How to Login on WordPress Admin: A Complete Guide

If you’re unsure how to log in on WordPress admin, don’t worry, you’re not the only one.

For many WordPress newcomers, the platform’s login page can be difficult to locate at first.

The good news is that once you know where to look, it’s so easy to find that you’ll never have any problem logging in again.

Below, we’ve provided step-by-step instructions which show you just how straightforward it is to log in to your WordPress dashboard in a matter of seconds.

How to Login on WordPress Admin Via a URL

The simplest way to get into your WordPress admin area is to use the WordPress login URL.

This is your web address with /WP-Admin at the end, for example:

https://yourwebsite.com/wp-admin

Or

https://www.mikesecommercestore.com/wp-admin

There, you can enter your username and password into the box provided, and you’ll be logged into your WordPress dashboard area.

An Alternative WordPress Login URL

If there’s some reason why yourwebsite.com/wp-admin isn’t working, you can always go directly to the URL of the login page by typing its file name (wp-login.php) after your web address instead.

That would look like this:

https://yourwebsite.com/wp-login.php

https://mikesecommercestore.com/wp-login.php

How to Get into the WordPress Dashboard in a Sub Directory

The instructions above only work if your website is installed in the root directory of your hosting server.

If it’s saved in a sub-directory, such as /blog/ or /WordPress/, you need to add that to your URL, for example:

https://yourwebsite.com/blog/wp-admin

https://mikesecommercestore.com/WordPress/wp-login.php

How to Change Your WordPress Login URL

Using the login URL may be the easiest way to get into the WordPress admin area, but one often overlooked downside to this approach is that it also leaves you vulnerable to hacking attempts.

Since the vast majority of users all know that adding /WP-Admin to a URL is how you access the WordPress login page, it’s often one of the first things attackers will try in order to get into your site.

All they have to do is type yourURL.com/wp-admin and carry out a Brute Force Attack to crack your password.

There are two things you can do about this. The first is to install two-factor authentication on your WordPress site so that even if bad actors do have your password, they can’t log in unless they enter a verification code sent to your smartphone.

Another equally as effective tactic is to make it harder (if not impossible) for hackers to find your WordPress login URL in the first place.

To do this, you can use a free plugin like WPS Hide Login, which allows you to set a custom URL for accessing the login page, such as:

Yourwebsite.com/HumptyDumpty

Or, better yet, a randomized string of characters such as:

Yourwebsite.com/z928gakla0h

Keep in mind that if you do this, you’ll no longer be able to login using /wp-admin or /wp-login.php, so it’s essential that you remember your new login URL or, better yet, bookmark it for safekeeping.

2. Via Your Hosting Company

Most web hosting companies have the option to login to WordPress admin from directly within your hosting account.

So, if you’re already working on the back end of your site and quickly need to access your WordPress dashboard, this is another good option.

Given that all hosting companies design their user interfaces differently, it would be impossible to provide you with detailed instructions for all of them, so here’s just a quick example from Hostinger.

Login to your hosting account and, under Web Hosting, select Manage.

On your Hostinger dashboard, click Edit Website, and you’ll be taken directly to the login screen.

You can also get into your WordPress login page via the Edit Website button on the Hostinger WordPress overview dashboard.

Why Can’t I log in to WordPress?

If you’ve tried the two methods above and still can’t log in to WordPress, there could be a number of possible causes:

1. Your Website is Down

Let’s eliminate the most obvious possible cause first, shall we?

If you’re like many WordPress users, you’ve likely got into the habit of logging straight into your dashboard before ever looking at the front end of your website.

So, if you do that and find the login page isn’t there at all, your first task should be checking whether it’s a problem with the login page itself or your entire website.

Open up a new tab and visit your homepage, then click on a few other pages to make sure everything is still online.

If it is, that means it’s an isolated incident with the login page. If your homepage and content are just as inaccessible as the admin area, that means your whole website is offline, in which case you’ll need to troubleshoot that issue before returning to your login page and trying again.

2. Incorrect URL

Another likely reason why you can’t find your WordPress login page is that you’re not typing in the URL correctly.

First, double-check that there are no typos in your URL and that you’re using the correct way to load the admin login.

Remember, it’s /WP-Admin or /WP-login.php. So if you’re typing in something like /wp-admin.php, that’s not going to work.

You also want to make sure that you’re not forgetting to include a subdirectory if your WordPress is installed in one.

You can check if WordPress is in a sub-directory by using FTP or through your web host’s File Manager.

Open that up and look in the public_html folder. This is the root directory of your site.

If you see our WordPress installation in that folder, then yourdomain.com/wp-admin should work.

If there are subfolders within your root directory, check which one has your WordPress in it and incorporate the name of the folder into your URL.

So, to use the example illustrated above, YourDomain.com/WP-Admin would become YourDomain.com/WordPress/WP-Admin.

3. Incorrect Credentials

Maybe you can find the login screen perfectly well, but it just isn’t working.

If that’s the case, your first priority should be to rule out the possibility that you’re using an incorrect username and password.

To test if it’s your username that’s the problem, try using the email address associated with your WordPress account instead.

If that doesn’t work, reset your password by clicking Lost Your Password on the login screen and following the instructions provided.

If neither method gets you in, you can be confident that it’s not your credentials that are the problem, and it’s time to try something else.

4. Login Screen Refreshes and Redirects

Few WordPress problems are more frustrating than entering the correct username and password only to have the login page refresh and force you to start again.

No matter how many times you type your credentials and click Login, the page only signs you in so far before resetting.

If that’s happening to you, it could be problems with your permalinks or incorrect redirects within your .htaccess file.

We’ve provided steps to fix this problem in our guide to 40 common WordPress errors and how to fix them.

5. Your Website Has Been Hacked

Finally, the most worrisome reason you can’t access your WordPress admin is that hackers have taken over your site and locked you out by changing your password or deleting your account altogether.

The bad news is that this is only the first sign of a much bigger problem that you’ll have to fix.

The good news is that even if malicious actors have given you the boot, there are still ways to regain access.

See our guide to the signs your website has been hacked and what to do about them to learn how to get back into WordPress after your account has been compromised.

How to Login on WordPress Admin: Key Takeaways

So, you now know not only how to log in on WordPress admin but what to do if the usual methods don’t work.

To help you remember what you’ve learned, let’s recap some of the key takeaways from this guide.

• Use /WP-Admin or /WP-login.php to log in – Simply type either of these after your URL to bring up the login screen where you can enter your username and password.

• Your login page may be in a subdirectory – If you installed WordPress in a subdirectory, you’ll need to include it in the URL.

• You can also access your WordPress admin area via your hosting company – Find your WordPress installation within your hosting account and follow the instructions to log in.
  
• You can hide your login page with a plugin – Tools such as WPS Hide Login allow you to change your WordPress login URL so that hackers can’t find it, making it a great way to keep your site safe.

Speaking of site safety, for more tips on how to keep bad actors at bay, see our top 20 WordPress security tips.