For web security reasons, avoid installing a WordPress site using the user name “admin”.
This is the default installation username for WordPress and one of the leading causes of brute force attacks and security threats on a WordPress website or blog.
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.
How To Change Your WordPress Admin Username
By default, with a new WordPress site installation, the first registered user is usually the admin.
Having the default WordPress username admin is not recommended, as it creates a security risk to your WordPress site …
Let’s change the 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 WP Dasboard area:
Click on the Users > All Users page in the main menu …
Click either on the username, or 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 screen …
You can also go to your “Profile” page by selecting Users > Your Profile from the main menu.
You will discover when you get into your Profile page that you can’t change your username inside your Dashboard …
So, how can you modify this 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 your username without accessing your server:
First, create a new user …
Next, create a different username, and assign the new user account the role of “Administrator”. Remember to save your changes to update your settings …
You should now have a new admin user with a new username, plus the original user name (i.e. “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 in the “Howdy, User” screen …
Click on Users > All Users in the main menu …
Delete the old user 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 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 really intended for non-technical WordPress users, let’s go one step further and show you how to change your WordPress user name 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 our example, we’ll be working with the cPanel management software …
cPanel
Log into your server control panel …
cPanel administration area
Scroll down to the “Databases” section and open phpMyAdmin …
phpMyAdmin
Click on your WordPress database.
Note: If you have multiple databases set up on your domain, make sure you choose the correct one …
phpMyAdmin databases
Don’t be concerned about the complicated-looking information on your screen screen.
Click on wp_users in the left-hand column …
The user name 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 when you’re finished and reopen the browser to your WordPress site. You will probably find that your session is expired. Log in again with your new Admin username and password …
You should see that your user name is now updated. However, your admin details will probably still display the old “nickname” …
To edit your “nickname”, go to your Users screen and click on the Edit link below the username …
You can also reach the Profile section by clicking on the Edit My Profile link in the “Howdy, User” panel …
Select a new name to display publicly from the dropdown 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.
***
"I love the way your email series "Infinite Web Content Creation Training Series" is documented and presented. It is very absorbing and captivating. The links and tutorials are interesting and educational. This has motivated me to rewrite my content following the concepts I am learning from the email series." - Mani Raju, www.fortuneinewaste.com