For improved WordPress security, avoid setting up 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 when attempting to break into WordPress.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to change your admin username in WordPress to a more secure user name.
Changing Your Admin Username In WordPress To A More Secure Username
Typically, with all new WordPress site installations, the first registered user is also the admin of the site.
Having the default WordPress user name admin is not recommended, as it puts your website or blog at risk of being hacked …
Let’s change your WordPress admin username from ‘admin’ to a more secure user name.
There are several ways to access your “Profile” section after logging into WordPress:
Click on the Users > All Users page in the main menu …
Click on the user name, or click on the Edit link when hovering over the username with your mouse …
Or, select Edit My Profile from the “Howdy, User” dropdown menu near the top-right hand corner of your screen …
You can also visit your “Profile” page by selecting Users > Your Profile from the admin menu.
What you will discover in the Profile page, however, is that your username can’t be changed inside your backend admin section …
So, how can you edit a WordPress admin username?
Change Admin Username By Creating A New Admin User
If your WordPress user name is “admin,” here’s the easiest way to change the user name without accessing your server:
Click Add New to create a new user …
Next, create a different user name, and assign this new user the role of “Administrator”. Remember to save your changes in order to update your settings …
You will now see a new admin user with a new user name, 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 username details in the “Howdy, User” screen …
Select Users > All Users in your main menu …
You can now delete the old administrator account …
Choose 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 user 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 mostly designed 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:
How To Change Your Username Inside The WordPress Database
For this example, we’ll be working with the cPanel management application …
cPanel management software
Log into your server admin area …
cPanel administration area
Navigate to the “Databases” section and click on phpMyAdmin …
phpMyAdmin
Open up your WordPress 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 worry about the complicated screen.
Click on wp_users in the left-hand column …
The username is located in the “user login” column. To edit the field 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 username …
Log out of your server if 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 should see that your username is now updated. However, it will probably still be displaying the previous “nickname” …
To choose a new “nickname”, go to your Users section and click the Edit link below your username …
You can also reach your Profile section if you click on the Edit My Profile link in the “Howdy, User” screen …
Choose 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 drop-down 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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"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