We all have to change some of our passwords from time to time. And WordPress makes it easy to change your password if you need to, but to do so, you’ll need to have access to the email you used when creating your site. If you don’t have it, things can get complicated. Fortunately, there are a couple of solutions to that problem.
In this article, we will teach you how to:
- Recover your WordPress password through the login screen.
- Change your WordPress password from the control panel.
- Recover your password using phpMyAdmin.
Before we get into the technical stuff, let’s talk about why you might need to change your password in the first place!
Why you should change your WordPress password
Changing any of your passwords shouldn’t be a hassle. In fact, it’s often one of the smartest things you can do from a security perspective. Especially if you reuse passwords across multiple platforms, changing them regularly reduces the chances of someone else accessing your accounts.
Of course, you should avoid reusing passwords, but not many people follow that advice. Also, even if you use unique passwords for each website, security breaches can still occur. In those cases, you’ll want to change your password as soon as possible.
Aside from those security issues, here are some additional reasons why you might need to change your WordPress password:
- You previously shared access to your account and want to regain full ownership of it.
- Someone else may have figured out what your password is.
- You simply forgot your password (it happens to all of us!).
If you end up in one of these situations, it’s very easy to simply tell WordPress to reset your admin password. In fact, now the most of platforms make changing your password a quick and painless process. After all, they also have an interest in keeping your account secure, otherwise you may not want to continue using that site.
With all this in mind, let’s talk about how to change your WordPress password in detail.
How to Change Your WordPress Admin Password (3 Methods)
In the following sections, we will cover three methods to change a lost WordPress password. The first requires that you have access to the email associated with your WordPress account. Alternatively, the second method will work as long as you’re already logged into your dashboard, even if you don’t have access to your email.
Finally, we’ll show you how to change your WordPress password in the database, which works if you can’t access your email. neither to your control panel. Without further ado, let’s get down to business!
1. Recover your WordPress password through the login screen
Every WordPress website has its own login screen, even if you are the only registered user for the entire site. This is what it looks like, without customizations:
There are two fields, one for your username or email address and one for your password. And since you’re reading this tutorial, chances are you’ve lost that password, so your first action should be to click the link Did you forget your password? just below the login fields.
Next, WordPress will ask you to enter your username or email associated with your account. Enter that data and then click the button Get new password:
The platform will send you an email informing you that someone requested to recover your WordPress password. If you receive one of these messages unexpectedly, someone may be trying to access your site. In that case, it’s a good idea to change your WordPress and email passwords:
For now, click the only link in the email to recover your password and a new page will open. Here, you can change your lost WordPress password to a new one. However, WordPress takes the liberty of generating a strong password option for you, and we recommend that you use it:
Although you can use any other password you want, of course. However, if your main concern when using a password like the one shown above is that it is difficult to remember, you should know that there are tools that can help you with this. Password managers are a great option if you want to generate strong credentials for each site and not have to remember them every time you log in.
Either way, once you choose a password, you’ll need to select the button reset password. You’ll then see a confirmation message like this if all goes well:
The whole process of changing your WordPress password should only take a couple of minutes, unless you spent a lot of time coming up with a new password. Next, let’s talk about another way you can change your WordPress password.
2. Change your WordPress password through the control panel
If you can, then you can change your password from within, without having to use your email. This method is useful if you don’t currently have access to your email account, but your WordPress session hasn’t expired yet. Also, it takes less time than changing the WordPress password through the login screen.
To do this, go to your control panel in the tab Users › Your profile. This section includes all the information associated with your account, from your full name to your username, email, and even your profile picture:
More importantly, there is also a section called account management, where you can change your WordPress password even if you don’t remember your current one. All you have to do is click the button generate password:
When you do that, WordPress will create a strong password for you. However, you can remove that password and type whatever you want. Note that if WordPress thinks your password is too weak, it will ask you to confirm that you actually want to use it anyway:
Of course, you must use a unique and strong password. Once you type it into the field, click Update profile at the bottom of the page and you’re good to go.
By using this method you won’t even be logged out of your account. The same tab will reload, and you’ll see a simple message that says Updated profile at the top of the screen:
Some people don’t see that message and end up changing their password again because they think it didn’t work the first time. If you want to triple check to make sure the process was successful, simply log out of your account. Use your new password when you log back in, and see for yourself if it worked (and it should!).
If for some reason you can’t access your site, you can always refer to the method above, which shows how to reset your WordPress password via email.
3. Choose a new WordPress password using phpMyAdmin
In this last section, we will see how to recover your WordPress password directly in your site’s database. This method is quite different from the first two, and should only be used if you cannot access your email or control panel.
Every time you make a change to WordPress, the platform stores that information in your site’s database. Within that database, you can find all of your site’s values, including your account passwords and those of all other users. Of course, WordPress also encrypts that information. So even if someone else gains access to your database, they shouldn’t be able to do much damage.
Editing a WordPress database is a sensitive process. If you change the wrong value, it can do a lot of damage to your site. With that in mind, we’ll show you how to access yours safely and explain how to create a backup first.
In most cases, your web hosting provider will give you access to your database through the control panel. For example, if you log in to the control panel, you will see a section called Databases. There are several options related to databases, but the one that interests us is phpMyAdmin:
phpMyAdmin is a powerful tool that allows you to view and interact with your databases using a simple interface. When you access this, you will see a list of all your databases on the left side of the screen:
In the example above, we are using a single hosting account for multiple WordPress sites, which is why you see so many items in that list. In most cases, there should only be one database in that list, which you’ll want to select.
On the next screen, you will see all the tables that make up your database on the right. For example, there are tables for comments, posts, and even users on your site:
We will return to this tab later. For now, take a look at the top of the screen and click on the tab called Export. There, you can export the contents of your database as a single file SQL. To do this, click the option Quick (Quick) and press the button Go:
Now phpMyAdmin will download a file to your computer. Keep it in a safe place where you won’t forget it, because that backup can save your life if you change the wrong value when making changes to your database.
Having fixed this, let’s go back to the tab Structure (Frame) at the top of the screen. You will see all the tables in your database listed again. The one you are looking for now should be called something like wp_users:
In the example above, you’ll notice that our table users (Users) has a slightly different name than the one just mentioned. That’s a precaution some hosting providers take when setting up your database to make it harder for attackers to crack.
In either case, you will see a list of all registered users of your site on the following screen:
We are using a test website so there is only one account here. That single row contains all of your associated information, including username, password, and email.
Your account password will be displayed under the column user_pass. However, the values you see here are encrypted, so someone can’t just hack into your database and copy it. In other words, the value you see in the screenshot above is not our actual password, but an encrypted value.
However, that doesn’t mean you can’t change the actual password. To do so, click the button Edit to the left of the row for the user whose password you are changing. On the next screen, there will be…
Facebook Comments
Disqus