For web security purposes, avoid setting up WordPress sites using the user name “admin”.
This is the default installation username for WordPress and one of the leading causes of brute force attacks on the WordPress CMS.
In this step-by-step tutorial for non-technical WordPress users, we’ll show you how to change the WordPress admin user name to a more secure username.
Changing Your WordPress User Name From Admin To A Different Username
Generally, in a new WordPress site, the first user is the admin of the site.
Having the default WordPress username admin is not recommended, as it poses a security risk to your WordPress site …
Let’s change your WordPress admin user name to a more secure user name.
There are a number of ways to view your username details inside your WordPress administration area:
Select 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” 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 admin menu.
What you will discover in the Profile page, however, is that user names can’t be changed inside the Dashboard …
So, how do you modify your 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 the username without accessing your server and doing technical changes to your WordPress database:
First, create a new user …
Next, create a more secure username, and assign this new user account the role of “Administrator”. Remember to save your changes to update your settings …
You have now added a new user with the role of admin …
Log out of your WordPress admin area …
Log in with your new admin details …
You should see your new user name details displayed in the “Howdy, User” panel …
Select Users > All Users in your main menu …
You can now delete your old administrator account …
Choose the option to assign all content owned by the old user account and reassigned it to the new admin, 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 intended for non-technical WordPress users, let’s go one step further and show you how to change a username 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:
How To Change A User Name Inside The WordPress Database
For this example, we’ll be working with the cPanel management tool …
cPanel management tool
Log into your server control panel …
cPanel admin area
Scroll down to the “Databases” section and open phpMyAdmin …
phpMyAdmin
Open up your WordPress database.
Note: If you have a number of databases set up on your domain, make sure you select the correct one …
phpMyAdmin databases
Don’t be concerned about the complicated screen.
Click on wp_users in the left-hand column …
The username is located in the “user login” column. To edit the user name simply 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 finished and go back to your WordPress site. You may find that your session has expired. Log in again with your new administration credentials …
You should see that the username is now updated. However, your admin details will probably still be displaying the previous “nickname” …
To choose a new “nickname”, visit your Users area and click the Edit link below the user name …
You can also access your Profile section if you click on the Edit My Profile link in the “Howdy, User” box …
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 user name and nickname …
Congratulations! Now you know how to change the WordPress admin username on your website.
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"This is an awesome training series. I have a pretty good understanding of WordPress already, but this is helping me to move somewhere from intermediate to advanced user!" - Kim Lednum