For improved website security, avoid installing sites with the user name “admin”.
This is the default installation user name for WordPress and one of the first things hackers look for when attempting to break into the WordPress platform.
In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to change your admin user name in WordPress to a more secure user name.
Changing Your Admin User Name In WordPress To A More Secure User Name
Generally, with all new WordPress installations, the first registered user is usually the admin.
Having the default WordPress username admin is not recommended, as it puts your WordPress site at risk of being attacked by hackers and bots …
Let’s change your admin username in WordPress to a more secure user name.
There are several ways to access your “Profile” section inside your WordPress site admin area:
Select the Users > All Users section in your main menu …
Click either on your user name, or the Edit link when hovering over the username with your mouse …
Or, select Edit My Profile from the “Howdy, User” dropdown menu at the top-right hand corner of your Dashboard …
You can also visit your “Profile” area by selecting Users > Your Profile from your main menu.
What you will discover when you get into your Profile page, however, is that user names cannot be changed from your Dashboard …
So, how do you change a admin username?
Change Admin Username By Creating A New Admin User
If your WordPress user name is “admin,” here’s the easiest way to change the user name without accessing your server:
Click Add New to add a new user …
Next, create a better user name, and assign this new user the role of “Administrator”. Remember to save your changes to update your settings …
You have now created a new admin user …
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 user name details displayed in the “Howdy, User” panel …
Select Users > All Users in the main menu …
Delete the old administrator account …
Choose the option to attribute all content owned by the old user account and reassigned it to the new user, 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 WordPress username inside the WordPress database.
All you need is access to your server.
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
In the example below, we’ll be working with the cPanel management tool …
cPanel
Log into your server control panel …
cPanel administration area
Scroll down to the “Databases” section and click on phpMyAdmin …
phpMyAdmin
Click on your WP database.
Note: If you have multiple databases set up on your domain, make sure that you choose the right one …
phpMyAdmin databases
Don’t worry about the complicated-looking information on your screen screen.
Click on wp_users in the left-hand column …
The user name is located in the “user login” column. To edit the user name 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 user name …
Log out of your server if you’re finished and return to your WordPress site. You will probably find that your session has expired. Log in again with your new administration login credentials …
You should see that the user name is now updated. However, your site will probably still be displaying the old “nickname” …
To edit your “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” section …
Select a new name to display publicly from the dropdown 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 username on your website.
***
"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)