Resetting the WordPress Password

Sometimes a customer will forget their WordPress password. You can easily change any WordPress password with just a few simple steps. This can be done easily through PHPMyAdmin or if PHPMyAdmin is not available, via the command line.

With PHPMyAdmin:

Find the database that the wordpress install is using. This will be listed in the wp-config.php file:

define('DB_NAME', 'theuser_wordpressdb');

In PHPMyAdmin, click on the database name. This will open up a list of tables. Click the wp_users table. This contains all of the WordPress user data, including login names and passwords. The passwords are usually encrypted using a modified md5 format.

Find the user you want and click the small edit icon on that row. It is on the left of the row and looks like a pencil. This will load a screen with a box for each value in the row.

Copy down the current md5 password somewhere safe. This can be used to restore the password back to how it was when you found it.

You don’t have to use an extra tool to MD5 the password. Just type or paste your chosen password into the password field, change the function in PHPMyAdmin (to the left of your text field) to MD5, and hit GO.
This will md5 the password you entered, and save your changes.

Next, test your new login credentials.

If you want, you can change the password back without ever knowing what it was by repeating this process using the original md5 hash you copied down!

g33kadmin

I am a g33k, Linux blogger, developer, student and Tech Writer for Liquidweb.com/kb. My passion for all things tech drives my hunt for all the coolz. I often need a vacation after I get back from vacation....