For increased WordPress site security, do not install WordPress sites using the user name “admin”.
This is the default installation user name for WordPress and one of the first areas of potential vulnerabilities hackers look for in WordPress websites.
In this step-by-step tutorial, we’ll show you how to change your WordPress admin username from ‘admin’ to a more secure user name.
Changing Your Admin Username In WordPress To Another User Name
Normally, in all new WordPress installations, the first registered user is the admin of the website.
Having the default WordPress user name admin is not recommended, as it poses a security risk to your WordPress site …
Let’s change your admin username in WordPress to a more secure user name.
There are several ways to view your user name details after logging into WordPress:
Click on the Users > All Users screen in your main menu …
Click on the user name, or click on 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 access your “Profile” screen by selecting Users > Your Profile from the Dashboard menu.
What you will see when you get into your Profile page, however, is that you cannot change your username inside the administration section …
So, how can you modify the username?
Change Admin Username By Creating A New Admin User
If your admin login is “admin,” here’s the easiest way to change the user name without accessing your server:
Click Add New to create a new user …
Next, create a different user name, and assign your new user the role of “Administrator”. Save your changes to update your settings …
You should now have a new admin user with a new user name, and the original user name (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” panel …
Select Users > All Users in the main menu …
You can now delete your old user account …
Choose the option to assign all content owned by the old admin account and reassigned it to your new admin, 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 intended for non-technical WordPress users, let’s go one step further and show you how to change your WordPress 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 A User Name Inside The WordPress Database
For this example, the server uses cPanel …
cPanel
Log into your server administration area …
cPanel admin area
Scroll down to the “Databases” section and open up 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 panic when you see the complicated-looking information on your screen screen.
Click on wp_users in the “Table” column on the left-hand side …
The username is located in the “user login” column. To edit the username 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 user name …
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 administration login credentials …
You should see that your user name has been updated. However, it will probably still display the old “nickname” …
To choose a new “nickname”, open your Users area and click the Edit link below the user name …
You can also get to the Profile section by clicking on the Edit My Profile link in the “Howdy, User” section …
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 the WordPress admin username on your website or blog.
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)