Tech Media Guide

We get this question asked a lot here at Kinsta, and that is exactly how to reset WordPress admin password. Typically this occurs when someone has forgotten their password, they don’t have access to their email for a standard password reset, or their WordPress site isn’t sending emails correctly. Today we will walk you through a few quick and easy steps on how to reset WordPress admin password for all the different types of scenarios you might encounter.

How to Reset WordPress Admin Password

• Reset WordPress Admin Password (with access to your email)
• Reset WordPress Admin Password (with no access to email)

1. Reset WordPress Admin Password (with access to your email)

The first way to reset WordPress admin password is via the standard login page. This assumes you have access to your email.

Step 1

Browse to your WordPress login page, typically this is located at /wp-admin, such as: https://domain.com/wp-admin. Then click on the “Lost your password?” link at the bottom.

Step 2

On the next screen, enter your username or email address of your WordPress administrator account. Click on “Get New Password” and you will receive a link to create a new password via email.

2. Reset WordPress Admin Password (with no access to email)

The second way to reset WordPress admin password is directly in the database via phpMyAdmin. If you don’t have access to your email or your WordPress site isn’t sending emails correctly, this might be the only solution you have. You might also have to use this method if you are on a local development install. If you are a Kinsta customer you can always reach out to us for assistance if you don’t feel comfortable doing this.

Step 1

You’ll first want to login to phpMyAdmin. If you are a Kinsta customer you can access phpMyAdmin directly from your MyKinsta dashboard. You can find the login credentials there as well. If your web host is using cPanel, the link to phpMyAdmin is typically found under the database section.

Step 2

On the left-hand side, click on your database. Then scroll down and click on the wp_users table. wp_users is the standard table used on fresh WordPress installations. However, some sites might have a prefix added for security purposes. In this case, it might be named slightly different, such as wp56_users.

Step 3

On the row next to your admin username, click on “Edit.” If you have multiple users on your WordPress site, double check to ensure you are editing the right one.

Step 4

In the column user_pass, you can enter a new value for your password. Ensure that you select MD5 from the function column. Then click on “Go” at the bottom.

And that’s it! You have now reset your WordPress admin password. You can return to your WordPress login screen and use your updated admin credentials to access your site.

Another way to reset your password via phpMyAdmin is using a SQL statement. Simply run the following from the SQL tab. Make sure to update the new_password and admin_username values with your own.

UPDATE `wp_users` SET `user_pass` = MD5( 'new_password' ) WHERE `wp_users`.`user_login` = "admin_username";