For improved security, avoid creating WordPress sites with the username “admin”.
This is the default installation username for WordPress and one of the first things that hackers will test with a WordPress web site.
In this step-by-step tutorial for non-technical users, we’ll show you how to change your WordPress admin username from ‘admin’ to a more secure username.
Changing Your WP Admin Username
Normally, with all new WordPress sites, the first user is usually the admin.
Having the default WordPress username admin is not recommended, as it puts your WordPress site at risk …
Let’s change your WordPress admin username from ‘admin’ to a more secure username.
There are several ways to access your “Profile” section inside your Dashboard area:
Click on the Users > All Users section in the main menu …
Click on the 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 at the top-right hand corner of your admin area …
You can also visit your “Profile” area by selecting Users > Your Profile from your Dashboard side menu.
What you will discover in the Profile area, however, is that your user name cannot be changed inside your Dashboard …
So, how can you change a user name?
Change Admin Username By Creating A New Admin User
If your WordPress admin login is “admin,” here’s the easiest way to change the username without going into your server:
First, create a new user …
Next, create a different user name, and assign your new user the role of “Administrator”. Remember to save your changes to update your settings …
A new admin user should now display in the Users area …
Log out of your WordPress admin area …
Log in with your new admin details …
You should see your new user name details displayed in the “Howdy, User” screen …
Click on Users > All Users in the main menu …
You can now delete your old user account …
Select the option to assign all content owned by the old admin account and reassigned it to your 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 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 mostly aimed for non-technical WordPress users, let’s go one step further and show you how to change a WordPress user name inside the WordPress database.
All you need is 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
In the example below, we’ll be working with cPanel …
cPanel
Log into your server control panel …
cPanel administration area
Find the “Databases” section and open up phpMyAdmin …
phpMyAdmin
Click on your WP database.
Note: If you have multiple databases set up on your domain, make sure that you choose the right one …
phpMyAdmin databases
Don’t be concerned about the complicated-looking information on your screen screen.
Click on wp_users in the “Table” column on the left-hand side …
The user name is located in the “user login” column. To edit the field 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 your 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 login details …
You should see that the user name has been updated. However, it will probably still be displaying the previous “nickname” …
To choose a new “nickname”, access your Users screen and click the Edit link below the username …
You can also reach your Profile section if you click 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 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 the WordPress admin username on your website or blog.
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group