How To Change The Admin Username In WordPress

The default WordPress username admin poses a security risk to your WordPress site. Learn how to change the admin username in WordPress for improved security …

WordPress TutorialFor web security reasons, it’s safer to not set up a WordPress site using the username “admin”.

This is the default installation user name for WordPress and one of the first areas of potential vulnerabilities hackers look for when attempting to break into the WordPress CMS.

How To Change Your Admin User Name In WordPress

In this tutorial for non-technical WordPress users, we’ll show you how to change the WordPress admin user name from ‘admin’ to a more secure username.

How To Change Your WP User Name From Admin To Another Username

Normally, in a new WordPress site, the first registered user is usually the administrator.

Having the default WordPress username admin is not recommended, as it can out your website or blog at risk …

Changing Your WP Username From Admin To Another Username

Let’s change the WordPress admin user name from ‘admin’ to a more secure username.

There are several ways to view your username details after logging into WP:

Click on the Users > All Users section in the main menu …

Changing Your Admin User Name In WordPress

Click on the username, or the Edit link when hovering over the user name with your mouse …

Changing Your WordPress Admin Username To A More Secure Username

Or, select Edit My Profile from the “Howdy, User” menu at the top-right hand corner of your admin area …

Changing Your WordPress Username From Admin To A Different User Name

You can also visit your “Profile” section by selecting Users > Your Profile from the admin menu.

What you will discover when you get into the Profile page, however, is that you can’t change your username inside your Dashboard …

How To Change Your WordPress Admin User Name To A More Secure Username

So, how can you edit the 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 username without accessing your server:

First, let’s create a new user …

Changing Your WP Admin Username

Next, create a new username, and assign your new user account the role of “Administrator”. Remember to save your changes to update your settings …

How To Change Your WP User Name From Admin To A Different Username

A new admin user should now be displaying …

How To Change Your Admin Username In WordPress

Log out of your WordPress admin area …

How To Change Your WP User Name From Admin To A Different Username

Log in with your new admin details …

How To Change Your WordPress Username From Admin To A More Secure User Name

You should see your new user name details displayed in the “Howdy, User” screen …

How To Change Your WP Admin User Name To Another User Name

Select Users > All Users in your main menu …

How To Change Your WordPress Admin User Name To A More Secure Username

Delete the old administrator account …

Changing Your WordPress Admin Username To Another Username

Select the option to assign all content owned by the old user account and reassigned it to the new user, then confirm the deletion of the old user account …

How To Change Your WP User Name From Admin To A Different User Name

You are now left with only the new Admin account, effectively changing your WordPress admin username …

How To Change Your WordPress Username From Admin To A Different 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)

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

(Install the plugin)

After installing the plugin, click the ‘Activate’ button …

Activate the plugin

(Activate the plugin)

Configuring The Plugin

After installing and activating the plugin, go to Settings > Username Changer

Settings - Username Changer menu

(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

(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

(Username Changer Settings – Email notifications)

Using The Plugin

To change your username, go to Users > Your Profile

Users - Your Profile menu

(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

(Click on ‘Change Username’ link)

The ‘Username’ field will become editable. Change your username and click the ‘Save Username’ button …

Save your new username

(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

(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

(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

(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

(Username changed)

To learn more about this plugin, go here: Username Changer

Important

Although this tutorial is mostly 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.

Practical Tip

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

In the example below, the server is using the cPanel management application …

Changing Your WP User Name From Admin To A Different User Name

cPanel management application

Log into your server admin account …

How To Change Your Admin Username In WordPress To A More Secure User Name

cPanel administration area

Navigate to the “Databases” section and open phpMyAdmin

How To Change Your WordPress Admin Username

phpMyAdmin

Click on your WordPress database.

Note: If you have a number of databases set up on your domain, make sure that you choose the right one …

Changing Your Admin Username In WordPress

phpMyAdmin databases

Don’t panic when you see the technical-looking nature of the information on your screen.

Click on wp_users

Changing Your WordPress User Name From Admin To Another Username

The username is located in the “user login” column. To edit the username just double-click on this text you want to change …

Changing Your WP Admin User Name

Type in the new user name and click outside the edit box to update the field with the new user name …

How To Change Your Admin Username In WordPress

Log out of your server if you’re finished and return to your WordPress site. You will probably find that your session has expired. Log in again with your new Admin details …

How To Change Your Admin Username In WordPress To Another Username

You should see that the user name is now updated. However, it will probably still display the old “nickname” …

Changing Your WP Username From Admin To Another User Name

To choose a new “nickname”, open your Users area and click the Edit link below your user name …

Changing Your WordPress Username From Admin To A Different Username

You can also reach the Profile section by clicking on the Edit My Profile link in the “Howdy, User” panel …

How To Change Your WP Admin User Name

Choose a new name to display publicly from the drop down menu …

Changing Your WordPress Admin User Name

Useful Tip

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 …

How To Change Your Admin Username In WordPress To A Different User Name

Click Update Profile to save your new settings …

How To Change Your WP Admin User Name To A More Secure User Name

You admin area is now updated with a new user name and nickname …

Changing Your WordPress User Name From Admin To A Different User Name

Congratulations! Now you know how to change the WordPress admin user name on your website.

Changing Your Admin User Name In WordPress

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