For improved security, it’s recommended that you do not install WordPress sites with the username “admin”.
This is the default installation user name for WordPress and one of the first things hackers will test with the WordPress platform.
In this tutorial for non-technical WordPress users, we’ll show you how to change your admin user name in WordPress to a more secure user name.
Changing Your Admin Username In WordPress To Another Username
By default, with a new WordPress installation, the first registered user is usually the administrator.
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 from ‘admin’ to a more secure username.
There are a number of ways to access your “Profile” section inside WordPress:
Click on the Users > All Users page in the main menu …
Click 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” dropdown menu near the top-right hand corner of your screen …
You can also visit your “Profile” section by selecting Users > Your Profile from the Dashboard side menu.
What you will see in the Profile page, however, is that usernames can’t be changed inside your backend admin section …
So, how do you edit this WordPress admin username?
Change Admin Username By Creating A New Admin User
If your username is “admin,” here’s the easiest way to change the user name without accessing your server and altering your WordPress database:
Click Add New to add a new user …
Next, create a better username, and assign this new user account the role of “Administrator”. Save your changes to update your settings …
You will now have a new admin user with a new user name, and the original username (i.e. “admin”) …
Log out of your WordPress admin area …
Log in with your new admin details …
You should see your new user name details in the “Howdy, User” screen …
Select Users > All Users in the main menu …
Delete your old user account …
Select 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 really 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 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:
Changing A User Name Inside The WordPress Database
For this example, the server is using the cPanel management tool …
cPanel management application
Log into your server control panel …
cPanel administration area
Find the “Databases” section and open phpMyAdmin …
phpMyAdmin
Open up your WP database.
Note: If you have a number of databases set up on your domain, make sure you choose the correct one …
phpMyAdmin databases
Don’t panic when you see the complicated-looking screen.
Click on wp_users …
The user name is located in the “user login” column. To edit the username simply 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 your new user name …
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 administration login details …
You will see that your username has been updated. However, your admin details will probably still display the previous “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” 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 username and nickname …
Congratulations! Now you know how to change your WordPress admin user name on your website or blog.
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"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