Force Password Change
This plugin redirects newly-registered users to the Admin -> Edit Profile page when they first log in. Until they have changed their password, they will not be able to access either the front-end or other admin pages…
Consider an alternative
Force Password Change shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 400+ sites, is rated 4/5 and was last updated 6 years ago, and scores 31/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (400+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in 6 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 5.5 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Force Password Change stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| password | >100 |
| passwords | >100 |
| registration | >100 |
| user | >100 |
| users | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
Rating breakdown
★★★★★★★★★★ 4 from 4 reviews
About Force Password Change
From the official readme · v0.6Description
This plugin redirects newly-registered users to the Admin -> Edit Profile page when they first log in. Until they have changed their password, they will not be able to access either the front-end or other admin pages. An admin notice is also displayed informing them that they must change their password.
New administrators must also change their password, but as a safety measure they can also access the Admin -> Plugins page.
Translations included
- Català (Catalan)
- 中文 (Chinese)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Français (French)
- Deutsch (German)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Hebrew
- Hindi
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Khmer
- 한국어 (Korean)
- Lietuvių kalba (Lithuanian)
- македонски јазик (Macedonian)
- Polski (Polish)
- Português do Brasil (Brazilian Portuguese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Română (Romanian)
- Русский (Russian)
- Español (Spanish)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
New translations are very welcome – please submit them via WP-Translations. This plugin’s WP-Translations page is transifex.com/projects/p/force-password-change
Installation
To install directly from your WordPress dashboard:
- Go to the Plugins menu and click Add New.
- Search for Force Password Change.
- Click Install Now next to the Force Password Change plugin.
- Activate the plugin.
Alternatively, see the official WordPress Codex guide to Manually Installing Plugins.
Download from GitHub
You can also download this plugin from GitHub at https://github.com/lumpysimon/wp-force-password-change
Changelog
0.6 (16th December 2014)
- Four new translations: Hebrew, Hindi, Khmer and Lithuanian
- Tested in WordPress 4.1
0.5 (22nd April 2014)
- Lots of translations, all submitted via the WP-Translations project: Catalan, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Macedonian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Spanish and Turkish
0.4 (7th April 2014)
- Also force administrators to change their password (thanks to johnbillion)
- French translation (by Franck Fortineau)
- Tested in WordPress 3.9
0.3 (November 2012)
- Prepare for localisation
0.2 (November 2012)
- Complete rewrite of the updated() function
0.1 (November 2012)
- Initial release
For developers
Is this your plugin? Show off the numbers.
Add a live badge to your site, docs or GitHub README. It updates on its own — no account needed.
Best Force Password Change alternatives
All password plugins →
FAQ
Force Password Change: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Sep 27, 2026
Is Force Password Change free?
Yes. Force Password Change is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Force Password Change safe to use in 2026?
Force Password Change shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 400+ sites, is rated 4/5 and was last updated 6 years ago, and scores 31/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Force Password Change?
Force Password Change is active on 400+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 15,633 times since it launched in November 2012. It was downloaded 136 times in the last 30 days.
Does Force Password Change work with WordPress 7.1?
Force Password Change is officially tested up to WordPress 5.5.22, while the latest release is 7.1.2. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was Force Password Change last updated?
The latest version, 0.6, was released on August 10, 2020 (6 years ago).
Who makes Force Password Change?
Force Password Change is developed and maintained by Simon Blackbourn.
What are the best alternatives to Force Password Change?
The most popular alternatives to Force Password Change are Theme My Login (50K+ installs), PPWP (30K+ installs) and Google Authenticator (20K+ installs).
Powered by PageForge
Want thousands of pages that rank like these? Build them in an afternoon.
This directory runs on the same engine as PageForge. Turn any spreadsheet, CSV or API into thousands of fast, SEO-ready WordPress pages — with schema, internal links and AI-written copy baked in.
- CSV, Google Sheets & API data sources
- AI content, schema & internal links per page
- Works with Elementor, Gutenberg, Yoast & Rank Math
- Free on WordPress.org — no credit card
