Wordpress Update User's Password with PHP

Question

I have a webapp that uses Wordpress for it's authentication. I have an Account options page there. When opened, it contains a password update section. I POST this to my PHP script and run this code:

wp_update_user(array('ID' => getUserIDWP(), 'user_pass' => $_POST['newpass']))

It logs me out of my current Wordpress session, but when I try to log back in with the password I specified there, it says that I entered an incorrect password. I'd appreciate if someone could shed some light on this subject.

Note: the getUserIDWP() function is an alias for $current_user->ID; and the other related stuff.

wich version of wp do you have? I don't see the 'user_pass' entry in the usermeta table. — Frank
– Frank, Commented Aug 29, 2012 at 16:22
I don't actually remember what version I used - but it was the latest version when I asked that question. Probably an early 3.0 or 3.1. — Tristan
– Tristan, Commented Sep 2, 2012 at 15:12

Popnoodles · Accepted Answer · 2022-11-29 13:24:15Z

14

Try below code, it won't log you out after password change and it works with Ajax too. Also, no need to reset cookies/session after it.

$userdata = [
    'ID'        => 1,
    'user_pass' => 'new_password',
];

wp_update_user( $userdata ); // this will handle encryption and everything

edited Nov 29, 2022 at 13:24

Popnoodles

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answered Feb 11, 2016 at 10:10

Mayur Chauhan

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2 Comments

geraldo Over a year ago

wp_set_password clears user cache so you will be logged out. If you want to log back in you can do: wp_set_current_user ( wp_get_current_user()->ID ); wp_set_auth_cookie ( wp_get_current_user()->ID );

Mayur Chauhan Over a year ago

@geraldo please refer updated answer, it will be a better solution if you don't want user to be logged out.

Jonatan · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-29 16:28:52Z

8

It worked for me to update 'user_pass' using both update_user_meta and wp_update_user:

update_user_meta($user_id, 'user_pass', $newpassword);
wp_update_user( array ('ID' => $user_id, 'user_pass' => $newpassword) ) ;

edited Aug 29, 2012 at 16:28

Jonatan

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answered Aug 29, 2012 at 15:48

Brad Trivers

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1 Comment

Mark Steudel Over a year ago

Does wp_set_password work? And do you need to hash the new password first?

Maidul · Accepted Answer · 2025-08-10 18:34:07Z

/**
 * Update a user's password by user ID, email, or username.
 *
 * @param int|string $identifier User ID (int), email (string), or username (string).
 * @param string     $new_password Plaintext new password.
 * @return int|\WP_Error Returns the user ID on success or a WP_Error on failure.
 */
function di_update_user_password( $identifier, string $new_password ) {
    if ( empty( $new_password ) ) {
        return new WP_Error( 'empty_password', 'Password cannot be empty.' );
    }

    // Resolve the user by identifier.
    if ( is_numeric( $identifier ) ) {
        $user = get_user_by( 'id', absint( $identifier ) );
    } elseif ( is_email( $identifier ) ) {
        $user = get_user_by( 'email', $identifier );
    } else {
        $user = get_user_by( 'login', $identifier );
    }

    if ( ! $user || ! $user->ID ) {
        return new WP_Error( 'user_not_found', 'No matching user found.' );
    }

    // Option A (recommended for one-off resets): hash + set + reset sessions.
    // WordPress will hash internally; do NOT hash yourself.
    wp_set_password( $new_password, $user->ID ); // void

    // Optionally, return the ID for consistency with wp_update_user().
    return (int) $user->ID;

    // --- Option B (alternative): use wp_update_user() ---
    // $result = wp_update_user( [
    //     'ID'        => $user->ID,
    //     'user_pass' => $new_password, // Pass plaintext; WP hashes it.
    // ] );
    // return $result; // int|WP_Error
}

place it in your theme’s functions.php or a utilities plugin.

call like this

// By ID
di_update_user_password( 123, 'NewStrongPass!2025' );
// By email
di_update_user_password( '[email protected]', 'Another$trongOne' );
// By username
di_update_user_password( 'maidul', 'S3cure#Pass' );

NickOpris · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-16 21:26:57Z

0

I know it's late but...

I had a similar problem and it turns out there was an entry in the usermeta table called user_pass. I deleted that entry and I could log in again.

Maybe this will help somebody - I spent the last hour trying to figure out what I did wrong.

answered Nov 16, 2011 at 21:26

NickOpris

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Comments

farid teymouri · Accepted Answer · 2022-11-22 16:52:18Z

0

try this one

    global $current_user;
    $password = 'Abc123456';
    wp_set_password($password, $current_user->ID);

answered Nov 22, 2022 at 16:52

farid teymouri

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