For security purposes, do not create a WordPress site using the username “admin”.
This is the default installation username for WordPress and one of the leading causes of brute force attacks and security threats on WordPress websites.
In this step-by-step tutorial for non-technical WordPress users, you will learn how to change your WordPress admin username to a more secure username.
How To Change Your Admin User Name In WordPress To A Different User Name
Typically, in a new WordPress website installation, the first user is also the site administrator.
The default WordPress user name admin is not recommended, as it can out your blog at risk …
Let’s change the WordPress admin user name from ‘admin’ to a more secure user name.
There are several ways to access your “Profile” section after logging into your WordPress site admin area:
Click on the Users > All Users page in your main menu …
Click either on your username, or 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 admin area …
You can also visit your “Profile” screen by selecting Users > Your Profile from the Dashboard side menu.
You will discover in the Profile page that you can’t change your user name inside your administration section …
So, how do you change the admin user name?
Change Admin Username By Creating A New Admin User
If your WordPress username is “admin,” here’s the easiest way to change the username without accessing your server:
First, let’s create a new user …
Next, create a new user name, and assign this new user the role of “Administrator”. Save your changes to update your settings …
You have now added a new admin user …
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 attribute all content owned by the old user 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 aimed 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 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 Username Inside The WordPress Database
In the example below, the server is using cPanel …
cPanel
Log into your server admin account …
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 that you select the correct one …
phpMyAdmin databases
Don’t be concerned about the complicated-looking 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 user name and click outside the edit box to update the field with a new user name …
Log out of your server when you’re finished and reopen the browser to your WordPress site. You may find that your session has expired. If so, log in again with your new administration login details …
You will see that your username has been updated. However, it will probably still display the old “nickname” …
To edit your “nickname”, go to your Users area and click the Edit link below the username …
You can also get to your Profile section by clicking on the Edit My Profile link in the “Howdy, User” box …
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.
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now