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Adding a WordPress User via PHP
When inheriting a WordPress site where you have file system access but no WordPress credentials, you can use PHP to create a new administrator account directly. This is typically done via FTP, SFTP, or a file manager in your hosting control panel.
Before you begin
- You will need access to the site’s file system via FTP, SFTP, or a hosting control panel file manager
- Identify the active theme — you will be editing its functions.php file
- Have the site URL handy so you can load it after making the edit
Steps
- Open the functions.php file of the active theme
- Add the following code, updating the username, password, and email address before saving
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add_action( 'init', function () { $username = 'tempadmin'; $password = 'astrongpassword'; if ( ! username_exists( $username ) ) { $user_id = wp_create_user( $username, $password, $email_address ); $user = new WP_User( $user_id ); $user->set_role( 'administrator' ); } } ); |
- Load the site in a browser. The code will execute in the background and create the new account.
- Log in to WordPress using the credentials you specified
- Open functions.php again and remove the code you added. This is important — leaving it in place means it will attempt to run on every page load.
A few things to note
- Use a username that is not on the list of usernames to avoid — even for a temporary account
- Use a strong password. Once you are in WordPress you can reset it or delete the account entirely.
- If Wordfence or another security plugin is installed, you may receive a notification that a user was created outside of the normal WordPress process. This is expected and can be dismissed.
- Once you have access, create a proper administrator account through the WordPress dashboard and delete this temporary one.
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