Access your Databaseund yourself in a situation where you’ve forgotten or lost your WordPress admin password, you know how frustrating it can be. While you can use the “Forgot Password” option to reset your password, there may be times when you can’t access your email or the reset link doesn’t work. In such situations, getting the password directly from the database can save the day.
In this blog post, we’ll walk you through the steps to get your WordPress admin password from the database using phpMyAdmin, a popular database management tool. Let’s dive in!
Step 1: Access your Database through phpMyAdmin
First, you need to access your website’s database through phpMyAdmin. You can usually find a link to phpMyAdmin in your web hosting control panel (e.g., cPanel or Plesk). Log in to your hosting control panel, locate the phpMyAdmin link, and click on it to open the phpMyAdmin interface.
Step 2: Locate the WordPress Users Table
Once you’re in phpMyAdmin, you’ll see a list of databases on the left-hand side. Click on the database that’s associated with your WordPress website. In most cases, the database name starts with “wp_” or contains the word “WordPress” (e.g., “wp_mywebsite” or “mywebsite_wordpress”).
After selecting the correct database, you’ll see a list of tables. Look for the one that ends with “_users” (e.g., “wp_users” or “mywebsite_users”). This is the table where WordPress stores user information, including passwords. Click on the “_users” table.
Step 3: Edit the Admin User Row
In the “_users” table, you’ll see a list of rows, each corresponding to a user on your WordPress site. Locate the row with the “user_login” value of “admin” or the username you use to log in to your WordPress dashboard. Once you find the correct row, click on the “Edit” link (usually represented by a pencil icon) to modify the user data.
Step 4: Update the Password
Now that you’re editing the admin user row, you’ll see a list of fields with corresponding values. Look for the “user_pass” field – this is where the hashed (encrypted) version of your admin password is stored.
To update the password, replace the current value in the “user_pass” field with your new password. However, before you save the changes, you need to make sure the password is hashed. WordPress uses the MD5 hashing algorithm, so select “MD5” from the “Function” dropdown menu next to the “user_pass” field.
After selecting “MD5”, click on the “Go” button at the bottom of the page to save your changes. The password in the database will now be replaced with a new hashed version of the password you entered.
Step 5: Log in to WordPress with the New Password
Now that your admin password has been updated in the database, you should be able to log in to your WordPress dashboard using the new password. Visit your WordPress login page (usually located at “yourdomain.com/wp-admin”) and enter your admin username along with the new password. You should now have access to your WordPress dashboard!
Conclusion
Getting your WordPress admin password from the database might seem intimidating at first, but with this step-by-step guide, you can easily retrieve and update your password through phpMyAdmin. Just remember that modifying your database directly can be risky, so always create a backup before making any changes.
We hope this guide has helped you regain access to your WordPress website. If you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to leave a comment below!
