How to Change WordPress Admin Email Address
Do you want to change the WordPress Admin Email address?
If yes then in this tutorial we have shared a few easy ways using which you can change email address for both WordPress Administration and Admin User.
First things first, administration email is the address where you will be receiving all the management related notifications or emails from your WordPress website such as
- New User Registration
- Comment Moderation
- Form Submission
- Security Alerts
And more.
In case the admin user has a separate email address than the administration email then you will receive all of the above notifications along with user management emails such as Reset Password on it as well.
This means both email addresses with receive website management notifications from WordPress.
As you can see the admin email address is a vital part of your website and therefore it is recommended to use a professional email rather than a free one.
If you have been using a free email and want to change your WordPress admin email to professional then this tutorial is for you.
And we have discussed multiple easy methods to do this.
Things to know Before changing Admin Email in WordPress
While we are on the topic of professional email addresses, it is important to know that- to make things easier for users, web hosting companies offer either one-click WordPress installations or in some cases it comes pre-installed.
In such scenarios, the email address that you have used to sign up with the web hosting company is used as the administration email in WordPress.
Often we have seen users choosing free mailing services like Gmail to sign up which leads to WordPress using it as the admin email address.
In this scenario we suggest that you create a professional email address and use it to replace the existing email in WordPress admin account.
Alternatively, as the first user in WordPress has the administration role, we generally add a new admin in WordPress first using the professional email.
And following this we demote and remove the first or the other user in WordPress.
It is important to know that for boosting security, we recommend that you add a new user in WordPress with lower permissions and assign posts, pages and products to them.
Also, make sure your WordPress site’s administration email address is different than the email of the user with Admin Role.
Further more, if you are the only one managing your site then we suggest disabling WordPress author archives as well.
Keeping this in mind, there are plenty of services that allow you to create a professional email address at no or nominal cost and below we have shared a few
Once you have the email address ready, the next step is to change the WordPress administration email
Ways to Change WordPress administration email
Before we move forward, it is important to know that Administration Email of your WordPress site can be different than Email address of the User with Administration Role.
Generally, you will notice that the email of the Admin User and the Administration Email Address of your WordPress site will be the same.
And this is because of the fact that the first user of a WordPress website is the administrator and its email is used as the administration email.
As mentioned above, we recommend keeping both the emails separate.
In this tutorial we have discussed change of email address for both.
There are multiple ways using which you can change the admin email address in WordPress.
It can be done manually from your WordPress dashboard, using a plugin or through phpMyAdmin.
We recommend doing it through WordPress settings and User Profile as it is the easiest way. Below are all the methods we have covered
Change Administration Email in WordPress
There are 3 ways using which you can change the administration email in WordPress.
- Via WordPress Settings (Recommended)
- Through phpMyAdmin
- Using plugin
Via WordPress Settings
To change the Administration email address via WordPress settings, the first step is to click General under Settings in your WordPress admin sidebar.
Doing this will show you all the WordPress General Settings and here you will have to search for Administration Email Address option.
In the next step you need to delete the old and add the new administration email in the space provided. See the below screenshot for reference.
Once done you need to click Save Changes and it will show you a notification stating that the administration email change is pending.
As you can see in the screenshot above, it clearly states that until you do not click the confirmation link sent you by email, the change won’t be reflected.
You will receive an email containing the confirmation link like the screenshot below.
Here you need to click the confirmation link and it will take you to your WordPress dashboard where you will notice that administration email has been successfully changed and the notification that you were seeing in gone.
Before we move forward, it is important to know that the confirmation email can take a bit of time to reach your inbox. So we suggest waiting.
In case you do not receive this email then we first recommend you check the spam folder.
If it completely fails to deliver then we recommend you use WP Mail SMTP plugin to fix WordPress not sending email issue.
Through phpMyAdmin
Changing the WordPress administration email address through phpMyAdmin is slightly more technical than the method we have discussed above.
And for this the first step is to visit the cPanel dashboard of your website inside the web hosting account and search for phpMyAdmin option.
Please Note– Not all web hosting companies have the same management dashboard. However, you will find phpMyAdmin under databases. In case you are unable to locate then we suggest you go through the documentation offered or contact support.
Once found you need to click phpMyAdmin and it will show you the website’s database on the left.
As you can see in the screenshot above, there are multiple databases and these are for different websites.
Here you are required to click the + icon in front of the database of your site.
On clicking + it will show you all the tables and here you are required to locate _options.
In the next step you need to open _options by clicking it and it will show you all the rows on the right.
In these rows you need to locate the admin_email under option_name .
Once found you need to click Edit and it will allows you to change your admin email by simply replacing the old with the new email address.
See the below screenshot for reference.
After you are done changing click the Go button to Save changes.
And that’s it you have successfully changed the administration email address of your WordPress using phpMyAdmin.
Please Note– This is a method to change the admin email without confirmation email. Basically, WordPress will not send you a confirmation email after this change.
Using plugin
Changing the WordPress administration email address using a plugin is very straight forward.
For this we will be using Change Admin Email plugin, it is a free plugin that you can install and use directly from inside your WordPress admin.
To install this plugin, you need to click Add New Plugin under Plugins in your WordPress dashboard sidebar.
Doing this will take you to the plugin repository in your WordPress website dashboard and here you will have to search for Change Admin Email.
Once found you have to first click Install and the Activate Change Admin plugin.
In the next step you need to visit WordPress General Settings and there you will notice a few changes.
- You will see a new Test Email button below Administration Email Address field. Using this button you can send a test email from your WordPress site.
Please Note– By clicking Test Email button you can check if WordPress can send email. In case you do not receive an email from your site then you can use WP Mail SMTP to fix the issue.
- The second change that you will come across is that- the notice below the Admin Email address now only state that this email address is used for admin purposes and remaining part about confirming the change has been removed.
See the below screenshot for reference
Before
After
This means if you are using Change admin email plugin to change the administration email in WordPress then no confirmation email will be sent to you.
In other words this is another way to change the WordPress admin email without confirmation.
Now to change the admin email, you just have to remove the previous email address and add the new email.
The final step is to Save Changes.
And that’s it you have successfully changed the administration email of your WordPress site using change admin email plugin.
Change Admin Email Address in WordPress
Moving on from the WordPress website’s Administration Email, the next thing that we will be doing is changing the email of the admin user.
This can also be done in 2 ways.
- Through User Profile in WordPress (Recommended)
- Via phpMyAdmin
Through User Profile
To change the email address of the Administrator in WordPress, you need to click All Users under Users in your WordPress dashboard sidebar.
In the next step you will have to edit the user with the Administration Role and you can do this by clicking Edit under the User.
On clicking Edit, it will take you to the user profile where you will have to locate the Email option.
You will find it under the Contact Info section.
In the next step you need to replace and add the new admin email address in the Email field and click Update Profile
On doing this, it will show you a notification that a confirmation email has been sent your inbox.
You will receive an email similar to the screenshot below.
You need to click the confirmation link and it will take you to the WordPress dashboard where you will see the new email address in the email field.
And that’s it you have successfully changed the email address for admin user in WordPress.
It is important to know that, the confirmation email from your WordPress site can take a bit of time to reach your inbox.
If it fails to do so then we recommend you check the spam / junk folder first.
In case it is not delivered at all then we recommend using WP Mail SMTP plugin to fix this problem.
Via phpMyAdmin
To change your admin email address via phpMyAdmin, the first step is to visit the cPanel dashboard of your website inside the web hosting account and search for the phpMyAdmin option.
Please Note– As mentioned above, some web hosting companies come with custom management dashboard while others still use the traditional cPanel. Whatever may be the case, you will find phpMyAdmin under databases. If you are unable to find then we suggest you go through the documentation offered or contact support.
Once found you need to click phpMyAdmin and it will show you the website’s database on the left.
As you can see in the screenshot above, there are multiple databases and these are for different websites.
Here you are required to click the + icon in front of the database of your site.
On clicking + it will show you all the tables and here you are required to locate _users.
In the next step you need to open _users by clicking it and it will show you all the rows on the right.
Once found you need to click Edit and it will allows you to change your admin user email by simply replacing the old by entering the new email address.
See the below screenshot for reference.
After you are done changing the email click the Go button to Save changes.
And that’s it you have successfully changed the email address of the admin WordPress using phpMyAdmin.
Please Note– This method to change the email of the WordPress admin user account is slightly complicated and WordPress will not send you a confirmation email after this change.
FAQ on Changing the WordPress admin email address
What is Administration Email Address in WordPress
The administration email address in WordPress is the email address associated with the administrative user account.
This email address is used for important notifications, password recovery, and other administrative purposes.
There are 2 types of admin emails you will comes across in WordPress
- The first administration email is for your WordPress website
- The second one is for the user with Administrator role
It is important to know here that when you start a WordPress blog or a website, the first user is by default assigned the Administration role and its email address is where all the administrative notifications are sent.
In case your site has different email address for admin user and administration email then the notifications will be sent to both.
Where can I find WordPress administration email address
As discussed above, there are 2 kinds of admin email in WordPress
- You will find the administration email address in General WordPress Settings
- For the admin user, you will have to visit All Users in your WordPress dashboard and then edit the one with the Administration Role.
- And under Contact Info you will find the Email option which is the Admin Email Address
How to change admin email without confirmation
There are 2 ways using which you can change administration email without confirmation and these are
- Using a Plugin (Easy)
- Through phpMyAdmin (Admin User / Administration Email)
We have discussed all of the methods in this tutorial and you can click the links above to navigate to the relevant sections
Why Change administration email in WordPress
Changing the admin email address in WordPress can be necessary for several reasons:
- Security: Keeping your admin email address updated is crucial for security. In case of any security-related issues or suspicious activities on your WordPress site, notifications and password reset emails will be sent to the admin email address. Having a valid and monitored email ensures that you are promptly informed of any potential security threats.
- Password Recovery: The admin email address is used for password recovery. If you forget your password, WordPress sends a password reset link to the admin email. Changing the admin email ensures that you can regain access to your site in case you forget your password.
- Communication: Important communication from WordPress, such as update notifications, plugin or theme notifications, and other system-related messages, is sent to the admin email address. Keeping it current ensures you receive critical information about your WordPress site.
- User Account Management: If your WordPress site has multiple administrators or users with different roles, the admin email address may be used for communication related to user account management, such as new user registrations or changes in user roles.
Is WordPress Admin Email address same as Administration Email
As discussed above, a WordPress website can have the same email address as the administration email and for the user with the Administrator role.
This is generally a scenario in most single owner or new sites.
In this situation WordPress notifications are sent to that registered email address which is the admin email.
Now in situation where the admin has a different email than the administration email of the WordPress site then general notifications are sent to both email addresses.
However, account specific notifications such as reset password are sent to the email address of the user with the Administration Role.
I’m Not receiving confirmation email for changing admin email
In case you are not receiving confirmation email for changing your admin email address then most likely you will have to fix WordPress not sending email problem.
And you can use WP Mail SMTP plugin for this.
Why use Professional Email as Administration email in WordPress
Personally speaking, we have seen people mostly use free email addresses as administration email in WordPress.
The problem with using free email services is you can easily forget passwords and this can lead to you unable to recover your account.
Other than this most web / WordPress hosting companies offer free email services in their plans. You can generate a free professional email with just one click.
Apart from this, when you are running an online business, it is always recommended that you use Professional email as it improves branding and leaves a positive impact on people.
If you are using free email services such as Gmail for communication, often you will find your emails landing in spam or never opened / replied to.
Basically it reduces the authenticity of your business.
There are quite a few services that you can use to create free custom email address for your business such as
Having said that,
I hope you will find this article helpful and are able to change WordPress admin email easily.
In case you have any queries then feel free to reach out.
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