For security reasons, avoid creating a WordPress site using the user name “admin”.
This is the default installation user name for WordPress and one of the first areas of potential vulnerabilities hackers look for in WordPress websites.
In this tutorial for non-technical users, we’ll show you how to change your WordPress admin user name from ‘admin’ to a more secure user name.
Changing Your Admin User Name In WordPress To Another User Name
Normally, on a new WordPress installation, the first registered user is usually the admin.
Having the default WordPress user name admin is not recommended, as it can pose a security risk to your WordPress site …
Let’s change your WordPress admin username from ‘admin’ to a more secure username.
There are several ways to access your “Profile” section and view your username details inside WP:
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” drop down menu at the top-right hand corner of your admin area …
You can also access your “Profile” area by selecting Users > Your Profile from your admin sidebar menu.
You will see when you get into your Profile area that you cannot change usernames from the Dashboard …
So, how can you change this username?
Change Admin Username By Creating A New Admin User
If your username is “admin,” here’s the easiest way to change your user name without accessing your server and doing technical changes to your WordPress database:
Click Add New to create a new user …
Next, create a new username, and assign your new user the role of “Administrator”. Save your changes to update your settings …
You will now have a new admin user with a new username, together with your 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 displayed in the “Howdy, User” panel …
Select Users > All Users in the main menu …
Delete the old user account …
Choose the option to assign all content owned by the old admin account and reassigned it to the new user, then confirm the deletion of the old 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 aimed 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 A Username Inside The WordPress Database
For the example below, we’ll be working with the cPanel management tool …
cPanel
Log into your server control panel …
cPanel administration area
Scroll down to the “Databases” section and open 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 correct one …
phpMyAdmin databases
Don’t panic when you see the complicated-looking screen.
Click on wp_users …
The username is located in the “user login” column. To edit the username just double-click on this text you want to change …
Type in the new username and click outside the edit box to update the field with a new user name …
Log out of your server when you’re done and return to your WordPress site. You may find that your session has expired. If so, log in again with your new Admin user name and password …
You will see that your username has been updated. However, your site will probably still be displaying the previous “nickname” …
To choose a new “nickname”, access your Users section 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” panel …
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 drop down 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 your WordPress admin username on your website or blog.
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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