is “admin,” here’s the easiest way to change this without going into your server:
First, let’s create a new user …
Next, create a more secure username, and assign the new user the role of “Administrator”. Save your changes in order to update your settings …
You have now added a new user with admin privileges …
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 in the “Howdy, User” panel …
Select Users > All Users in your main menu …
You can now delete your old user account …
Choose the option to attribute all content owned by the old admin account and reassigned it to your new user, then confirm the deletion of the old user 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 really aimed for non-technical WordPress users, let’s go one step further and show you how to change your username 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:
Changing A User Name Inside The WordPress Database
For the example below, we’ll be working with cPanel …
cPanel
Log into your server admin area …
cPanel admin area
Scroll down to the “Databases” section and open up phpMyAdmin …
phpMyAdmin
Click on your WP database.
Note: If you have multiple databases set up on your domain, make sure that you select the right one …
phpMyAdmin databases
Don’t be concerned about the complicated-looking screen.
Click on wp_users in the “Table” column on the left-hand side …
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 user name and click outside the edit box to update the field with a new username …
Log out of your server if you’re done and return to your WordPress site. You will probably find that your session is expired. If so, log in again with your new administration login credentials …
You will see that the user name has been updated. However, your admin details will probably still display the previous “nickname” …
To choose a new “nickname”, access your Users section and click on the Edit link below the username …
You can also reach the Profile section by clicking on the Edit My Profile link in the “Howdy, User” screen …
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 username on your website or blog.
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"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)