How to reset a WordPress Password?

How to reset a WordPress password (all real methods)

Forgetting a WordPress password is annoyingly common. Doesn’t mean you did anything wrong. It just means WordPress decided today was the day to test your patience.

There are a few solid ways to reset it. Some easy. Some a bit more hands-on. I’ll walk you through all the normal methods, step by step, so you can pick what actually works for your situation.

Method 1: Reset password from the WordPress login screen (easiest)

This works if your email is set up properly. Big “if”.

Steps:

1. Go to your WordPress login page

2. Click Lost your password?

3. Enter your username or email

4. Click Get New Password

5. Check your email

6. Click the reset link

7. Set a new password

Log in. Done.

Cost:
€0

If the email never arrives, don’t keep clicking. That won’t help. Move to the next method.

Method 2: Change password from inside WordPress (if you’re still logged in)

This one’s handy if you’re logged in on one device but forgot the password everywhere else.

Steps:

1. Go to Users → Profile

2. Scroll down to Account Management

3. Click Set New Password

4. Enter a new password

5. Save

That’s it.

Cost:
€0

WordPress loves generating mad passwords here. You don’t have to use them if you don’t want to. Just don’t use “password123”. Please.

Method 3: Reset password via another admin user

This works if someone else has admin access.

Steps:

1. Ask the other admin to log in

2. Go to Users → All Users

3. Click your username

4. Click Set New Password

5. Save

You log in with the new password. Crisis over.

Cost:
€0

This is why having more than one admin can be useful.

Method 4: Reset password using phpMyAdmin (direct database method)

This is the one people use when emails fail and nobody can log in. Looks scary. Works fine if you’re careful.

Steps:

1. Log into your hosting panel

2. Open phpMyAdmin

3. Select your WordPress database

4. Open the wp_users table

5. Find your user

6. Click Edit

7. In the user_pass field, enter a new password

8. Set the function to MD5

9. Save

Now log into WordPress using that new password.

Cost:
€0

Important:
After logging in, go to your profile and set a new password again. WordPress will re-hash it properly.

Method 5: Reset password via hosting file access (last resort)

This is rare, but useful if phpMyAdmin is locked down.

Steps:

1. Access your site via File Manager or FTP

2. Open the theme’s functions.php file

3. Temporarily add a password reset function

4. Visit your site once

5. Remove the code immediately

This works, but only if you know exactly what you’re doing. One mistake and the site throws errors.

Cost:
€0

Honest advice:
If you’re not comfortable editing files, skip this method.

Method 6: Use a plugin (only if you can log in)

This doesn’t help if you’re locked out, but it’s an option.

Steps:

1. Log into WordPress

2. Install a user management plugin

3. Change the password

4. Save

5. Delete the plugin

Cost:
€0

No reason to keep a plugin installed just for this.

Common reasons password resets fail

• Email not configured properly
• Emails landing in spam
• Wrong database selected
• Caching old login pages

It’s rarely anything dramatic.

What I’d actually do

If email works:
Use the login screen reset

If email doesn’t work:
phpMyAdmin, slow and careful

If I still have access somewhere:
Change it from the profile page

That’s it.

Resetting a WordPress password isn’t a disaster. It’s just one of those mildly annoying admin jobs. Once it’s done, you forget about it again. Until the next time WordPress decides to log you out for no clear reason.