Last updated on July 19th, 2018 at 08:45 am
Why should I be concerned with a tutorial on how to reset WordPress my admin password using my cPanel PHPAdmin? You might be surprised, one day you may wish you knew how to do this.
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Why Would You Reset WordPress Admin Password from PHPMyAdmin?
There are several instances you may have to face this scenario. You lost your password and email that you used to install your WordPress website with. You won’t be able to reset your password via the “Lost password link.”
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Maybe someone broke into your website and locked you out. Don’t laugh…it can happen.
If this happens then they most likely changed the admin email from inside the dashboard, locking you out. This makes it impossible to use the reset your password from the login page, as the new email will get sent to their email.
If you are a brand new WordPress user, it can be a frightening experience. One of the first thing you should do is contact your hosting account and let them know you can’t log into your WordPress-powered site.
Most reliable hosting accounts should be able to help you get back in. It may take hours or even days to be able to log back into your site depending on your Hosting provider’s service.
So this is why I think it’s important that anyone who uses WordPress as their blogging platform at least learn the basics of resetting your password by yourself.
It’s not hard and your website will be back online in minutes.
Just follow along and I’m going to show you the easiest way I know how to get back into your WordPress dashboard. If you know of another method that is easy to use, feel free to share it. Whenever I make any changes to my website, I always like to make a backup in case I screw things up 🙂
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Change / Reset WordPress Password from PHPMyAdmin
1. LOG INTO YOUR CPANEL
Login into your cPanel of your hosting account and scroll down until you get to PHPMyadmin. I am not sure where you will find your PHPMyAdmin icon, but in my hosting account it is down towards the bottom. So keep scrolling till you see the icon, then double click on it.
2. CHOOSE YOUR DATABASE
You will see the database tables on the next screen. Find the database that you set up. If you don’t know what your database name is for your WordPress website is, then you can easily find it via your wp-config file. Take a look at this screen shot and it will show you exactly where your database name is for the site you are wanting to change the password. Once you know your database name, then choose it below by double clicking.
Related: How to Start A Blog
3. FIND WP_USERS
If you set up your database like I did when I install my websites, then make sure that it says _users at the end of the table structure. On my hosting account for my demo basic site, I only have 13 tables and I found the wp_users on the 13th row.
4. EDIT THE WP_USERS
You should only see one user…if you’re the only one who manages your website. Click on the edit link right beside the pencil icon.
You’re taken to a screen like this.
5. RESETTING YOUR ADMIN PASSWORD Via MD5
Lets take the image above and break it down step by step
- Scroll down till you see user_pass varchar(255)
- Click on the drop down arrow and scroll down till you see MD5 and select it.
- Tab over or place your cursor in the text box beside the user_pass drop down selection. Enter your new password.
- I like to make it very easy to remember. You can change it once you get back inside your dashboard.
- Click on “Go” or similar option to save your new password in the database.
6. YOUR PASSWORD HAS BEEN RESET
Congratulations, you have now learned how to reset your WordPress admin password from the PHPMyadmin without having to contact your hosting account.
You should now be able to log back into your WordPress website at: yourdomain.com/wp-admin
If you are still unable to log into your dashboard, run through the steps again. This method works and I’ve used it several times to reset my admin password for myself and for my clients.

The Take Away…
You don’t have to be a WordPress master to learn the basics like resetting your Admin password. If you’ve ever been locked out of your WordPress blog, share your experience of how it made you feel. What did you do to get back in?
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I have personally found this method extremely easy and quick to implement, what do you think? Let me know if this helped you get back into your WordPress website.
My Recommended Blogging Resources!
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