How To Change Your WordPress Username (A Step-By-Step Guide)
You will surely want to change or modify some aspects of your website as it grows. One of these could be your WordPress username!
Unfortunately, WordPress doesn’t come with any built-in tools for changing your username (trust us, we tried). You’ll just find a greyed-out field with a message stating that “Usernames cannot be changed” when you select “Profile” from the Users tab.
No worries though – changing your username in WordPress is not an impossible feat, and we’ll show you 3 ways to do it!
Method 1: Delete Your Current Username and Then Create a New One to Change It
Even with a managed WordPress hosting platform, changing your WordPress username directly isn’t an option provided.
But, there is a very simple method of changing your username: simply delete the one you’re currently using and create a new one.
Here’s a quick way to do it.
- First, go to your WordPress dashboard and go to the Users section.
- Then, click on “Add New”.
Click on Users then Add New to make your new username. - From there, you’ll be introduced to a new page asking you to fill in the details for your new user. Be sure to use a different email address than the one you used to create your current WordPress account. Otherwise, you’ll receive a message saying that the email address is already registered.
- After that, make sure to assign this new user to the same role you want to replace it with.
- Once you’re done doing all that, just click on “Add New User” at the bottom of the page to finish creating your new user.
Make sure to not leave any of the required fields blank.
Now you finally have your new WordPress username! But, you’re not done just yet. You still have to delete your old username.
- Take note: if you’re changing to another user with an Administrator role, make sure to log out of the account you’re using first before making any changes.
- After logging back in, go back to the Users menu of your WordPress dashboard.
- Simply hover over a user that you want to delete from your WordPress website then click “Delete”.
Just click on delete to delete a user. - After that, you’ll be directed to a confirmation page. WordPress will prompt you to choose what to do with the content associated with your previous account. So, just select “Attribute all content to”, then select the new account you created from the drop-down menu.
Attribute content is transferring your content to the new account. - Then, just click on “Confirm Deletion”.
That’s all there is to it! Your username on WordPress has been successfully changed.
Method 2: Using a Plugin to Change Your Username
There are still options available if you don’t want to go through the trouble of making a new WordPress account and then deleting your old one. One of the ways you can do this is by using a plugin. We will make use of the amazing Easy Username Updater plugin. It’s simple to use, just like its name suggests.
Before using the plugin, you need to install and activate it first. Here’s a quick step-by-step on how to do just that.
- Simply go to your WordPress dashboard and go to the Plugins section. Then, click on Add New.
Click on “Add New” to install a new plugin. - Once you’re there, search for the plugin. In this case, the “Easy Username Updater” plugin.
Search for the plugin of your choice. - After finding the plugin, you can then install it and activate it.
To use the plugin, activate it after installing it.
Pretty easy to install right? Now you can start using the plugin – here’s how:
- After installing the Easy Username Updater plugin, Username Updater will appear in the Users menu of your WordPress dashboard.
Username Updater will appear after you install the plugin. - When you click on it, you’d find a list of every user of your WordPress website, along with their usernames, roles, and email addresses.
- To change the WordPress username for a specific user, click on “update”.
Click on update to change a user’s username. - Then, enter your new username on the following screen, select the option to send yourself an email notification of the change (if you want to), and then click on “Update Username”.
Enter the new username to change your username.
Just like that, your WordPress username has been successfully changed! You can now see your new username for your account by going to the All Users page. And, if you want, you can safely remove the plugin.
Method 3: Changing Your Username via phpMyAdmin
Using phpMyAdmin to edit your website’s database is the last method to change your WordPress username.
But, it can be difficult for beginners to use this method since it calls for some technical knowledge. Keeping this in mind, make sure to carefully follow the instructions to avoid making mistakes.
Now let’s get onto it.
- To access phpMyAdmin, go to your WordPress web hosting account panel. In this example, we’ll be using Hostinger, and you can simply log in through your hPanel.
- Navigate to the Databases section to access the phpMyAdmin menu.
You first need to access your hPanel before accessing the databases. - Click “Enter phpMyAdmin” after finding the database for the WordPress website.
Click on Enter phpMyAdmin to access the dashboard. - After successfully entering the phpMyAdmin dashboard, select the wp_users table. Depending on your web host, the name of the table may vary, but it usually ends with _users.
Accessing the wp_users table will display a list of all the user accounts on your WordPress website - You’ll then have to search for your user account in the user_login column. When you do, select the desired username row and then click “Edit”.
This is where you’ll finally edit your username. - Here, you’ll see a list of every value connected to your account, from the domain name to the password. Then, find the user_login row and enter your new username in the “Value field”.
- Finally, select “Go” which can be found at the bottom of the screen.
By clicking Go, you can finally change your WordPress username.
There you have it, you now have your new username!
Why You Might Need To Change Your WordPress Username In The First Place
A WordPress username, along with a password, is a crucial component that allows visitors to access a website. It gives a sense of security and only gives access to those who have login credentials.
But, this doesn’t mean that you’re safe from hackers and all sorts of attacks.
Your vulnerabilities can be discovered by automated tools, which hackers can use against you. These kinds of attacks, such as brute force and dictionary attacks, involve bots repeatedly attempting to guess your login information through trial and error. Brute force is even preferred by 51% of hackers, which makes it scary how common it is.
That’s why generic WordPress usernames, like admin, put your website at serious risk because they are simpler to guess.
Because of this, changing a WordPress username is usually done for security-related reasons.
In line with this, you can also choose from one of the best web hosts if you need extra security. They’ll keep your website safe through firewalls, proactive monitoring, SSL certificates, backups, and much more. On top of that, they even optimize your website to make sure it’s always running at its best!
But apart from security concerns, you may also want to change your WordPress username if:
- You misspelled your username or made other mistakes when creating it.
- Your username sounds too similar to another user on your WordPress website.
- You need to change the name because the website or account is being transferred to another person.
- Your site’s new branding or content might be better suited to a different WordPress username.
Whatever the reason, just be sure to be cautious when selecting a new username, so that it doesn’t compromise the security of your WordPress site!
Get the Username You Want and Need
It’s a bummer that WordPress doesn’t allow you to change your username straight from the dashboard.
Fortunately, there are several ways you can easily change your username.
All you have to do is follow one of the three straightforward methods we mentioned (that wouldn’t even take you longer than 5 minutes). Who knows, those minutes spent to change your username might be the reason your website will be less vulnerable to attacks.
Follow Bitcatcha for more tech-related tips!
