Reset sitecore admin password

🔐 How to Reset the Sitecore Admin Password (When You Only Have the Database)

I recently received a Sitecore database to perform an Information Architecture (IA) audit—but there was a small problem: I didn’t have the admin password.

If you ever find yourself in the same situation, here’s a quick and reliable way to reset the Sitecore admin password directly from the database.

You can run the following SQL query to reset the password to Sitecore’s default (typically b, but may vary depending on encryption settings):

Option 1 – Directly targeting the admin user ID:

USE [qwh_core]
UPDATE [qwh_core].[dbo].[aspnet_Membership] 
SET 
  [Password] = '8dC23rEIsvuttG3Np1L4hJmJAOA=',
  [PasswordSalt] = 'joeLPwcwMq6L7kyuVfVS7g=='
WHERE UserId IN ('B09BBCDE-9B3C-4DCD-B69E-67F615CE01E9')

Option 2 – Look up the admin user by username:

UPDATE [aspnet_Membership] 
SET 
  [Password] = 'qOvF8m8F2IcWMvfOBjJYHmfLABc=',
  [PasswordSalt] = 'OM5gu45RQuJ76itRvkSPFw==',
  [IsApproved] = 1,
  [IsLockedOut] = 0
WHERE UserId IN (
  SELECT UserId FROM dbo.aspnet_Users WHERE UserName = 'sitecore\Admin'
)

⚠️ Note: This assumes the default Sitecore encryption provider and password format. If your instance is customized, the above may not work as-is.

Hope this saves someone a headache in the future—Internet memory, you’re welcome. 😉