Reset admin password with phpMyAdmin – WordPress HowTo

Today i will show you how to reset admin password for WordPress using phpMyAdmin.

Sometimes even the administrator can forget his/her password. Although there is a built-in recovery option under the wp-login form you might have forgotten even your e-mail address. But if you have access to phpMyAdmin, you can reset the admin password manually. Whether your blog is self-hosted or it is located in your localhost, this method applies on both cases.

First of all,

Backup Everything!

Before you start the process, you should keep a backup of your site files and the database. You can do it either manually or automatically using a plugin.

In general, it is strongly advised to keep regular backups of your site and database. Even if you not trying to reset admin password. When somethings goes wrong ( there are lots of reasons for that ), you can restore everything without problem. Usually, hosting services provide regular backups of your site. Still though, it is recommended to keep your own copy of everything just in case.

Automatic Backup

If you have already installed one of the WordPress backup plugins available, you can safely move to the next step.

Manual Backup

Again, this is another simple task.

First, get a copy of your WP site’s folder, you can also zip and download it if you are using cPanel.

Secondly, go to phpMyAdmin, select your WP database and then click on the Export link at the top.

Reset Admin Password

So, after getting backups, you are ready to move on and finally reset admin password.

• Go to phpMyAdmin and click on the wp_users table ( replace wp_ with your table prefix ).
• Locate user with id 1, usually this is the admin.
• Click on the Edit link for that record.
• Replace the strange value with your new password ( where i’ve wrote “your_password_goes_here” ).
• Select MD5 from the dropdown menu, to encrypt your new password upon saving.
• Click the Go button to store your settings.

Notes

Don’t forget to keep a backup, not only for this operation but also in a regular basis.

Things can go wrong without noticing. 🙂