A colleague moved from a personal Gmail address to their new work mailbox, and their WordPress account still points at the old one. Nothing seems wrong until the day they forget their password, click the reset link and wait for an email that goes to an inbox they no longer check.
That is the real reason to keep account email addresses current. To change a user’s email in WordPress takes a minute, but there is one step that catches people out: when you change your own address, WordPress does not switch it until you confirm from the new inbox. Below are both routes, changing your own and changing someone else’s, plus the problems that come up most.
Why the account email matters more than it looks
The email on a WordPress profile is used for more than contact details:
- Password resets. The “Lost your password?” link sends its reset link to this address and nowhere else.
- Logging in. WordPress accepts the email address in place of the username on the login form.
- Notifications. Comment alerts for the author’s posts, and some plugin messages, go to the account email.
- The profile photo. WordPress shows the Gravatar linked to this address, so a new email can mean a different picture, or the grey default.
Each address can belong to only one account on a site. If you try to use one that is already on another user, WordPress refuses and says it is already registered.
Change your own email address
- Go to Users → Profile.
- Find Email (required) in the Contact Info section and type the new address carefully.
- Scroll down and click Update Profile.
- WordPress shows a notice that there is a pending change of your email, and sends a message to the new address, not the old one, with a confirmation link.
- Open that email and click the link. You may need to be logged in on the same site for it to work.
- The profile now shows the new address. WordPress also sends a short notice to the old address saying the email was changed.
Until you click the link, the old address stays in force. That is deliberate: it proves you can receive mail at the new address before WordPress trusts it for password resets. If you made a typo, nothing breaks; the confirmation simply never arrives, and you can cancel the pending change from the same notice on your profile and try again.
Change a user’s email in WordPress as an administrator
When an administrator edits another person’s profile, the process is quicker and has no confirmation step.
- Open Users → All Users, find the person in the list and use the Edit link under their name.
- Replace the address in the Email field.
- Click Update User.
The change applies immediately, and WordPress emails a notice of the change to the old address. Because there is no confirmation, a typo here really does matter: the person’s next password reset will go to the misspelt address. Ask them to send you the new address in writing rather than reading it out on the phone, and check it twice before saving.
This difference also gives you a way round a stuck confirmation. If your own confirmation email never arrives, another administrator can change your address from their account, and it takes effect straight away.
When the confirmation email does not arrive
A missing confirmation is almost always an email delivery problem rather than a profile problem. Work through these in order:
- Check the spam or junk folder of the new mailbox, and any filtering your email provider applies to messages from websites.
- Try a password reset for a test account, or send a test message from your SMTP plugin if you have one. If that does not arrive either, the site is not sending mail reliably.
- Look at whether the site uses an SMTP plugin at all. WordPress sends mail through the server by default, and a lot of it ends up filtered or rejected.
Our guide to fixing WordPress when it does not send emails covers SMTP setup and the usual culprits. Fix delivery first, then repeat the change, because the same problem will also stop password resets from reaching anyone.
The user email is not the site admin email
WordPress has a second, separate address under Settings → General, called the Administration Email Address. It receives site-level messages, such as new user registration notices and some update and security notices, and it has its own confirmation process. Changing your profile email does not change it, and the other way round. If that is the one you need, see how to change the WordPress admin email.
Shops, plugins and other places the old address may live
Changing the profile email updates the WordPress account. It does not touch copies of the address that plugins keep in their own settings. After a change, especially for a staff member, look in:
- WooCommerce. A customer’s account email and their billing email are separate fields. A customer can change their account email on the My Account page, under account details; their billing address, including its email, is kept separately. An administrator sees both on the user’s profile, and the billing email on past orders stays as it was when the order was placed. Store notification recipients are set under WooCommerce’s email settings.
- Form plugins. If the person received enquiries, their address may be typed into each form’s notification settings.
- Backup, security and SEO plugins, which often send reports to an address entered during setup.
- Single sign-on or membership plugins. If the Email field is greyed out or changes do not stick, a plugin may manage accounts from somewhere else, and the change has to be made there.
Wondering whether to update the email or remove an account entirely? Our guide to handling the people with access to your WordPress site covers when each makes sense, and if someone has left the business, removing a former employee’s access is the better checklist to follow. Both are part of our beginner’s guide to running WordPress.
Mistakes to avoid
- Using a shared inbox for an administrator account when several people read it. Anyone with that inbox can reset the password. A personal work address is safer for an admin; shared addresses suit role-based notifications better.
- Using a personal address that might disappear, such as a college email or an old employer’s mailbox.
- Changing someone’s email without telling them. They will see a notice at the old address and may assume their account has been taken over.
- Forgetting to test. After a change, a quick password reset from a private window shows the new address is working. Our article on resetting a WordPress password covers what to do if that reset email goes missing.
Frequently asked questions
Can staff change their own email without an administrator approving it?
Yes. Any logged-in user, including a Subscriber, can change the email on their own profile, and the only check is the confirmation link sent to the new address. If you want people to tell you first, agree that with them, or use a plugin that locks profile fields.
What if the person cannot log in because the old inbox is gone?
An administrator can fix it for them. Edit their profile from the Users screen, enter the new address and save, which takes effect straight away. Then ask the person to use the Lost your password link on the login page. The reset email will now reach the new inbox and they can choose a fresh password.
Does changing the email change my username?
No. The username stays exactly as it was, even if it was originally the old email address. WordPress does not let you edit usernames from the profile screen. You can still log in with the new email address, and you can change the public display name in the same profile screen.
I clicked the confirmation link but my email did not change. Why?
WordPress shows an error when the link does not match the pending change on the account you are logged in as. The change may have been cancelled or replaced by a newer attempt, or you may be logged in as a different user. Log in as yourself, check your profile, and start the change again if needed.
If account emails are not arriving at all, or changes will not stick and you cannot see why, our WordPress support services can find where the mail or the setting is going wrong.
Next in this series: Remove Access When an Employee Leaves: Website Checklist
