How to reset admin access details

This article is going to explain how to reset admin access details in Joomla.

Method 1: configuration.php file

1. Using FTP program connect to your server or just use hosting control panel FileManager. 
2. Download the configuration file. 
3. Open the configuration.php file that was downloaded in a text editor such as notepad++ and add the following line of code:

   to the bottom of the list where “myname’’ is a Joomla user username with administrator access that you know the password for. An username that is Author level or higher can also be used in place of a username with administrator access.

4. Save the configuration.php file and upload it back to the site. You may leave the permissions on the configuration.php file at 644. This user will now be a temporary super administrator. 
5. Login to the backend and change the password of the administrator user you don’t have the password for or create a new super admin user. If you create the new user you may want to block or delete the old user depending on your circumstances. 
6. When finished, make sure to use the “Click here to try to do it automatically” link that appears in the alert box to remove the line that was added to the configuration.php file. If using the link was not successful, then go back and delete the added line from your configuration.php file using a text editor. Upload the configuration.php file back to the site. 
7. Using your FTP program verify the file permissions of the configuration.php file, they should be 444. If you manually removed the added line, then change the file permissions on the configuration.php file to 444.

If you have no users who know their passwords and you can’t utilize front-end registration you may need to make a change in your database as outlined below in this article.

Method 2: Resetting in PhpMyAdmin

If you lost your admin password and you can’t log into the backend, then you’re able to reset the password via PhpMyAdmin tool on hosting. Complete the following steps:

1. Access PhpMyAdmin tool (usually that can be done from the hosting control panel), select your database in PhpMyAdmin tool.
2. Select the _users table.
3. Click “Browse” and click “Edit” (the small pen icon) on the user whose password you wish to reset.
4. You will now see all user data in a form. Under the “password” field, you will see a long list of encrypted letters. Delete these letters, and type in a new password.
5. BEFORE saving, remember to select “MD5” in the “function” dropdown list.
6. Save your new password and log into the backend of your Joomla site. Remember to reset the password again from the back-end, as the MD5 encryption is much more secure this way.