For better WordPress site security, it’s safer to not create WordPress sites using the user name “admin”.

This is the default installation user name for WordPress and one of the leading causes of brute force attacks and security threats on WordPress websites and blogs.

In this step-by-step tutorial for non-technical users, you will learn how to change the admin user name in WordPress from ‘admin’ to a more secure username.

Changing Your Admin User Name In WordPress To Another User Name

Normally, on a new WordPress site installation, the first registered user is usually the site administrator.

Having the default WordPress username admin is not recommended, as it puts your website or blog at risk of being attacked by hackers or botnets …

Let’s change your admin user name in WordPress from ‘admin’ to a more secure user name.

There are a number of ways to view your username details after logging into your WP backend admin area:

Click on the Users > All Users page in the main menu …

Click either on your username, 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 at the top-right hand corner of your Dashboard …

You can also go to your “Profile” page by selecting Users > Your Profile from the admin sidebar menu.

You will discover when you get into your Profile area that you cannot change usernames inside your backend admin section …

So, how do you modify the 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 and modifying WordPress database:

Click Add New to create a new user …

Next, create a new username, and assign your new user the role of “Administrator”. Remember to 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 in the “Howdy, User” screen …

Select Users > All Users in your main menu …

Delete the old administrator account …

Select the option to assign all content owned by the old admin account and reassigned it to your 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 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 your 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 Perform A Global Search And Replace In WordPress

Changing Your User Name 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 admin area

Find the “Databases” section and click on phpMyAdmin …

phpMyAdmin

Open up your WP database.

Note: If you have multiple 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 …

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 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 will probably find that your session has expired. If so, log in again with your new Admin login credentials …

You should see that the username has been updated. However, your admin details will probably still be displaying the old “nickname” …

To choose a new “nickname”, access your Users screen and click the Edit link below your username …

You can also get to the Profile section by clicking on the Edit My Profile link in the “Howdy, User” panel …

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 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 user name on your website or blog.

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