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Change a WordPress password with SSH

Updated May 7th, 2021 at 14:20 BST

You can make changes to your database through SSH, which you can use to update your WordPress password.

Warning: The information in this article is advanced material we make available as a courtesy. Please be advised that you are responsible for properly following the procedures below. Customer Support can't assist with these topics.

Note: You should always backup your site before performing any changes.

Connect to your Managed WordPress hosting account with SSH. Check article: https://help.tsohost.com/knowledge-base/article/11971

Connect to MySQL using the following command:

             mysql -u username -h host database -P port -p

Enter the database information from your database as follows:

username is your database username

host is your database hostname or IP address

database is the database name

port is the port MySQL is running on (by default this is 3306)

When prompted, enter the password for that MySQL user.

Enter the following MySQL command to switch to your WordPress database:

             mysql> use database

database is the database name

Enter the following command to see a list of the tables in the database. Make notes of the table containing "_users".

               mysql> show tables;

Enter the following command to see the contents of your "users" table. Make note of the number in the "ID" column for the user you want to update.

               mysql> SELECT * FROM table;

table is the name of your users table.

Use the following command to set your new password.

           mysql> UPDATE table SET user_pass = MD5('password') WHERE ID = id;

table is the name of the users table.

password is your new password

id is the number you located in Step 7

You can now log in with your new password