How to Disable Login With Email Address Feature in WordPress

Ever notice how your WordPress login page accepts both usernames and email addresses?

While this flexibility can be helpful, some website owners prefer to keep things simple and only allow username-based logins.

You might want this for consistency, easier user management, or to match your brand’s approach to user authentication.

The great thing about WordPress is that you can customize almost everything, including how people access their accounts. Many site owners don’t realize they can easily control which login methods are available on their site.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to disable the email login feature and switch to username-only authentication.

Why Disable Login With Email in WordPress?

Disabling the email login feature is a simple way to harden your website’s security.

Your email address is often more public than your username. If a hacker knows your email, they already have half of the information they need to try and access your site.

By forcing users to log in with a username only, you reduce your site’s ‘attack surface.’

This means an attacker would need to guess both a specific username and a password, making it more difficult for them to break in.

Having said that, we understand that some users may still want to disable login with email feature on their WordPress sites. Here are 2 methods for how you can easily do that:

• Method 1. Disable Login with Email in WordPress using Code (Recommended)
• Method 2. Disable Login With Email in WordPress using a Plugin
• Frequently Asked Questions About Disabling Email Logins

Let’s dive right in.

Method 1. Disable Login with Email in WordPress using Code (Recommended)

This method involves adding a code snippet to your site.

remove_filter( 'authenticate', 'wp_authenticate_email_password', 20 );

While you could add this code directly to your theme’s functions.php file, we strongly recommend against it.

Editing this file directly can break your site if not done perfectly, and any changes you make will be erased the next time you update your theme.

The safest and easiest way to add code is by using the WPCode plugin. It prevents these problems and makes managing code snippets simple for beginners.

It has a built-in library with ready-to-use code snippets for all of the most popular WordPress feature requests, including disabling login with email, removing the WordPress version number, disabling comments, and more.

We have thoroughly tested the tool on our demo website and have found it to be super beginner-friendly. To learn more, see our detailed WPCode review.

First, you need to install and activate the free WPCode plugin. If you need help, you can read our tutorial on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Once the plugin is activated, you’ll want to go to Code Snippets » Library from your WordPress admin dashboard.

Next, you can search for the ‘Disable Login by Email’ snippet and click on the ‘Use snippet’ button.

Then, WPCode will automatically add the code snippet and select the proper insertion method.

Here’s what it might look like in the WPCode editor:

From here, all you need to do is toggle the switch from ‘Inactive’ to ‘Active.’

Then, go ahead and click the ‘Update’ button.

That’s it!

This will not change anything on the login page, and users will still see that they can log in using either a username or email address. But if they enter the email address to log in, they will receive an invalid username error.

Method 2. Disable Login With Email in WordPress using a Plugin

If you prefer not to add code snippets, then you can use a plugin instead.

This method is a great alternative for users who want a simple plugin that does this one job without any extra settings to configure.

For this, you need to install and activate the No Login by Email Address plugin. For more details, feel free to refer back to our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

The plugin works out of the box, which means that there are no settings to configure. Simply visit your WordPress site’s login screen and try logging in with your email address.

You can see that you get an invalid username error. The plugin will also change the ‘Username or Email address’ label to simply ‘Username.’

Frequently Asked Questions About Disabling Email Logins

Here are some common questions we get asked about disabling the email login feature in WordPress.

Why should I disable email logins in WordPress?

Disabling email logins adds a simple but effective layer of security to your website. Since usernames are not as publicly known as email addresses, it makes it more difficult for attackers to guess login details.

This is particularly helpful for websites with many users, such as online stores, membership sites, or multi-author blogs.

Will this affect my existing users?

Yes, but the change is straightforward. Your existing users will no longer be able to log in with their email address and will need to use their username instead.

We recommend sending out an email to inform your users about this update to prevent any confusion or login issues.

What if a user forgets their username?

Even with email logins disabled, users can still click the “Lost your password?” link on the login page.

WordPress sends the recovery link to their registered email address, and that email will typically include their username as a reminder.

Is disabling email login enough for strong website security?

No, this is just one piece of the puzzle. True website security comes from a layered approach.

We always recommend using strong passwords, adding two-factor authentication, and installing a reliable WordPress security plugin for the best protection. To get started, you can take a look at our ultimate WordPress security guide.

That’s all, we hope this article helped you disable login with email address feature in WordPress. Next, you may also want to see our guide on how to disable login hints in WordPress login error messages and our tutorial on adding security questions to the WordPress login screen.

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