Locked out of your WordPress dashboard? Don’t worry—you can still create a new admin account by accessing your site files through FTP. This guide walks you through the safe and efficient way to do it.
Step 1: Open FTP and Locate wp-config.php
Using your FTP client, navigate to your WordPress site’s root directory. Download the wp-config.php
file—it holds essential configuration, including database access.
Step 2: Insert Admin Details
Open the wp-config.php
in a text editor and add the following just before this line:
/* That's all, stop editing! Happy publishing. */ //Add: define('WP_ADMIN_USERNAME', 'your_admin_username'); define('WP_ADMIN_PASSWORD', 'your_admin_password'); define('WP_ADMIN_EMAIL', 'your_email@example.com');
Update these with your preferred username, password, and email.
Step 3: Save and Upload Back
Upload the modified wp-config.php
back to the server, overwriting the existing version.
Step 4: Add PHP Script to Register Admin
Create a new file in the root directory called add_admin_user.php
and paste the code below:
require_once('wp-config.php'); require_once(ABSPATH . 'wp-includes/wp-db.php'); if (!empty(WP_ADMIN_USERNAME) && !empty(WP_ADMIN_PASSWORD) && !empty(WP_ADMIN_EMAIL)) { $user_id = username_exists(WP_ADMIN_USERNAME); if (!$user_id) { $user_id = wp_create_user(WP_ADMIN_USERNAME, WP_ADMIN_PASSWORD, WP_ADMIN_EMAIL); if (!is_wp_error($user_id)) { $user = new WP_User($user_id); $user->set_role('administrator'); echo 'Admin user created successfully.'; } else { echo 'Error: ' . $user_id->get_error_message(); } } else { echo 'User already exists.'; } } else { echo 'Missing user details in wp-config.php.'; }
Step 5: Execute the Script
Visit https://yourdomain.com/add_admin_user.php
in a browser. If set up correctly, this will create a new admin user.
Step 6: Delete the Script
For your website’s safety, delete add_admin_user.php
immediately after use. Leaving it accessible is a major security risk.
Final Thoughts
This FTP-based method is great for recovering access or resolving user issues. Just remember to delete the script after execution and always back up your site before making changes.
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