{"id":153782,"date":"2016-04-08T11:00:48","date_gmt":"2016-04-08T15:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/premium.wpmudev.org\/blog\/?p=153782"},"modified":"2016-04-08T00:52:29","modified_gmt":"2016-04-08T04:52:29","slug":"getting-back-into-wordpress-admin-after-hack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/getting-back-into-wordpress-admin-after-hack\/","title":{"rendered":"Hacked? How to Get Back Into the WordPress Admin"},"content":{"rendered":"

So your website has been hacked and you can\u2019t log in, no matter what username and password combination you try. Fortunately, you\u2019re not completely screwed \u2013 your database offers a convenient backdoor to help you regain access.<\/p>\n

If you find that your site has been hacked, or you\u2019ve simply forgotten your password and the admin email for your account is no longer valid, you can find that trying to recover your password from the login page doesn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n

In this kind of predicament, you\u2019ll be glad to know that as long as you can log in to your database, you can make simple changes to your account details so you can log back into your site.<\/p>\n

In this article, I\u2019ll show you how to change your admin user details in your database using phpMyAdmin so you can regain access to your site and administrator privileges.<\/p>\n

Getting Started<\/h2>\n

Before you make any changes to your database, it’s important that you create a backup of your entire site or at least your database, though, obviously, this bit can be tricky if you don’t have access to your site. Many backup tools require you to have access to the backend of your site. So how do you get around this very important detail?<\/p>\n

If you don’t already have a method in place for creating regular backups of your site, you can still backup your database using phpMyAdmin. It won’t include everything on your site but it’s better than having no backup at all.<\/p>\n

For the next few steps, I’m going to assume you’re logging into your site via cPanel (although you can also access it via The Hub<\/a>).<\/em><\/p>\n

In cPanel, go to Databases > phpMyAdmin<\/strong> and select your site or network’s database on the left, then click the Export<\/strong> tab toward the top of the page.<\/p>\n

The default options are usually fine so it’s not necessary to choose the custom settings option.\u00a0Click Go<\/strong> to select a location on your computer to save and create your backup.<\/p>\n

\"The
You can backup your database by exporting it in phpMyAdmin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you make a mistake and need to restore your database, you can do this by going back to phpMyAdmin and clicking on your database listed on the left.<\/p>\n

At the bottom of the page, click the checkbox to select all your tables, then choose the Drop<\/strong> option in the drop-down box next to the checkbox.<\/p>\n

Next, click on the Import<\/strong> tab, then the Choose file<\/strong> button. Select the file you previously exported and click Go<\/strong> to restore your database.<\/p>\n

Your database should function the way it did when you created the backup. Still, if you can backup your entire site, it’s recommended you do so to make sure you don’t lose anything.<\/p>\n

\"The
You can restore your database with the Import tool in phpMyAdmin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You might want to check out some of our posts about plugins that can create full backups of your site:\u00a0How to Backup Your WordPress Website (and Multisite) Using Snapshot<\/a>,\u00a04 Top WordPress Multisite Backup Solutions Tested and Reviewed<\/a> and\u00a07 Top Premium and Freemium WordPress Backup Plugins Reviewed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Updating Your Database<\/h2>\n

Once you have your backup saved, you can log in to phpMyAdmin through cPanel. Go to Databases > phpMyAdmin<\/strong> and click on your site’s database on the left, then on the wp_users<\/code> table that’s listed.<\/p>\n

Find your admin username on the list, then click the Edit<\/strong> button on the same line.<\/p>\n

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\"The
Click the Edit<\/strong> button to change the account details.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Next, change the email address in the user_email<\/code> field. Make sure to change it to an address that’s valid and that you can access (you can set up a different email address on your domain with email hosting<\/a>). When you’re done making the switch, click the Go<\/strong> button at the bottom of the page to save your changes.<\/p>\n

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\"The
Update your email address so you can recover your account.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Review and Recover Your Site<\/h2>\n

Now that your new email address has been added to your account, all you need to do to regain access to the backend of your site is:<\/p>\n