For increased WordPress site security, avoid creating a WordPress site with the username “admin”.
This is the default installation user name for WordPress and one of the first vulnerable areas of website security hackers look for when attempting to break into a WordPress web site.
In this step-by-step tutorial for non-technical users, we’ll show you how to change your admin user name in WordPress from ‘admin’ to a more secure user name.
Changing Your WP Username From Admin To A Different Username
Typically, with all new WordPress sites, the first registered user is also the admin of the website or blog.
Having the default WordPress user name admin is not recommended, as it poses a security risk to your WordPress site …
Let’s change your admin username in WordPress to a more secure user name.
There are a number of ways to access your “Profile” section after logging into your admin area:
Select the Users > All Users screen in your main menu …
Click either on your 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 at the top-right hand corner of your screen …
You can also visit your “Profile” screen by selecting Users > Your Profile from the Dashboard menu.
You will discover in the Profile page that you cannot change your user name from your Dashboard …
So, how do you edit a WordPress admin 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 this without going into your server:
Click Add New to add a new user …
Next, create a different username, and assign the new user the role of “Administrator”. Remember to save your changes in order to update your settings …
A new admin user should now display in the Users area …
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 in the “Howdy, User” panel …
Click on Users > All Users in your main menu …
Delete the old administrator account …
Select 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 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 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 admin 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 Your Username Inside The WordPress Database
In the example below, the server uses the cPanel management software …
cPanel
Log into your server administration area …
cPanel admin area
Navigate to the “Databases” section and open up phpMyAdmin …
phpMyAdmin
Open up your WordPress database.
Note: If you have multiple databases set up on your domain, make sure you select the right one …
phpMyAdmin databases
Don’t worry about the complicated-looking screen.
Click on wp_users in the “Table” column on the left-hand side …
The user name is located in the “user login” column. To edit the field just 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 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. If so, log in again with your new administration login details …
You should see that the user name is now 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 access 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 username and nickname …
Congratulations! Now you know how to change your WordPress admin username on your website or blog.
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