BENTECH

WordPress Recovery: Direct Database Password Reset

Master administrative recovery of WordPress websites via phpMyAdmin across multiple hosting environments.

A hands-on, practical course covering WordPress administrative password resets directly inside MySQL via phpMyAdmin. Learn to navigate XAMPP, cPanel, Hostinger, and CloudPanel to reach the database, locate the wp_users table, and apply the correct MD5 hashing function.

Section 1: Locating phpMyAdmin in Any Environment

Learn how to access phpMyAdmin on localhost and various web hosting control panels.

Lesson 1.1: Accessing phpMyAdmin Across Different Hosts

  • Localhost via XAMPP Control Panel
  • cPanel Databases navigation
  • Hostinger database management
  • CloudPanel VPS database user actions

Accessing phpMyAdmin depends on your hosting architecture. On local machines running XAMPP, ensure Apache and MySQL are running, then click Admin next to MySQL. On shared hosting using cPanel, look under the Databases heading. Proprietary panels like Hostinger manage database access per site within the site dashboard. VPS panels like CloudPanel require navigating to the site's Databases section and selecting Manage on the designated database user.

Practical work

  1. Open your hosting control panel or local server environment.
  2. Locate the database management area and launch phpMyAdmin.

Section 2: Database Credential Modification

Update user records in wp_users using the MD5 hashing function.

Lesson 2.1: Resetting the Password in wp_users

  • The wp_users table structure
  • Editing user_pass
  • Selecting the MD5 hashing function
  • Verifying login at /wp-admin

In phpMyAdmin, open your WordPress database and click on the wp_users table. Click Edit next to the target user account. In the user_pass row, type your desired new password into the Value column. Under the Function column dropdown, select MD5. Scroll down and click Go to apply the change. Finally, test the new password by navigating to /wp-admin in your browser and logging in.

Practical work

  1. Locate the wp_users table in your database.
  2. Edit the administrative user record.
  3. Set user_pass to your chosen password and assign MD5 to the Function dropdown.
  4. Save the table record and confirm the stored string is hashed.
  5. Navigate to yoursite.com/wp-admin and authenticate with the new password.