How to Delete Invisible WordPress Admin Users

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How to Delete
Admin Users
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Invisible WordPress admin users are the sometimes
left behind artifacts of a sloppy hacker or
following the cleanup of a hacked website
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There is no automated way to remove these
invisible WordPress users
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phpMyAdmin may seem a bit intimidating at first.
Think of it like a text editor for databases and
youll be fine.
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The steps to removing INVISIBLE USERS in WORDPRESS
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1
Be sure to use a backup plugin, like Updraft Plus
or Backup Buddy, to make a database backup
Website will not be wiped clean by editing a
couple database tables
These backup plugins will not only help you
generate a backup in seconds
Theyll likewise allow you to recover your prior
database with just a few clicks of your mouse
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2
Add a new Administrator (user)
Maybe you are still using Admin as your username?
If thats the case, this would be a great
opportunity to change that to something less
guessable.
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3
Log into phpMyAdmin. Scary, huh?

I have to agree, phpMyAdmin is probably the most
intimidating login screen youll encounter in
your WordPress career
Youll find the username and password for your
phpMyAdmin by viewing the text within your
wp-config.php file
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4
Once logged in, find your database in the left
column and click it once.That will reveal a list
of tables. We only care about two
tables wp_usermetaand wp_users

Lets start with wpusers. Click that table link
and youll see something like this
Whats important here are the numbers in the User
ID column. Note how one is 2 and the other
is101011. These are good users in our
installation. Hint Remember this.
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5
Ok, the truly scary part. Sorry, youll have to
trust me on this. We are going to do a database
query to identify the invisible users. Click
the SQL tab.

Next, copy/paste the text below into the box and
click the Go button bottom right
This will do a quick search for all currently set
administrator users
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6
And now to the callback. After our search in 5
above, notice the extra users Mr/Mrs. Sherlock?

Excellent! I cried. Elementary, said he.
Arthur Conan Doyle
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7
Now kill the other users. Clicky-clicky on the
big red X next to each bad users until your enemy
has been defeated

If you are victorious in your quest, youll see
something like this when you refresh your
WordPress dashboard Users list
AFTER
BEFORE
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ress-admin-users
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