For web security purposes, avoid creating a WordPress site with the user name “admin”.
This is the default installation username for WordPress and one of the first areas of potential vulnerabilities that hackers will test with the WordPress platform.
In this step-by-step tutorial, we’ll show you how to change the admin username in WordPress from ‘admin’ to a more secure username.
How To Change Your Admin User Name In WordPress
Normally, on all new WordPress installations, the first user is usually the admin of the site.
Having the default WordPress user name 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 username.
There are a number of ways to access your “Profile” section inside your WordPress backend admin area:
Click on the Users > All Users section in the main menu …
Click either on your username, 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 Dashboard …
You can also go to your “Profile” page by selecting Users > Your Profile from your Dashboard menu.
You will see when you get into your Profile page that your user name can’t be changed inside your Dashboard …
So, how can you modify your WordPress admin username?
Change Admin Username By Creating A New Admin User
If your WordPress username is “admin,” here’s the easiest way to change your user name without accessing your server:
Click Add New to create a new user …
Next, create a different username, and assign your new user the role of “Administrator”. Save your changes to update your settings …
You have now created a new user with the role of 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 username details in the “Howdy, User” screen …
Click on Users > All Users in the main menu …
Delete your old administrator account …
Select the option to attribute all content owned by the old admin 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 really aimed for non-technical WordPress users, let’s go one step further and show you how to change a user name inside the WordPress database.
All you need is 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:
Changing A User Name Inside The WordPress Database
For the example below, the server uses the cPanel management software …
cPanel management application
Log into your server control panel …
cPanel administration area
Navigate to the “Databases” section and click on phpMyAdmin …
phpMyAdmin
Click on 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 be concerned about the complicated-looking screen.
Click on wp_users …
The username is located in the “user login” column. To edit the username 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 username …
Log out of your server if you’re finished and go back to your WordPress site. You will probably find that your session has expired. Log in again with your new Admin credentials …
You will see that your user name has been updated. However, it will probably still display the old “nickname” …
To edit the “nickname”, visit your Users screen and click the Edit link below your username …
You can also get to your Profile section by clicking on the Edit My Profile link in the “Howdy, User” screen …
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 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 username on your website or blog.
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"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)