For better web security, avoid creating WordPress sites using the user name “admin”.

This is the default installation username for WordPress and one of the first areas of potential vulnerabilities that hackers look for in the WordPress CMS.

In this tutorial for non-technical WordPress users, you will learn how to change your WordPress admin username to a more secure user name.

How To Change Your Admin User Name In WordPress To A Different Username

Typically, on all new WordPress installations, the first user is the admin.

The default WordPress user name admin is not recommended, as it puts your WordPress site at risk of being attacked by hackers or botnets …

Let’s change the WordPress admin username from ‘admin’ to a more secure user name.

There are several ways to access your “Profile” section and view your user name details inside WP:

Select the Users > All Users screen 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” menu near the top-right hand corner of your admin area …

You can also go to your “Profile” screen by selecting Users > Your Profile from the Dashboard menu.

You will discover in the Profile page that you cannot change user names inside the Dashboard section …

So, how do you edit this admin user name?

Change Admin Username By Creating A New Admin User

If your admin login is “admin,” here’s the easiest way to change this without going into your server:

Click Add New to create a new user …

Next, create a new user name, and assign the new user the role of “Administrator”. Save your changes in order 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 username details in the “Howdy, User” screen …

Select Users > All Users in the main menu …

You can now delete the old administrator account …

Choose the option to attribute all content owned by the old user 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 mostly 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 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 Do A Global Search And Replace In WordPress

Changing A User Name Inside The WordPress Database

For this example, we’ll be working with cPanel …

cPanel

Log into your server admin area …

cPanel administration area

Find the “Databases” section and open phpMyAdmin …

phpMyAdmin

Click on your WP database.

Note: If you have multiple 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 in the “Table” column on the left-hand side …

The username 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 user name …

Log out of your server if you’re finished and return to your WordPress site. You will probably find that your session has expired. If so, log in again with your new Admin details …

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

To choose a new “nickname”, go to your Users section and click on the Edit link below the username …

You can also reach your Profile section if you click on the Edit My Profile link in the “Howdy, User” box …

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 username and nickname …

Congratulations! Now you know how to change the WordPress admin user name on your website.

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