For web security reasons, it’s recommended that you do not install WordPress sites with the username “admin”.
This is the default installation user name for WordPress and one of the first things hackers look for in the WordPress CMS.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to change your admin username in WordPress to a more secure username.
Changing Your Admin Username In WordPress To A More Secure User Name
Generally, on a new WordPress installation, the first registered user is also the admin of the site.
Having the default WordPress username admin is not recommended, as it can out your website or blog at risk …
Let’s change the admin user name in WordPress to a more secure user name.
There are a number of ways to access your “Profile” section and view your username details inside your WordPress administration area:
Select the Users > All Users page in the main menu …
Click either on your username, or the Edit link when hovering over the user name 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 access your “Profile” page by selecting Users > Your Profile from your Dashboard side menu.
What you will discover when you get into the Profile page, however, is that your username cannot be changed from the Dashboard …
So, how do you change this username?
Change Admin Username By Creating A New Admin User
If your WordPress admin login is “admin,” here’s the easiest way to change your user name without going into your server and touching your WordPress database:
First, create a new user …
Next, create a new username, and assign your new user the role of “Administrator”. Remember to save your changes in order to update your settings …
You should now see a new admin user with a new user name, and the original username (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” screen …
Click on Users > All Users in the main menu …
You can now delete the old administrator account …
Select the option to assign all content owned by the old user 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 really intended for non-technical WordPress users, let’s go one step further and show you how to change a WordPress user name inside the WordPress database.
All you need is admin access to your server.
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 is using the cPanel management tool …
cPanel
Log into your server admin account …
cPanel administration area
Scroll down to the “Databases” section and open phpMyAdmin …
phpMyAdmin
Click on your WordPress database.
Note: If you have a number of databases set up on your domain, make sure you select the right one …
phpMyAdmin databases
Don’t worry about the complicated screen.
Click on wp_users …
The username 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 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 Admin login credentials …
You will see that the user name has been updated. However, your admin details will probably still display the previous “nickname” …
To change your “nickname”, open your Users section and click on the Edit link below the 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 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.
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)