If you lose access to your Joomla administrator dashboard, you can reset your password using the built-in recovery link on the login screen. This sends a reset link to the email address associated with your account.
If you also lack access to that email account, you can update your password directly within your website database.
Table of Contents
Prerequisites
Before starting, ensure you have access to your mybox panel. Modifying database records requires caution, as direct changes impact your live website.
Step-by-step instructions
1. Access phpMyAdmin
Log in to your mybox panel. Navigate to the databases section in the main menu and open phpMyAdmin for the database connected to your Joomla installation.
2. Locate the users table
Once inside phpMyAdmin, look at the list of tables in the left sidebar. Locate the table ending in _users.
By default, Joomla uses the jos_ prefix (resulting in jos_users), but your specific installation may use a random string of characters instead (such as abcde_users).
3. Edit the administrator user
Click on the users table to view the list of registered accounts. Find the administrator account you need to access and click Edit (or the pencil icon) next to that row.
4. Insert the temporary password string
Locate the row named password. In the Value column, clear the existing text string completely and paste the following tracking string exactly as shown:
Plaintext
d2064d358136996bd22421584a7cb33e:trd7TvKHx6dMeoMmBVxYmg0vuXEA4199
This specific MD5 hash temporarily resets your website password to the word: secret
5. Save the changes
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Go or Execute button to apply the changes to the database.
Next steps
You can now navigate back to your Joomla administrator login page and log in using your existing username and the temporary password secret.
Because secret is a generic and insecure password, update it to a strong, unique password inside the Joomla user management dashboard immediately after logging in.