How to Properly Change Your WordPress Username (Step-by-Step Guide)

Hey there! Are you having trouble figuring out how to change your username on your WordPress site? Don‘t worry, it‘s a common issue. While WordPress makes it easy to update your display name, email, and other profile info, it doesn‘t provide a straightforward way to change your actual username.

Whether you initially chose a username that‘s too obvious and insecure or you just want to rebrand, changing your WordPress username is totally doable. In this guide, I‘ll walk you through three different methods to properly change your WP username step-by-step.

But first, let‘s talk about why using a safe, secure username is so important.

Why Choosing a Strong Username Matters

According to a recent WordFence study, over 20% of WordPress sites use an "admin" username, making them vulnerable to brute force attacks. Attackers can easily guess short, obvious usernames like "admin", "test", "wp" or even your first name and then hammer your login page with password guesses.

The more complex and unique your username is, the harder it is to crack. Imagine a hacker trying to guess a username like "3L3phant_Lov3r_92" – it would take them ages! So one of the best things you can do for your WordPress security is use a long, random, unique username.

Your username is also part of your site‘s branding and appears in your author archive page URL (e.g. yoursite.com/author/yourusername) and RSS feeds. So you want it to be professional and memorable to your audience.

How to Backup Your WordPress Site Before Changing Usernames

Okay, before we actually get into changing your WordPress username, I want to stress how important it is to fully backup your site first. Even though changing a username is a relatively small change, it‘s always better to be safe than sorry.

There are a few ways you can backup a WordPress site, but the easiest is to use a plugin like UpdraftPlus or BackWPup. Just install the plugin, go to its settings page, and click a button to create a complete backup of your files and database. Store the backup somewhere safe off your server so you can quickly restore if something breaks.

If you‘re comfortable using cPanel or your host‘s control panel, you can also create a manual backup by:

1. Downloading all your WordPress files via FTP or the file manager
2. Exporting your database via phpMyAdmin or your host‘s database tool

With a fresh backup in hand, you‘re ready to change that insecure or outdated username safely. Let‘s look at the three methods you can use.

Method 1: Manually Create a New Admin User and Delete the Old One

The simplest method to change your WordPress username is to create a brand new admin account with your desired username, then delete your old account. Here‘s how to do it step-by-step:

1. Log into your WordPress dashboard with your current admin account
2. Go to Users > Add New
3. Fill in your new username, email address (use a different one than your current account), and a strong password
4. Set the role drop-down to "Administrator" so your new account has full privileges
5. Click "Add New User"

6. Log out of your current account and log back in with your newly created one
7. Go to Users > All Users
8. Hover over your old username and click "Delete"

9. On the confirmation screen, select the "Attribute all content to" dropdown and pick your new account to reassign all the old account‘s posts and pages

10. Click "Confirm Deletion"

That‘s it! You‘ve now fully swapped your old username for your new, more secure one. Your old username is no longer associated with your site and all your content is now attributed to the new account.

Pros and Cons of Creating a New Admin Account

The main benefit of this username change method is that it doesn‘t require any special technical skills. If you know how to create a WordPress account and delete a user, you can do it!

It‘s also a "clean break" solution. Your old username is completely removed from your site, which is nice if you‘re rebranding and want to eliminate all references to the old name.

The downside is that it can be a little tedious having to re-assign all your old posts to the new user. And you have to remember to update any other profile fields, like your display name and email, to match the new account.

You also can‘t reuse your old email address with the new account. While you can get around that by adding a "+1" or similar to the end of your Gmail address, it‘s still a bit inconvenient.

Method 2: Use a Username Changer Plugin

If manually creating a new admin user sounds like too much work, you can use a handy plugin to change your WordPress username in a few clicks. Two of the most popular plugins for the job are Username Changer and Username Updater.

I‘ll show you how to use Username Updater since it‘s a bit more intuitive. Here‘s how:

1. Install and activate the Username Updater plugin
2. Go to Users > Username Updater in your WordPress dashboard
3. Click the "update" link next to the username you want to change

4. Enter your desired new username in the Username field
5. Make sure the "Update user nicename", "Update display name" and "Update user Email" boxes are all checked so everything‘s updated consistently

6. Click "Update Username" and you‘re done!

If you get a success message, you‘ll be able to log in with your new username and see it reflected everywhere on your site instantly. Easy, right?

Benefits and Drawbacks of Username Changer Plugins

The obvious benefit of using a plugin to change your WordPress username is speed. With just a couple clicks, your username is updated everywhere without having to mess around with user roles or manual reassignment.

Most of these plugins work great, but I‘d be cautious about using any plugin that hasn‘t been updated in a long time or has multiple unresolved support requests. Always make sure to use a reputable, recently updated plugin.

The slight downside to the plugin approach is that you‘re adding another plugin to your site, which is one more thing to keep updated. If you‘re already struggling with a slow site weighed down by too many plugins, you might want to go the manual route.

Also keep in mind that some of these username plugins require a minimum version of PHP or even a paid upgrade to unlock all features. So check the requirements first.

Method 3: Change Your Username in phpMyAdmin

If you‘re feeling brave and want to change your WordPress username without adding any new users or plugins, you can do it directly in your WordPress database using phpMyAdmin. Here‘s how:

1. Login to your hosting account‘s cPanel or database management tool
2. Open the phpMyAdmin tool
3. Click on your WordPress database in the left sidebar (usually named after your site)
4. Find the "wpusers" table and click "Browse" (Your table prefix may be different if you changed it from "wp")

5. Locate the user row with the username you want to change
6. Click "Edit"
7. Change the "user_login" field to your new desired username

8. Scroll down and click "Go" to save the change

And you‘re done! You‘ve now successfully changed your username directly in the WordPress database.

Risks of Editing Your WordPress Database Directly

I‘ll be straight with you – editing your WordPress database directly is risky. One wrong move and you could take down your whole site. That‘s why I really only recommend this method for advanced users who have experience working with databases.

Here are a few tips to minimize risk if you go this route:

• Always take a full backup of your site files and database before even looking at phpMyAdmin.
• Triple check that you‘re editing the right user row before hitting "Go" on any changes
• If you have a staging site or local test site, try the phpMyAdmin method there first to make sure it works

While phpMyAdmin is a powerful tool, it‘s also unforgiving. There‘s no "undo" button if you mess something up. So proceed with extreme caution.

How to Update Hardcoded Username Mentions After Changing

No matter which username change method you use, there may be some lingering mentions of your old username scattered around your site. These are usually in the form of hardcoded links to your old author archive page (e.g. "domain.com/author/oldname").

To update these straggler instances, install the Better Search Replace plugin. It lets you search your whole WordPress database for a specific string (like your old username) and replace it with something else (your new username).

Here‘s a quick step-by-step:

1. Install Better Search Replace and go to Tools > Better Search Replace
2. Put your old username in the "Search for…" field
3. Put your new username in the "Replace with…" field
4. Select all the database tables you want to update (posts, pages, comments, etc)

5. Check the "Run as dry run" box and click "Run Search/Replace" to see a preview of the changes
6. If everything looks good, uncheck the "dry run" box and run the replacement for real

And that‘s it! All mentions of your old username should now be updated to the new one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Before we wrap up, let me quickly address some of the most common questions I get about changing WordPress usernames:

Will changing my username break my site?

As long as you follow the steps for your chosen method carefully, changing your username shouldn‘t break anything on your WordPress site. The only thing that would break is direct links to your old author archive page, which you can avoid by setting up a redirect.

Can I reuse my old email address with my new username?

If you create a new user account to change your username, you‘ll need to use a new email address for that account. However, most plugins and phpMyAdmin will let you keep your old email address when you update your username. So if you go that route, you won‘t have to change your email.

Should I also change my nickname/display name to match?

It‘s entirely up to you, but I recommend updating your display name to match your new username for consistency. That way, your new username will display everywhere on your site including your author box and archive page. Luckily, most of these methods include an option to update your display name along with the username itself.

Will changing my username affect my SEO?

The only part of your WordPress site with SEO value that‘s tied to your username is your author archive page. Since this will change to reflect your new username (e.g. "domain.com/author/newname"), any links pointing to your old archive URL will break.

To get around this, I recommend setting up a quick 301 redirect from your old author archive to your new one. You can do this easily with a plugin like Redirection.

I forgot my username – how do I find it?

There are a couple ways to find your WordPress username if you forget it:

1. Ask your site admin to look it up in the dashboard
2. Check the URL of a post you‘ve authored – your username will be right after "/author/" (e.g. "domain.com/author/yourusername")
3. Open phpMyAdmin, go to the "wp_users" table, and look in the "user_login" column

If all else fails, you can reset your password via email and then log in to your account to find your username.

Final Thoughts

Well folks, that‘s a wrap on how to properly change your WordPress username. Whether your current username is too generic or you just want to mix things up, you‘ve got three solid methods to choose from:

1. Manually creating a new admin account and deleting your old one
2. Using a username changer plugin to update it in a few clicks
3. Editing your username directly in phpMyAdmin (advanced)

No matter which route you choose, always remember to backup your site before making any changes. And if you‘re not comfortable poking around in your site‘s database, it‘s best to stick with the plugin or manual methods.

At the end of the day, your username is a small but important part of your WordPress security and branding. Taking a few minutes to change it to something more secure and professional can make a big difference.

I hope this step-by-step guide has given you the confidence to swap out that old, cringe-y username for something new and improved. Let me know how it goes in the comments!