How to change or recover Joomla Administrator password

Hi I just want to say thank you for this script, because I lose my Pass and I was scared already, not being able to get in to my administrator so, I used the form above and It worked out beautifully  
 
Thanks a lot! 
 
Alex

it did not work for me. 
i copied the generated code but i can't login.

Do I need to change the jos_ users 
 
Or does admistrator go in the usernane or do I use the last one created

lol, thank you! Well for beginners like me! It would of been nice to tell us where in phpmyadmin! 
I knew it was sql because of the image above. But i thoyght i had to click on jos_users or something! 
 
Here are step by step instructions. 
1. Make up a password!  
2. Use the password on this site to generate the code, now copy this code 
3. Go to ur hosting provider or cpanel, find ur mysql section.  
4. Then find one of ur databses, and click myphpadmin 
5. Right after u get into ur myphpadmin site click "SQL" 
6. Now paste ur code in main box u see 
7. highligh password on the right, and click go 
8. now go to ur web site,click administrator or ( www.yoursite.com/administrator/) 
9. Type in admin as USERNAME and for the PASSWORD type in the password u provided earlier  
10. press ENTER and u should be in!!

greatest help i have ever received....this script is awesome...keep it up

I have to insert that sql code everytime i want to log in my admin panel, theres a worm that got stucked in my site, it was phpbb forum or sth, ive already errased that fake module... by the way im using joomspanish 1.0.13... the SQL works, BUT... this worm keeps resetting my admin user and password, so that makes so annoying redoing all that sql code again! what can i do to change for good my password without having to apply that sql code everytime i have to log in? 
 
 
THANKS! waiting for your replies!

This is a great tool. For whatever reason my password was changed in dBase file. When I decrypted the MD5 encrypted password it came up as nothing.  
 
My only stumbling block was the fact I changed the title administrator name to something else but I kept changing it to the user id. Once I figured out that I needed to use the name I changed the administrator to everything worked fine. 
 
Please keep in mind I have NO SQL knowledge what so ever.  
 
Thanks, 
 
~Dale

It took me a little while before i got it that there are now super administrators. 
Then it just worked fine. 
Thanks a lot. 
Mark

The password is stored in the MySQL database jos_users table password field 
I did this to chang my password 
1. login to control panel 
2. Find ( php my admin ) and click on it 
3. Look for the word ( Databases )click on it 
4. WARNING if you have more then one website on the server you must first fined the one  
the one you want to reset the password on. there ending with (_joomla )(if you need help ask) 
5.find ( jos_users ). To your right in the size section there will be a number with (KiB)ending in blue 
click on it  
6.Now on top look for ( Browse ) Click on it 
7.You can now see all the users and the user names. In the (usertype) finde (super administrator) 
go to its right and click on Edit  
8.copy and past this code over the old code in the password section 
21232f297a57a5a743894a0e4a801fc3 the code means ( admin )the new password  
9 I used the same name for both the username and name  
10. go to login and type the name you used and for the password type in ( admin )

Excellent - the other solutions were OK but this was the clearest and neatest. Well done!!

Thanks, your programme was of great help as one always forget to write down passwords! 
I am trying to generate passwords automatically for my users, but the generated codes do seem to be recognized when login in. Could you kindly send me the code behind the generation of your code? For your generated password functions correctly? 
Thanks in advance.

doesn't work 
 
not enough instructs for locating issue

Ive run the querie and now my whole site is down cant connect to the database.... 
 
 
 
HELP HELP

Thanks for that! nice and easy, you people deserve a pat on the back!

Oh thanks so much to YOU my friend. First time installing and everything worked except I couldn't log in! Followed those step by step instructions and VOILA. Code is brilliant. Thx!

Can someone recover my password for me. I don't have the first inkling of what to do. I just know how to change things with the joomla program.

Seriously reccommended if you ever get stuck ! it just works as per the instructions. Nick

people trying to login are using the word Administrator as the user name. its not Administrator, its Admin.

Thanks a lot for this, and thanks Wazrik for the idiots guide - I needed it!

ohh yeahhh...very nice...thank you to the makers of this site...saved me from reinstalling joomla

well done guys - really appreciate your knowledge 
 
peter

You F'ing rock! I've been locked out of my backend for god knows how long. 
Worked like a charm. Use your brains newbs. Joomla v. 1.5 
 
Thank you!

I've been locked out of my backend for over 3 weeks now i've tried everything i found, but still no joy...This is what happens i type in my user and password the screen blinks and im still on the login page no errors nothing i tried this it might work for others http://www.joomlaspan.com/Joomla-SMF-Bridge-Recover-Super-Administrator-Status-after-bad-synchronization.html but that didnt work for me, also tried module recover.php, if someone has an answer i done want to start all over again yes i did a DB backup before this error but the issue is still there.

This works perfectly, and can be used on any database using phpmyadmin not just Mambo and Joomla Cms..

i updated the password fro phpmyadmin correctly but i can't login... 
What i have to put in the configuration.php in the var secret field?? 
Any Ideas??? 
 
thanks

I have used your recovery form to change the password, but i have made a big mistake...i have generated and excecuted sql string but i havent type ANY password... so now the password has changed but i have no idea what it is, i have tried empty, typeyournewpasswordhere but nothing roks. 
 
ANY IDEA?  
 
plase help

UPDATE jos_users SET password='3e7b906dadf044a086d4db2d48d12ba5' WHERE name='Administrator'; 
 
 
could i get my password from this?

You need to write a password before generating the sql. You can do it now, it will override the blank password you have set by mistake

Hey! 
 
I tried above but thereafter I went to my website freshlightltd.com and it started to say This site is temporarily unavailable. 
 
It just happened right after I pushed the Go button in Sql! Does anyone a way to make this undone? 
 
Thank you so much in advance!:D 
 
Regards, 
Leon

Seriously.. you're a life saver. Holy cow..  
 
I wish I knew how the password was changed between now and 6.5 hours ago, but this saved me.

OK I've tried this several times but I am still getting Username and password do not match. 
 
The SQL command was processed correctly.

After updating password, I still have password incorrect problem

Hello! 
 
I lost my password I know backup backup backup just when I was my vista barf crash However whas able to fixe it with this tutorial god bless. 
Pierre

Thank you for the useful code. I was a able to change my password with no issues. Thanks again!!!

it worked ! Awesome, but my login pass changing almost daily, I don't know why? anyone has an idea?

Tried and verified the content of the users table and had been changed. However I am nit able to get in as administrator. Maybe Jooml 1.5 needs other changes as well in the configuration.php file? 
 
Emile

 
Thanks heaps, it seemed simple but the other help sites I read made it seem hard. Thanks for writing simply and succinctly!

Superb. I reckon someone locked me out of my site, but this got me back in first time. I'm pretty much a beginner but along with the post above (13) it all worked a treat. 
Thanks!

Hi, 
Great article. It would be helpful if anybody could send me the script for decryption of password. 
 
Thank you 
 
Regards 
Samira

Hey I'm not sure if I created a user name and password for joomla admin login. if i did i can't remember the user and pw. howdo i reset my user name and pw?

Hey Bru  
Thanx a lot for this, much appriciated.  
101 bits score  
jadespear

Thanks a bunch ! You save countless of life & times.. haha 
 
for those who can't get it to work, try to change 'Administrator' to 'Super Administrator' . 
 
Generated SQL:  
UPDATE jos_users SET password='xxxxxxxxxxxxxx72d6' WHERE name='Administrator'; 
 
Change to:  
UPDATE jos_users SET password='xxxxxxxxxxxxxx72d6' WHERE name='Super Administrator';

I had my password. But today it did not work, though it was the same4 password i was using since 1 year. 
I search and found your page. Excelent . I reset the password. Without it i would have suffered a lot. Thank you from my heart.

Thanks, I spent ages ignoring this problem and when I finally faced up to trying to fix it, your clear instructions were perfect.

i ran it..it worked, i logged in but now..i see thsi error 
 
Warning: asort() expects parameter 1 to be array, string given in /mnt/w0911/d15/s28/b02e4a6e/www/triniexpressions.com/includes/joomla.php on line 5074 
 
Logout admin 
Trini Expressions / com_admin

you need to go to site config, error reporting and set it to "Simple"

I've tried the script, I've changed it to 'Administrator' to 'Super Administrator', I've opened up the users and pasted the password numbers generated by the program and still no luck in accessing the administrator panel. Help?

This is a good fix, I did have to read the replies though in order to understand exactly how to do it. Jos_Users could show up differently in your db like in our case it was rwc_users. Great fix though worked like a charm. 
 
Jeremy Thompson 
www.revolutionwebstudios.com

Just patched form Joomla 1.5 to 1.5.7. Can't log in as admin and your routine does not work. 
 
Where can I get help. I will pay.

This tool ROCKS!!!! One of the best joomla assists out there!!!

Hi guys, I was able to reset the password using the form only once. then it accepted my password but said my session had expired so i had to login again. only that time it didn't work. and the form is not working since then.

thanks much. i was changing the bak_users table by mistake.