For improved web security, you should not create WordPress sites using the username “admin”.
This is the default installation username for WordPress and one of the first areas of potential vulnerabilities that hackers look for when attempting to break into a WordPress website.
In this tutorial for non-technical users, we’ll show you how to change your WordPress admin username to a more secure user name.
Changing Your WordPress Admin Username To Another Username
Typically, in a new WordPress installation, the first registered user is also the administrator.
The default WordPress user name admin is not recommended, as it creates a security risk to your WordPress site …
Let’s change your WordPress admin username to a more secure user name.
There are a number of ways to access your “Profile” section inside WP:
Click on the Users > All Users page 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 screen …
You can also access your “Profile” screen by selecting Users > Your Profile from your Dashboard menu.
What you will see when you get into your Profile page, however, is that you cannot change usernames inside the Dashboard …
So, how can you edit your WordPress admin user name?
Change Admin Username By Creating A New Admin User
If your WordPress user name is “admin,” here’s the easiest way to change this without accessing your server and modifying your WordPress database:
Click Add New to add a new user …
Next, create a better user name, and assign your new user account the role of “Administrator”. Remember to save your changes in order to update your settings …
You have now created a new user with the role of admin …
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 …
Click on Users > All Users in the main menu …
You can now delete the old administrator account …
Select the option to assign all content owned by the old user account and reassigned it to the 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 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 designed for non-technical WordPress users, let’s go one step further and show you how to change your user name 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 User Name Inside The WordPress Database
For the example below, the server uses cPanel …
cPanel management tool
Log into your server control panel …
cPanel admin 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 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 …
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 user name and click outside the edit box to update the field with your new username …
Log out of your server when you’re done and return to your WordPress site. You will probably find that your session is expired. Log in again with your new Admin login credentials …
You should see that your username has been updated. However, it will probably still display the previous “nickname” …
To choose a new “nickname”, access your Users screen and click the Edit link below your username …
You can also access your Profile section if you click on the Edit My Profile link in the “Howdy, User” panel …
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 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 user name on your website or blog.
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group