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By default, you can change the WordPress password from the dashboard. But sometimes you may forget your dashboard’s password.
In the login page, there is “Forgot your password?” option. If you have access to your email, by clicking on this option you can change the password.
However, if you don’t have access to your email you will have to look for other ways to reset or change WordPress password. If you can’t access your login page at all, read our article on can’t login to WordPress admin.
In this article, we go over every possible way to change WordPress password.
For the time being, if you wish to secure some of your posts, pages, or categories you may wish to take a look at our article on the best password protection plugins for WordPress.
Additionally, we recommend reading our article on white-labeling and customizing WordPress login page on your site as well as how to select the appropriate plug-in to accomplish this task.
Why Change WordPress Password?
There are many reasons for changing your password. For instance, you may have forgotten your old password. In this case, you need to reset the password to gain access to your WordPress dashboard.
In addition, frequently changing your WordPress password will increase your website’s security.
However, your WordPress password is one of the many layers of security. This means, even if you choose unique passwords, hackers may still be able to gain access to your website.
Some users use one password for all their accounts. We highly advise not to have one password for multiple accounts.
Here we explain 4 main ways to change WordPress password. So if you can’t access the login page or your cPanel, there are other ways to recover password.
How to Change WordPress Password?
As mentioned above, there are many ways to change the WordPress password. On the other hand, CMS platforms especially WordPress have made changing password really easy. You just need to have access to your email.
A lot of users tend to use simple passwords because they are often easy to remember. Don’t ever do that. It is true, having a complex password won’t guarantee your website’s safety. But the login page is one of the main security layers of your website and having a complex password will slow down any potential unauthorized entry.
Password security is very important but unfortunately, it’s often forgotten. For example, if you want your partner or developer to have access to some parts of your dashboard, don’t ever give them your original password. It’s highly recommended that you create a new account for them.
Below, we will discuss 4 ways to change the WordPress password. Excluding the first one, the rest don’t require access to the login page. If one of these ways didn’t work for you, you can always try another.
Change WordPress Password using Dashboard
Before we talk about changing the WordPress password without having access to the login page, it’s best to discuss how you can change the WordPress password from your dashboard.
Before anything, head over to login page. Type in your username and password and enter the dashboard. Now, head over to users and select a user you wish to edit and click edit underneath it.
Scroll down until you see “Account management” then click on “Generate Password”. WordPress automatically will create a unique and powerful password for you. Once everything is done simply click on save or “update profile”. Now you can use the new password.
Change WordPress Password via Database
One of the most secure ways of changing a WordPress password is via the WordPress database. You can change your password through cPanel and phpMyAdmin. To do so, follow the steps below:
- Enter your cPanel
- From the Database section click on phpMyAdmin
- A page will open and you can see every database available. Click on your website’s database
- Once you are in, on the left-hand side you will see a lot of tables. Look for wp_users
- Once you found it, click on browse next to it
- After clicking browse you will see a list of users and to make changes to each of them you can click on edit
- Once you click on edit, a new window will appear and in the User_pass section type in the new password in the “Value” box and change function to MD5
Finally, click on save and you have now changed your password via phpMyAdmin.
How to Change WordPress Password via FTP
Sometimes due to network errors, you may not have access to your cPanel. But don’t worry. You can still change your password using an FTP account. To change the WordPress password with an FTP account follow the steps below:
- Enter your website through your FTP account
- Download the folder of your active theme
- Find functions.php file in the folder and edit with an editor program like Notepad++
- After the second line find <?php and enter this code in the next line
wp_set_password(‘password’,’admin’);- As you can probably tell, you have to change “password” to your desired password and “admin” to the username you wish to edit.
- Then save the file and upload it back to your server into your theme’s folder
- Head over to your login page and try the new password
- If your new password is working then go to download the fucntions.php file again and remove the code you have entered and re-upload the file. If you don’t do this properly your password will get changed every time you open your website
How to Bulk Change WordPress Password for All Users?
When your website gets hacked it is highly recommended that you change the password for all users. But how is this possible? You obviously don’t have to change them one by one, that would be time-consuming and confusing.
To change WordPress password for all users, it’s recommended to use a plugin. By using a plugin, you save time and the plugin will change all of your passwords at once. Simply head over to Plugins and click on Add New and search for Emergency Password Reset. Then install and activate it.
Finally, head over to Users > Emergency Password Reset and click on “Reset All Passwords”. The plugin will begin to reset all of your passwords. Your users will also receive an email to change their passwords.