How do I reset my Joomla Administrator Password?

Have you ever forgotten your password in to Joomla? I have, but all is not lost: 

Joomla's Administrator Username can be changed using a MySQL query. The most convenient way to manage the database is through the phpMyAdmin tool. If you feel nervous about this then it may be worth asking a friend or colleague who is comfortable with this.

Note: MySQL uses MD5 hash which prevents recovering the password and entering the password direct in to the password field unless you use the MD5 function. But don't worry I will show you how below.

Login to your cPanel (If you do not have cPanel or do not have phpMyAdmin, then contact your ISP and ask how you can edit your MySQL database

Let's assume for this example you have both applications.

Select phpMyAdmin (You will see it displayed in the Databases section)

The page will refresh and the database's tables will be displayed down the left hand side

Click the Joomla database (You may have more than one database set up)

You will have a list of tables displayed down the left hand side. Make a note of the name of the table which contains the word _users. Your table may be something like jos_users 

Click the SQL tab at the top of the page

A text field will display called Run SQL query/queries on database "joomla_database_name" where joomla_database_name is the name of your Joomla database

Type the following SQL queryIn the Run SQL query/queries on database "joomla_database_name" field :

UPDATE `jos_users` SET `password` = MD5( 'new_password' ) WHERE `jos_users`.`username` = "admin" ;

"new_password" - replace this with the new password you wish to use. Make sure it is secure with at least 8 characters containing letters, Uppercase and lower case and numbers. There have been incidents of Joomla! sites being hacked in to. Click here to read more about Joomla security

"admin" - replace this if your admin username is different.

Click on the GO button to submit the query when you are happy that you have typed the correct informaiton.

Login to Joomla with the new password.

if you have typed the table name incorrectly phpMyAdmin will display an error message with something like:

Error

SQL query:

UPDATE `my_users` SET `password` = MD5( 'new_password' ) WHERE `my_users`.`username` = "admin"

MySQL said: 

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