Check Your WordPress Dashboard

The fastest way to find your username is to log into your WordPress dashboard and look at the top right corner. Click on your profile icon or your name — it appears next to "Howdy" at the top of the page. A dropdown menu shows your username directly below your display name.

If you are already logged in, you can also go to Users > Your Profile from the left sidebar. The username field appears near the top of that page and cannot be changed from there — WordPress locks usernames after account creation.

Key Takeaways

  • Your WordPress username appears in the top right corner of the dashboard when you are logged in, next to "Howdy".
  • The Users > Your Profile page shows your username in a field labeled "Username" that you cannot edit.
  • If you have lost access to your dashboard, check your WordPress welcome email or ask your hosting provider to look it up.
  • Your username is different from your display name — the display name is what appears on published posts, while the username is what you use to log in.
  • Some WordPress sites use email addresses to log in instead of usernames, depending on how the site was set up.

Look at Your WordPress Welcome Email

When you first created your WordPress account, you received a welcome email from your site. That email contains your username and a link to log in. Search your email inbox for messages from your WordPress site's domain name or from wordpress.com if you use WordPress.com.

The email usually says "Welcome to [Your Site Name]" or "New WordPress Site" in the subject line. Open it and look for a line that says "Username:" followed by your login name. If you cannot find the original email, check your spam or promotions folder — welcome emails sometimes get filtered there.

Contact Your Hosting Provider

If you cannot log in and cannot find your welcome email, your hosting provider has a record of your username. Log into your hosting account (the account you pay for your website hosting) and look for a section called "WordPress" or "Installed Applications." Most hosting companies display your WordPress username there.

If you cannot find it yourself, contact your hosting provider's support team. Have your hosting account email and password ready. They can tell you your WordPress username in minutes and can also send you a password reset link if you need one.

Check the WordPress Users Table if You Have Database Access

If you manage your own WordPress database through phpMyAdmin or another database tool, you can look up your username directly. Log into your hosting control panel, find phpMyAdmin, and open your WordPress database. Look for a table called wp_users (or with a different prefix if your site uses one).

The user_login column shows all usernames on your site. This method requires some comfort with databases and is usually unnecessary — the other three methods are faster for most people.

Understand the Difference Between Username and Display Name

WordPress separates your login username from your display name. Your username is what you type into the login form — it is private and only you and site administrators see it. Your display name is what appears publicly on your posts and comments, and readers see it.

You can change your display name in your profile settings, but you cannot change your username after the account is created. If you need a different login name, you have to create a new user account and transfer your posts to it.

Know When Your Site Uses Email Instead of Username

Some WordPress sites, especially those on WordPress.com or sites set up by certain plugins, use your email address as the login instead of a separate username. If you cannot find a username field in your profile, your site probably uses email login.

In this case, your "username" for logging in is straightforward your email address. You can confirm this by trying to log in with your email — if it works, that is your login credential. The Users page will still show an internal username in the database, but you do not need it to access your account.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I change my WordPress username?

No. WordPress does not allow you to change your username after you create it. If you need a different login name, you must create a new user account with the new username and transfer your posts to it, or ask a site administrator to do so.

Is my WordPress username the same as my email address?

Not always. Some sites use email addresses as the login, while others use a separate username. Check your welcome email or try logging in with your email — if it works, email is your login. If it does not work, you have a separate username.

What if I forgot my username and cannot find my welcome email?

Contact your hosting provider with proof of account ownership. They can look up your username in their records or send you a password reset link that works with your email address instead. This usually takes less than an hour.

Can other people see my WordPress username?

It depends on your site settings. By default, usernames are visible in the site's author pages and sometimes in the HTML code of posts. You can hide your username from the public by changing your display name to something different and adjusting privacy settings, but administrators always see it.

Why does WordPress have both a username and a display name?

The username is your private login credential, while the display name is your public identity on the site. This separation lets you keep your login private while showing readers a different name on your posts — for example, you might log in as "john_smith_2024" but publish under "John Smith".