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This article describes two methods for resetting the PrestaShop administrator password. Normally, if you forget your password you can reset it by e-mail. However, if this option is unavailable (for example, if e-mail on your site is not working correctly), you can reset the password in the database manually.

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Resetting the password by e-mail

To reset the PrestaShop administrator password by e-mail, follow these steps:
  1. Go to the PrestaShop login page.
  2. Click the Lost password? link.
  3. In the Email address text box, type the address you provided during the installation process.
  4. Click Send. PrestaShop sends a new administrator password to the e-mail address.

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Resetting the administrator password in the database

If you are unable to reset the PrestaShop administrator password by e-mail, you can manually reset it in the database. To do this, follow these steps:
  1. Log in to cPanel.
    📘 Note If you do not know how to log in to your cPanel account, please see this article.
  2. In the Files section of the cPanel home screen, click File Manager.
  3. Navigate to the directory where you installed PrestaShop. For example, this may be the public_html directory, the public_html/presta directory, or another directory.
  4. In the PrestaShop directory, open the config directory.
  5. Right-click the parameters .php file, and then click View.
  6. Locate the COOKIE_KEY variable, and then copy the long alphanumeric value that follows.
    🚧 Important Make sure you do not include the quotation marks! Only copy the alphanumeric value.
  7. Note the value of the DB_NAME variable. This is the name of your PrestaShop database.
  8. Return to the cPanel home screen.
  9. In the Databases section of the cPanel home screen, click phpMyAdmin.
  10. In the left-hand pane of phpMyAdmin, click the name of the PrestaShop database that you obtained in step 7. A list of tables in the database appears.
    👍 Tip Typically, the PrestaShop database is
    username_presXXX , where username represents your cPanel username, and XXX is a three-digit number.
  11. Click the ps_employee table.
    📘 Note You may have to click
    > to scroll through the list of tables until you locate the
    ps_employee table.
  12. Locate the row for the administrator login that you want to reset, and then click Edit.
  13. Locate the passwd row. In the Value text box is the current encrypted administrator password.
  14. In the Value text box, delete all of the text.
  15. In the Value text box, paste the alphanumeric value that you copied in step 6.
  16. In the Value text box, type the new administrator password after the alphanumeric value.
    🚧 Important There should not be a space between the two values. For example, the value should look similar to wrwr218phsdvo5jvsaz7bqwgxiyp0gbxohahimexHereIsTheNewPassword. (Your cookie key and password will be different, of course.)
  17. In the Function list box for the passwd row, select MD5.
  18. Scroll to the bottom of the page, and then click Go. phpMyAdmin updates the database with the new password.
  19. You should now be able to log in to PrestaShop as the administrator by using the new password.