How to reset your WordPress password

This guide explains how to set a new password for a WordPress user when you can’t log in. Try the methods in order.

Use the lost password link

1. Go to yourdomain.co.uk/wp-login.php.
2. Click Lost your password? under the login box.
3. Enter your username or the email address on your WordPress account and click Get New Password.
4. Open the email WordPress sends you and click the link inside.
5. Set a new password and click Save Password.

If no email arrives after a few minutes, check your spam folder. If it still isn’t there, use one of the methods below.

Use WP Toolkit

1. Log in to cPanel and click WP Toolkit.
2. Find your site and click Log in. This signs you in without your password.
3. In WordPress, go to Users, then click your username.
4. Scroll down to Account Management and click Set New Password.
5. Enter a strong password and click Update Profile.

Some versions of WP Toolkit also let you change the admin password from the site’s own settings in WP Toolkit. The exact wording varies between versions.

Use phpMyAdmin (last resort)

Only use this if the other methods fail. Changing the database by hand can break your site if you edit the wrong thing, so take a backup first.

1. Log in to cPanel and click phpMyAdmin.
2. On the left, click the database your site uses. You can find its name in the wp-config.php file, on the line that starts define( 'DB_NAME'.
3. Click the wp_users table. The wp_ part is the table prefix and may be different on your site, for example wpab_users. Check $table_prefix in wp-config.php if you’re not sure.
4. Find the row for your username and click Edit.
5. In the user_pass row, choose MD5 from the Function drop-down.
6. Delete the old value and type your new password in plain text.
7. Click Go to save.
8. Log in with the new password.

WordPress replaces the MD5 value with a stronger hash the first time you log in, so you don’t need to do anything else.

If it doesn’t work

• The reset email never arrives. Your site may not be able to send email. Use WP Toolkit instead.
• The new password from phpMyAdmin doesn’t work. Check you picked MD5 in the Function column and edited the right user in the right database.
• You can’t tell which database belongs to the site. Open wp-config.php in File Manager and look at DB_NAME.

Good to know

Use a password manager to store a long, unique password. To add an extra layer of protection, see how to secure WordPress.

Still stuck? Open a support ticket and we’ll help.