If one of your website’s editors has left the team, or ownership of the website has changed, you may need to update the author assigned to existing posts in WordPress.
Fortunately, WordPress allows you to change the author of multiple posts at once using the built-in bulk editing feature.
Table of Contents
Changing the Author of Multiple Posts
Step 1
Log in to your WordPress administration panel.
Step 2
From the left-hand menu, navigate to:
Posts → All Posts
Step 3
Select the posts whose author you want to change by checking the box next to each post.
Step 4
From the Bulk Actions dropdown menu, select:
Edit
Then click:
Apply
Step 5
The bulk editing panel will appear, allowing you to modify several post settings at once.
Locate the Author field and select the user who should become the new author of the selected posts.
Step 6
Click:
Update
to save the changes.
The selected posts will now display the newly assigned author.
Changing the Author of a Single Post
If you only need to update one post:
Step 1
Navigate to:
Posts → All Posts
Step 2
Open the post you want to edit.
Step 3
In the post settings panel, locate the Author option.
Step 4
Select the desired user from the dropdown list.
Step 5
Click:
Update
to save the changes.
Available Bulk Edit Options
In addition to changing the author, WordPress bulk editing allows you to modify other post settings, including:
- Categories
- Tags
- Publication status
- Comments
- Pingbacks
- Sticky post status
- Post format
This can be useful when managing large numbers of posts.
Important Notes
- The new author must already exist as a user in WordPress.
- Users typically need at least the Author role to be assigned as post authors.
- Changing the author does not affect the content, publication date, categories, or SEO settings of the post.
Summary
To change the author of multiple posts:
- Go to Posts → All Posts.
- Select the desired posts.
- Choose