WordPress Login Not Working

Which login failure do you have?

The message on the screen picks the fix. A wrong password, a reload, a lockout notice, a bounce back to the form, and a white page are different faults. Do not start in the database.

A 404 on /wp-login.php means that file is not in this folder. Resetting the password will not create it. Open the hosting account that actually holds the site files.

If the public homepage is down as well, the login form is not the first fault. Check that the hosting account is online before you change users.

If you reach wp-admin and then see that you are not allowed in, the password worked. Another administrator has to set your role back to Administrator.

What should you try before you change files?

Use an address you can type, not a bookmark. Open https://your-domain/wp-login.php. If /wp-admin/ only refreshes, the direct login file is the test that matters.

• Open a private window. If that window reaches the dashboard, clear cookies for this site in the normal window and sign in again.
• Allow cookies for the site. A browser that blocks them reloads the form even when the password is right.
• If the form says the password is wrong, click Lost your password and use the link in the email.
• If that email never arrives, check spam and the mailbox. Leave the database alone until the plugin check is done.

You know the browser step worked when a private window stays on the dashboard after you submit the form. If it returns to the form with no error, move to the site URL section. If it names a lockout, use cPanel next.

A plugin that hides the login address is a different block. After that plugin folder is renamed, /wp-login.php should show the normal form again.

How do you clear a WordPress login lockout in cPanel?

This is the cPanel WordPress login path. Use it when the form says too many attempts, login is disabled, or a security plugin is what changed last.

On WebJi® the file manager sits in cPanel for that account. cPanel hosting is where that login lives. The office phone is not how you open it.

1. Sign in to cPanel and open File Manager.
2. Open the site folder, usually public_html, then wp-content, then plugins.
3. Rename the lockout plugin folder so the name ends in -off. limit-login-attempts-reloaded becomes limit-login-attempts-reloaded-off.
4. Reload /wp-login.php. A normal form, then the dashboard after the right password, means that folder was the block.
5. Rename the folder back. Clear your address in the plugin log, then leave the limit on.

If you cannot tell which plugin it is, rename the whole plugins folder to plugins-off and reload the login page. When the form works, rename it back to plugins and activate one plugin at a time. Stop when login fails again. That plugin is the cause.

A code prompt after a correct password is two-factor authentication, not a bad password. Use a recovery code. If you have none, rename that plugin folder the same way, log in, and set the code up again.

Setting the retry cap is a separate job, covered in limit login attempts. This page only gets you through a lockout that is already on.

Email support@webji.services if the site is on WebJi® and File Manager is new to you. Support replies in Hindi and English, usually in under 60 minutes. Do not call the office number for a login reset.

Why does a correct password return you to the login page?

The password was accepted and the browser was sent back. WordPress and the browser disagree about the site address, or a redirect rule is looping.

In the database, the options table has two rows, siteurl and home. Both should be the exact address you type, including https, and the same choice of www or no www. The prefix may not be wp_. Open the table whose name ends in _options.

If wp-config.php defines WP_HOME or WP_SITEURL, those lines win over the database. Make them the same address, or remove the two lines and let the database decide. Save the file.

A loop can also sit in .htaccess. Download a copy, then rename .htaccess to htaccess-off. Reload /wp-login.php. If the dashboard opens, the rules were the loop. After you are in, open Settings, then Permalinks, and click Save so WordPress writes a fresh file.

You know this worked when the same browser stays inside /wp-admin/ on the address you intended, with no flip between http and https. Deeper cleanup of old rows is in cleaning the wp_options table.

What if the login page is white or will not load?

A blank page or a critical error on /wp-login.php means PHP stopped before the form was drawn. A theme or plugin update is the usual cause. Do not edit files inside wp-includes.

Rename wp-content/plugins to plugins-off. If the login form comes back, a plugin caused the error. Rename the folder to plugins and activate one plugin at a time until the white page returns.

If the form stays blank with plugins off, rename the active theme folder under wp-content/themes. WordPress can fall back only when another theme, such as a default Twenty theme, is still in that folder. You are done when /wp-login.php shows the username field again.

A 500 error across the whole site, rather than only the login form, is a hosting error page. Fix that before you change the password again.

When should you reset the WordPress password in phpMyAdmin?

Use this only after Lost your password cannot send mail, and after a plugin rename did not let you in. Take a backup in cPanel first. You are changing one user row.

1. In cPanel open phpMyAdmin and select the WordPress database.
2. Open the table that ends in _users. Find your username and click Edit.
3. Replace user_pass with a new password you can type, set the function dropdown to MD5, and click Go.
4. Open /wp-login.php and sign in with that password. WordPress replaces the MD5 hash on a successful login.
5. Open Users, then Profile, and save a new password there so the hash is no longer the one you typed as MD5.

You know it worked when the dashboard loads and Users shows your account. If the username is missing from that table, you are in the wrong database. Do not add a second admin until the prefix is confirmed.

Sites on WordPress hosting still use this same file path. WebJi® does not store your WordPress password. If the repair is more than these steps, ask by email and get the quote before you pay.