For online security purposes, avoid setting up WordPress sites with the user name “admin”.
This is the default installation username for WordPress and one of the first areas of potential vulnerabilities hackers look for in WordPress websites and blogs.
In this step-by-step tutorial for non-technical users, we’ll show you how to change the WordPress admin username from ‘admin’ to a more secure username.
Changing Your WordPress Username From Admin To A More Secure User Name
By default, with all new WordPress site installations, the first registered user is usually the administrator.
The default WordPress user name admin is not recommended, as it can pose a security risk to your WordPress site …
Let’s change your WordPress admin user name from ‘admin’ to a more secure user name.
There are several ways to access your “Profile” section inside WordPress:
Select the Users > All Users screen in the main menu …
Click on your username, or the Edit link when hovering over the user name with your mouse …
Or, select Edit My Profile from the “Howdy, User” drop down menu at the top-right hand corner of your Dashboard …
You can also go to your “Profile” screen by selecting Users > Your Profile from the main menu.
What you will discover when you get into your Profile page, however, is that usernames cannot be changed inside the Dashboard …
So, how can you change your user name?
Change Admin Username By Creating A New Admin User
If your admin login is “admin,” here’s the easiest way to change this without going into your server and doing technical stuff:
Click Add New to create a new user …
Next, create a better username, and assign the new user account 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” screen …
Select Users > All Users in your main menu …
You can now delete the old administrator account …
Choose the option to assign all content owned by the old admin account and reassigned it to the new user, 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 really designed 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 Your User Name Inside The WordPress Database
For the example below, we’ll be working with cPanel …
cPanel
Log into your server control panel …
cPanel administration area
Navigate to the “Databases” section and open phpMyAdmin …
phpMyAdmin
Click on your WP database.
Note: If you have a number of databases set up on your domain, make sure you select the right one …
phpMyAdmin databases
Don’t be concerned about the technical-looking nature of the information on your screen.
Click on wp_users …
The username 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 user name and click outside the edit box to update the field with the new user name …
Log out of your server if you’re done and reopen the browser to your WordPress site. You may find that your session is expired. Log in again with your new administration credentials …
You should see that your user name has been updated. However, your site will probably still display the previous “nickname” …
To change your “nickname”, access your Users screen and click the Edit link below the username …
You can also get to the Profile section if you click on the Edit My Profile link in the “Howdy, User” box …
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 your WordPress admin username on your website.
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)