For security reasons, it’s safer to not create sites using the user name “admin”.
This is the default installation user name for WordPress and one of the first things that hackers will test with the WordPress CMS.
In this step-by-step tutorial for non-technical users, we’ll show you how to change your WordPress admin user name to a more secure username.
Changing Your Admin Username In WordPress
Generally, with all new WordPress sites, the first user is usually the site administrator.
Having the default WordPress username admin is not recommended, as it could pose a security risk to your WordPress site …
Let’s change the WordPress admin username from ‘admin’ to a more secure username.
There are a number of ways to access your “Profile” section and view your username details after logging into your WordPress administration area:
Click on the Users > All Users screen in the main menu …
Click on your user name, or click on the Edit link when hovering over the username with your mouse …
Or, select Edit My Profile from the “Howdy, User” menu near the top-right hand corner of your admin area …
You can also go to your “Profile” section by selecting Users > Your Profile from the admin menu.
You will discover when you get into your Profile page that your username can’t be changed inside your Dashboard …
So, how do you change this WordPress 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 your username without going into your server:
First, let’s create a new user …
Next, create a new user name, and assign this new user the role of “Administrator”. Save your changes to update your settings …
You have now added a new admin user …
Log out of your WordPress admin area …
Log in with your new admin details …
You should see your new username details displayed in the “Howdy, User” panel …
Select Users > All Users in the 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 your 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 mostly intended 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:
How To Change Your Username Inside The WordPress Database
For the example below, we’ll be working with cPanel …
cPanel management tool
Log into your server administration account …
cPanel admin area
Find the “Databases” section and open up phpMyAdmin …
phpMyAdmin
Click on your WordPress database.
Note: If you have a number of databases set up on your domain, make sure that you select the right one …
phpMyAdmin databases
Don’t panic when you see the complicated-looking screen.
Click on wp_users in the left-hand column …
The username 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 username …
Log out of your server if you’re finished and reopen the browser to your WordPress site. You will probably find that your session is expired. If so, log in again with your new Admin user name and password …
You should see that your user name is now updated. However, it will probably still be displaying the old “nickname” …
To choose a new “nickname”, visit your Users screen and click the Edit link below the username …
You can also get to your Profile section if you click on the Edit My Profile link in the “Howdy, User” screen …
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 dropdown 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 user name on your website.
***
"This is AMAZING! I had learnt about how to use WordPress previously, but this covers absolutely everything and more!! Incredible value! Thank you!" - Monique, Warrior Forum