How to Change WordPress Username (Fast)

Introduction

WordPress is well-known for its ease of use and user-friendly interface. However, there may come a time when you want to change your WordPress username. So, how do you go about doing this? Luckily, it’s not as hard as you might think. This guide will walk you through this process step-by-step.

Why Change Your WordPress Username?

Before we dive into the steps on how to change your WordPress username, it’s important to understand why you might want to do so in the first place. Perhaps you want a more anonymous username than your real name, or maybe your original username doesn’t fit with your brand anymore. Whatever the case may be, changing your WordPress username can help maintain your online identity and security.

Precautionary Steps

Before proceeding, remember to backup your WordPress website. This is a crucial step you should always follow before making significant changes on your site. You can do this easily by using plugins like UpdraftPlus.

How to Change WordPress Username from the Dashboard

Unfortunately, WordPress does not allow you to change your username directly from the dashboard. Your username is set during your site’s installation and cannot be altered from the profile section. Then, you ask, is it possible to change the WordPress username at all? Fret not, here’s how to do so.

Step 1: Create a New Administrator Account

As you cannot change your username directly, you can create a new user account with administrator rights and the desired username. Here are the steps:

1. First, log in to your WordPress Dashboard.
2. From the sidebar menu on the left, select “Users > Add New“.
3. Fill out the necessary fields with your new information and desired username. Make sure you set the role to “Administrator“. Remember, the email address should be different from the one used in your original administrator account.

You now have a new administrator account with your desired username.

Step 2: Transfer the Content

Now you need to transfer all the posts from the original account to your new one. Here’s how to do it:

1. Log out of your new administrator account.
2. Login into your old administrator account.
3. Navigate to “Posts” in Dashboard and select “All Posts“.
4. Select all posts and from the “Bulk Actions” drop-down menu, select “Edit“, and click “Apply“.
5. A new screen will appear. Select the new username from the ‘Author‘ drop-down menu.
6. Click “Update” to save your changes.

You have now successfully transferred all your posts to your new account.

Step 3: Delete the Old Administrator Account

After transferring all the posts to your new account, it’s time to delete the old one. To do so:

1. Log out from your old administrator account.
2. Log in to your new account.
3. Navigate to “Users > All Users“.
4. Find the old administrator username, and under its name, click “Delete“.

Now you have successfully changed your WordPress username.

How to Change WordPress Username Using phpMyAdmin

If you’re comfortable working with databases, there’s a more technical way to change your WordPress username. This involves accessing phpMyAdmin and you’ll need your cPanel login details.

1. Log in to your cPanel dashboard.
2. Click on “phpMyAdmin” under the Databases section.
3. Select your WordPress database from the list on the left.
4. Click on “wp_users” in the database.
5. Find your username in the user_login column and click “Edit“.
6. Change the ‘Value’ of ‘user_login’ to your desired username.
7. Scroll down and click “Go” for changes to take effect.

Remember, making changes directly to your database might be risky. It’s crucial to have a backup before proceeding with this method.

Conclusion

We hope this guide has been helpful to you in changing your WordPress username. Regardless of the method you choose, be sure to always backup your site before making any changes. This ensures that you can return to a previous state if something goes wrong. Happy blogging with WordPress!