How to Find Your WordPress User ID Number: Complete Guide

Why the User ID matters

It is the stable handle WordPress uses internally for permissions, meta rows, author attribution, and many plugin settings. You will see it in troubleshooting steps, custom if ( $user_id === 3 ) snippets, and direct database work—so knowing how to read it safely saves time.

Method 1: WordPress admin (easiest)

Your own account

1. Log into wp-admin.
2. Open your avatar menu (top right) or go to Users → Profile.
3. Inspect the address bar. The query string includes your ID:

https://yoursite.com/wp-admin/user-edit.php?user_id=3

The number after user_id= is your User ID (here: 3).

Any other user

1. Go to Users → All Users.
2. Hover a username (or use Edit) and check the link preview or open the edit screen.

https://yoursite.com/wp-admin/user-edit.php?user_id=5

That value is the user’s ID. Clicking through to the profile editor always exposes the same user_id parameter.

Method 2: Users list quick check

Users → All Users → click a username or Edit → confirm user_id=X in the URL. This is the same signal as Method 1, optimized for scanning several accounts.

Method 3: PHP (developers)

Add snippets to a child theme functions.php or a small custom plugin. Remove them when you no longer need the output.

Admin footer notice (logged-in user only)

add_action( 'admin_footer', 'show_current_user_id' );

function show_current_user_id() {
    $current_user = wp_get_current_user();
    echo '<div style="position:fixed;bottom:10px;right:10px;background:#2271b1;color:#fff;padding:8px 12px;border-radius:4px;z-index:9999;">';
    echo 'Your User ID: <strong>' . esc_html( (string) $current_user->ID ) . '</strong>';
    echo '</div>';
}

Shortcode [current_user_id]

add_shortcode( 'current_user_id', function () {
    if ( ! is_user_logged_in() ) {
        return 'Please log in to see your User ID.';
    }
    $user = wp_get_current_user();
    return 'Your User ID: ' . esc_html( (string) $user->ID );
} );

Place [current_user_id] in any post or page that allows shortcodes (and that the target user is allowed to view).

Method 4: Database (phpMyAdmin)

1. Open phpMyAdmin from your host.
2. Select the WordPress database.
3. Open the users table—default name is wp_users, but prefixes like wpxx_ are common.
4. The ID column lists User IDs.

Find one account by login:

SELECT ID, user_login, user_email, display_name
FROM wp_users
WHERE user_login = 'yourusername';

List everyone (adjust table prefix):

SELECT ID, user_login, user_email
FROM wp_users
ORDER BY ID;

Method 5: WP-CLI

With SSH and WP-CLI available inside the site root:

# List users with IDs
wp user list

# One user’s ID
wp user get yourusername --field=ID

# Current user context inside WP-CLI eval (see WP-CLI docs for bootstrapping)
wp eval 'echo (int) get_current_user_id();'

wp eval runs in CLI context where no browser session exists; use it when you already know which user to load, or pair with wp user get as above.

Method 6: Plugin column

Install a reputable “Show IDs” / “Reveal IDs” style plugin from Plugins → Add New, activate it, then open Users → All Users. Many add an ID column so you can scan without opening each profile.

Quick reference: where the ID appears

Common use cases

Programmatic lookup by login or email

// By username (login)
$user = get_user_by( 'login', 'john_doe' );
$user_id = $user ? (int) $user->ID : 0;

// By email
$user = get_user_by( 'email', '[email protected]' );
$user_id = $user ? (int) $user->ID : 0;

// Current visitor (0 if not logged in)
$current_user_id = get_current_user_id();

Always check that $user is truthy before reading ->ID to avoid notices on missing accounts.