For increased WordPress site security, it’s highly recommended that you do not create WordPress sites using the username “admin”.

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

In this step-by-step tutorial, we’ll show you how to change the WordPress admin username from ‘admin’ to a more secure username.

Changing Your Admin Username In WordPress

Normally, on a new WordPress website installation, the first registered user is the admin.

The default WordPress user name admin is not recommended, as it can out your site at risk of being hacked …

Let’s change the WordPress admin username to a more secure username.

There are several ways to access your “Profile” section inside WP:

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

Click either on the username, or the Edit link when hovering over the user name with your mouse …

Or, select Edit My Profile from the “Howdy, User” menu near the top-right hand corner of your Dashboard …

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

You will discover in the Profile page that you cannot change user names from your site admin section …

So, how can you change a username?

Change Admin Username By Creating A New Admin User

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

Click Add New to create a new user …

Next, create a more secure user name, and assign this new user account the role of “Administrator”. Save your changes to update your settings …

You have now added a new user with the role of admin …

Log out of your WordPress admin area …

Log in with the new admin details for the user you have just created …

You should see your new username details displayed in the “Howdy, User” panel …

Select Users > All Users in your main menu …

Delete the old administrator account …

Choose the option to attribute all content owned by the old admin account and reassigned it to your new admin, then confirm the deletion of the old admin 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 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 Perform A Global Search And Replace In WordPress

Changing A Username Inside The WordPress Database

In this example, the server uses cPanel …

cPanel management application

Log into your server control panel …

cPanel administration area

Navigate to the “Databases” section and open phpMyAdmin …

phpMyAdmin

Open up your WordPress database.

Note: If you have multiple databases set up on your domain, make sure you select the right one …

phpMyAdmin databases

Don’t worry about the complicated-looking information on your screen screen.

Click on wp_users …

The username is located in the “user login” column. To edit the username 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 your new user name …

Log out of your server if you’re finished and go back to your WordPress site. You will probably find that your session is expired. Log in again with your new Admin login credentials …

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

To edit your “nickname”, go to your Users screen and click the Edit link below the user name …

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

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 user name and nickname …

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

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