How to Add a Second Admin Account in WordPress (2026)

If one person holds the only administrator account on a WordPress site, that login becomes a single point of failure. Adding a second administrator with separate credentials costs a few minutes and makes recovery much easier if something goes wrong.

This guide assumes you already have an administrator account and are logged in. It covers the built-in method first, then a plugin option, and the checks worth running afterward.

Add the account with WordPress’s built-in tools

In wp-admin, go to Users › Add New.
Enter a username that does not reveal the person’s role, and an email address that person controls. Avoid admin, administrator and the site owner’s name.
Set a strong, unique password. WordPress will suggest one; keep it in a password manager rather than an email or chat message.
Set Role to Administrator.
Untick Send the new user an email about their account if you want to pass the credentials yourself, then click Add New User.
Log out, then log in as the new user to confirm it works before you rely on it.

Use a plugin if you want more control

If you need to create the account without giving it full administrator rights straight away, or you want to schedule a role change, a role-management plugin can do that. Two widely used options are Members by MemberPress, which adds role editing and content permissions, and User Role Editor, which lets you add or modify roles and capabilities.

Install from Plugins › Add New, search the exact name, check the last-updated date and active install count, then activate. Test on a staging copy before changing roles on a live site, and keep one administrator account that no plugin manages so a bad role change cannot lock you out.

What to verify after you add it

Log in as the new account and confirm it can reach the dashboard, plugins and users screens.
Confirm the original account still works. Do not rely on the new one until both are proven.
Enable two-factor authentication on both accounts. Google’s own guidance on setting up two-factor authentication covers the same principle for any account.
Remove the second account if the person leaves the project, and rotate any shared passwords they had access to.

What we did not do

We did not make any change to a live WordPress site while writing this, and we did not test the plugins named above on this site. Plugin behaviour changes between versions, so check compatibility with your WordPress version before installing.

This also pairs with our password manager setup guide if you are still storing site credentials by hand.