For security purposes, you should not install sites with the username “admin”.
This is the default installation username for WordPress and one of the first areas of potential vulnerabilities hackers look for in the WordPress CMS.
In this step-by-step tutorial for non-technical WordPress users, we’ll show you how to change the WordPress admin username to a more secure user name.
Changing Your Admin User Name In WordPress To A Different User Name
By default, on a new WordPress site installation, the first user is the admin.
The default WordPress username admin is not recommended, as it creates a security risk to your WordPress site …
Let’s change the admin user name in WordPress from ‘admin’ to a more secure user name.
There are a number of ways to access your “Profile” section and view your user name details inside your administration 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” menu near the top-right hand corner of your admin area …
You can also go to your “Profile” page by selecting Users > Your Profile from the Dashboard menu.
What you will see in the Profile page, however, is that you can’t change your user name from the Dashboard …
So, how can you modify this 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 your username without going into your server and doing technical stuff:
First, let’s create a new user …
Next, create a more secure username, and assign your new user the role of “Administrator”. Save your changes to update your settings …
You have now created 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 displayed in the “Howdy, User” screen …
Select Users > All Users in your main menu …
You can now delete your old user account …
Choose the option to attribute 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 really intended for non-technical WordPress users, let’s go one step further and show you how to change a user name inside the WordPress database.
All you need is admin 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 uses cPanel …
cPanel management application
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 multiple databases set up on your domain, make sure that you choose the correct one …
phpMyAdmin databases
Don’t be concerned about the complicated-looking information on your screen screen.
Click on wp_users …
The user name is located in the “user login” column. To edit the username just double-click on the 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 if you’re finished and reopen the browser to your WordPress site. You will probably find that your session has expired. Log in again with your new Admin login details …
You will see that the user name has been updated. However, it will probably still be displaying the previous “nickname” …
To edit your “nickname”, visit your Users screen and click on the Edit link below your user name …
You can also reach the Profile section by clicking on the Edit My Profile link in the “Howdy, User” section …
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 your WordPress admin user name on your website.
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"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)