Title: Cannot reset passwords
Last modified: October 10, 2022

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# Cannot reset passwords

 *  [fledermausi](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fledermausi/)
 * (@fledermausi)
 * [3 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cannot-reset-passwords/)
 * I am trying to reset my password, it’s probably a virus or some other infestation,
   I couldn’t log in because someone or something changed my password. I tried the
   forgot password option and couldn’t reset it through the form. Every time I reset
   it my password is dropped and the WordPress suggests its own machine-generated
   password. So I just copied one of those and logged into the control panel. Then
   I went to the User, Profile, and couldn’t reset the password either.
 *     ```
       In the Administration Screen, menu, go to Users > All Users.
       Click on your username in the list to edit it.
       In the Edit User screen, scroll down to the New Password section and click the Generate Password button.
       If you want to change the automatically generated password, you can overwrite it by typing a new password in the box provided. The strength box will show you how good (strong) your password is.
       Click the Update User button.
       ```
   
 * All right, that doesn’t work. I cannot override the automatically generated password.
   When I click the button to save my password, it disappears and is replaced with
   a “fresh” automatically generated password and so ad infinitum. I well understand
   that this is some malicious thing but have not figured out what could this be
   and how to deal with it. Any help would be appreciated.
 * The page I need help with: _[[log in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.org%2Fsupport%2Ftopic%2Fcannot-reset-passwords%2F%3Foutput_format%3Dmd&locale=en_US)
   to see the link]_

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

 *  [lisa](https://wordpress.org/support/users/contentiskey/)
 * (@contentiskey)
 * [3 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cannot-reset-passwords/#post-16085502)
 * suggestions:
    *do a site check using this security tool:[https://sitecheck.sucuri.net/](https://sitecheck.sucuri.net/)*
   review this guide for sites that were hacked: [https://wordpress.org/support/article/faq-my-site-was-hacked/](https://wordpress.org/support/article/faq-my-site-was-hacked/)*
   you can set a new password directly in the database connected to your website.(
   no WordPress dashboard “WP-Admin” access is needed ) (often the database is accessible
   in an area of your webhosting account PHPMYADMIN) review this guide: [https://wordpress.org/support/article/resetting-your-password/#through-phpmyadmin](https://wordpress.org/support/article/resetting-your-password/#through-phpmyadmin)
 *  Thread Starter [fledermausi](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fledermausi/)
 * (@fledermausi)
 * [3 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cannot-reset-passwords/#post-16086707)
 * Thank you, Lisa, thank you.
    I was able to rest my own password through phpmyadmin.
   Thanks. I am quite sure other users, 600 at all, won’t be able to use that option.
   Securi.net did not find any problem. The site was probably hacked (through ftp?)
   because Wordfence deleted almost a thousand of suspicious files. But the problem
   doesn’t go away. If I try to type my own password, it gets replaced by an automatically
   generated password. WordPress generates automatic passwords and doesn’t let users
   choose their own passwords. I tried disabling all the plugins but unfortunately
   that didn’t help either. Thank you/

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

The topic ‘Cannot reset passwords’ is closed to new replies.

## Tags

 * [infection](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/infection/)
 * [password](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/password/)
 * [passwords](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/passwords/)
 * [reset](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/reset/)
 * [Saving](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/saving/)

 * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
 * 2 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [fledermausi](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fledermausi/)
 * Last activity: [3 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cannot-reset-passwords/#post-16086707)
 * Status: not resolved

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