For increased WordPress site security, avoid installing a WordPress site using the user name “admin”.
This is the default installation username for WordPress and one of the first things that hackers look for when attempting to break into a WordPress web site.
In this step-by-step tutorial for non-technical WordPress users, we’ll show you how to change your admin username in WordPress to a more secure username.
Changing Your WordPress User Name From Admin To A Different User Name
Typically, on all new WordPress sites, the first user is also the admin of the website or blog.
The default WordPress username admin is not recommended, as it can pose a security risk to your WordPress site …
Let’s change your admin user name in WordPress to a more secure user name.
There are several ways to view your username details inside your WP site admin area:
Select the Users > All Users section in your main menu …
Click either 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” menu at the top-right hand corner of your Dashboard …
You can also access your “Profile” page by selecting Users > Your Profile from the main menu.
What you will see in the Profile area, however, is that you can’t change your username from the Dashboard …
So, how do you change the WordPress admin 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 going into your server:
Click Add New to add a new user …
Next, create a better user name, and assign your 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 user name, and your 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 username details in the “Howdy, User” screen …
Select Users > All Users in your main menu …
You can now delete the old user account …
Choose the option to attribute all content owned by the old user account and reassigned it to the new user, 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 mostly intended for non-technical WordPress users, let’s go one step further and show you how to change your 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:
Changing Your Username Inside The WordPress Database
For this example, the server uses cPanel …
cPanel
Log into your server control panel …
cPanel admin area
Scroll down to the “Databases” section and click on phpMyAdmin …
phpMyAdmin
Click on your WP database.
Note: If you have a number of databases set up on your domain, make sure you select the right one …
phpMyAdmin databases
Don’t be concerned about the complicated screen.
Click on wp_users …
The user name is located in the “user login” column. To edit the user name just 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 may find that your session has expired. Log in again with your new administration username and password …
You should see that the user name has been updated. However, it will probably still display the old “nickname” …
To edit your “nickname”, visit your Users section 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” screen …
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.
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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