How to reset Joomla admin password

Add a New Super Administrator User

If changing the password won't work, or you aren't sure which user is a member of the Super Administrator group, you can use this method to create a new user.

1. Navigate to phpMyAdmin and select the database for the Joomla! site in the left-hand drop-down list box. This will show the database tables on the left side of the screen.
2. Press the "SQL" button in the toolbar to run an SQL query on the selected database. This will display a field called "Run SQL query/queries on database <your database>".
3. Delete any text in this field and copy and paste the following query below and press the Go button to execute the query and add the new Administrator user to the table.
4. Use the SQL query below to add another administrator account.

SQL code for use with Joomla 2.x | 3.x

INSERT INTO `jos31_users`
   (`name`, `username`, `password`, `params`)
VALUES ('Administrator2', 'admin2',
    'd2064d358136996bd22421584a7cb33e:trd7TvKHx6dMeoMmBVxYmg0vuXEA4199', '');
INSERT INTO `jos31_user_usergroup_map` (`user_id`,`group_id`)
VALUES (LAST_INSERT_ID(),'8');

At this point, you should be able to log into the back end of Joomla! with the username of "admin2" and password of "secret". After logging in, go to the User Manager and change the password to a new secure value and add a valid e-mail address to the account. If there is a chance you have been "hacked", be sure to check that all users are legitimate, especially any members of the Super Administrator group.