For web security purposes, avoid installing WordPress sites using the user name “admin”.
This is the default installation user name for WordPress and one of the first vulnerable areas of website security that hackers look for when attempting to break into a WordPress site.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to change your WordPress admin user name from ‘admin’ to a more secure username.
Changing Your WordPress Admin Username
By default, with a new WordPress site installation, the first user is usually the admin of the website.
The default WordPress user name admin is not recommended, as it puts your site at risk of being attacked by hackers and botnets …
Let’s change your WordPress admin username from ‘admin’ to a more secure user name.
There are a number of ways to access your “Profile” section inside your WP site admin area:
Select the Users > All Users section in the main menu …
Click on the username, or click on the Edit link when hovering over the user name with your mouse …
Or, select Edit My Profile from the “Howdy, User” menu near the top-right hand corner of your Dashboard …
You can also visit your “Profile” area by selecting Users > Your Profile from the Dashboard side menu.
What you will discover in the Profile area, however, is that your user name can’t be changed from the Dashboard …
So, how do you modify a admin user name?
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 going into your server:
First, let’s create a new user …
Next, create a different user name, and assign your new user the role of “Administrator”. Remember to save your changes in order to update your settings …
You should now have a new admin user with a new username, and the original username (i.e. “admin”) …
Log out of your WordPress admin area …
Log in with the new admin details for the user you have just created …
You should see your new username details in the “Howdy, User” panel …
Select Users > All Users in the main menu …
Delete your old administrator account …
Select the option to attribute all content owned by the old admin account and reassigned it to the 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 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 really designed for non-technical WordPress users, let’s go one step further and show you how to change your 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:
Changing A Username Inside The WordPress Database
For the example below, the server is using cPanel …
cPanel
Log into your server control panel …
cPanel administration area
Find the “Databases” section and open 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 right one …
phpMyAdmin databases
Don’t be concerned about the technical-looking nature of the information on your screen.
Click on wp_users …
The username 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 user name and click outside the edit box to update the field with a new username …
Log out of your server if you’re done and go back to your WordPress site. You may find that your session has expired. Log in again with your new Admin login credentials …
You should see that the username has been updated. However, your site will probably still be displaying the old “nickname” …
To edit your “nickname”, go to your Users area and click the Edit link below your user name …
You can also access the Profile section if you click on the Edit My Profile link in the “Howdy, User” section …
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 user name and nickname …
Congratulations! Now you know how to change the WordPress admin user name on your website or blog.
***
"I was absolutely amazed at the scope and breadth of these tutorials! The most in-depth training I have ever received on any subject!" - Myke O'Neill, DailyGreenPost.com