For security purposes, avoid setting up sites 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 the WordPress CMS.
In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to change the admin user name in WordPress to a more secure username.
Changing Your WordPress Admin Username To A Different Username
By default, in all new WordPress installations, the first registered user is the admin of the website or blog.
Having the default WordPress username admin is not recommended, as it poses a security risk to your WordPress site …
Let’s change the WordPress admin username to a more secure user name.
There are a number of ways to access your “Profile” section and view your username details inside WordPress:
Select the Users > All Users page in the main menu …
Click either on your user name, 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 at the top-right hand corner of your screen …
You can also go to your “Profile” area by selecting Users > Your Profile from the Dashboard side menu.
You will see when you get into the Profile area that you can’t change usernames inside the backend admin section …
So, how do you edit this WordPress admin username?
Change Admin Username By Creating A New Admin User
If your admin login is “admin,” here’s the easiest way to change your username without accessing your server:
First, create a new user …
Next, create a more secure user name, and assign this new user account the role of “Administrator”. Remember to save your changes to update your settings …
You should now see a new admin user with a new username, and the 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 user name details in the “Howdy, User” panel …
Click on Users > All Users in the main menu …
Delete your old administrator account …
Choose the option to attribute all content owned by the old user 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 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 designed 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 Your Username Inside The WordPress Database
In the example below, we’ll be working with the cPanel management software …
cPanel
Log into your server control panel …
cPanel administration area
Navigate to the “Databases” section and open phpMyAdmin …
phpMyAdmin
Open up your WP database.
Note: If you have a number of databases set up on your domain, make sure that you choose the right one …
phpMyAdmin databases
Don’t worry about the complicated-looking 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 user name and click outside the edit box to update the field with your new username …
Log out of your server when you’re done and go back to your WordPress site. You will probably find that your session is expired. Log in again with your new Admin user name and password …
You will see that the user name is now updated. However, it will probably still display the old “nickname” …
To edit your “nickname”, access your Users area and click the Edit link below your user name …
You can also get to your Profile section by clicking on the Edit My Profile link in the “Howdy, User” screen …
Select 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 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.
***
"I love the way your email series "Infinite Web Content Creation Training Series" is documented and presented. It is very absorbing and captivating. The links and tutorials are interesting and educational. This has motivated me to rewrite my content following the concepts I am learning from the email series." - Mani Raju, www.fortuneinewaste.com