How to Redirect Users After Successful Login in WordPress

By default, when a user logs in to WordPress, they’re redirected to the WordPress admin dashboard.

However, if you’re using WordPress as an eCommerce platform to sell products, courses, software, etc, then you probably want to redirect users to the members area, a course portal, or an account page instead for a better experience.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the easiest way to set up custom login redirects in WordPress, step by step.

Quick summary: You can use a free plugin like LoginWP to set up login redirects based on user role, username, or capability. Alternatively, you can use a tiny code snippet with the login_redirect filter to redirect users anywhere you want.

Here’s what we’ll cover in this article:

Method 1: Setting Up Login Redirects With LoginWP

The easiest way to redirect users to a specific page after they sign in is with LoginWP, a free login page plugin. It lets you set up simple login redirects in a couple of clicks based on user roles, capabilities, usernames, and more.

First, install and activate the LoginWP plugin from your WordPress dashboard. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, go to LoginWP » Redirection Rules.

Here, you can create login redirects for a range of situations. Let’s start with the option that most website owners need first.

Redirecting All Users After Login

If you want every user to land on the same page after login, then you don’t need to create any rules at all. Instead, you can use the blanket setting that LoginWP applies to anyone who doesn’t match a more specific rule.

On the LoginWP » Redirection Rules screen, scroll down to the ‘All Other Users’ section. Here, you can enter the links you want to use for the Login URL and the Logout URL.

Once you’re done, click the ‘Save Changes’ button.

With no other rules in place, this one setting covers everyone who logs in to your site. It also works as a safety net later on, so any user who doesn’t match a rule still lands somewhere useful.

Redirecting WordPress Users by User Role

For most membership sites and online stores, the useful next step is to send different user roles to different pages. For example, you might send editors to the admin area, while sending your email subscribers to a separate, custom page.

To do this, click the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the ‘Redirection Rules’ screen.

Then, open the ‘Rule Condition’ dropdown and select ‘User Role’. Then, choose the role you want from the second dropdown.

After that, scroll to the ‘Redirect URLs’ section and enter the page you want this role to land on in the Login URL field. You can also set a Logout URL to control where these users go after they sign out.

You may also decide to set an order number, which decides the priority when someone matches more than one rule. LoginWP applies the rule with the lower number first, though this only works between rules that use the same condition. That means an order number cannot make a user role rule override a user capability rule.

Finally, click the ‘Save Rule’ button. If you want to create different login redirects for multiple user roles, then repeat these steps for each one.

Other Rule Conditions You Can Use

While standard user roles cover most setups, the ‘Rule Condition’ dropdown lets you target your audience using three different filters.

Here’s an overview of the different options:

• User Role – targets everyone who shares a role, such as every subscriber or every customer.
• User Capability – targets everyone who holds a single permission, such as the publish_posts capability, instead of a named role.
• Username – targets one named person. This tends to suit small teams where every individual needs their own landing page.

Whichever condition you choose, the rest of the rule works exactly the same way. You pick the value from the second dropdown, enter your login and logout URLs, and then click the ‘Save Rule’ button.

Setting Up a User Registration Redirect in WordPress

When a new user signs up on your website, WordPress redirects them to the login page. You can use a redirect URL to send them to any other page on your website instead.

To do this, go to the LoginWP » Redirection Rules screen and scroll to the ‘After Registration’ section.

Here, enter the URL you want to use and click the ‘Save Changes’ button.

Once your rules are in place, it is worth checking that they actually work by logging in with a test account. Then, confirm that you’re being redirected to the right page.

If you’d rather have a custom-designed login form and login page, then see our guide to building a complete custom login page with its own redirect settings.

Method 2: Redirect Users With a Code Snippet (Using WPCode)

If you’d rather create your login redirect with code, you can use WordPress’s built-in login_redirect filter. Filters let you modify how WordPress works without changing its core files. In this case, the login_redirect filter lets you control where users are sent after they sign in.

Below are two code snippets you can use, depending on what you want your redirect to do. Don’t worry if you don’t know how to code. After you choose a snippet, we’ll show you exactly how to add it to your site safely.

Here is a snippet that sends every user to the same page after they log in:

add_filter( 'login_redirect', 'wpb_login_redirect_all', 10, 3 );
function wpb_login_redirect_all( $redirect_to, $requested_redirect_to, $user ) {
    // Send every user to this page after they log in.
    return home_url( '/members-area/' );
}

Just remember to change /members-area/ to the page you want people to land on after login.

Sending Different User Roles to Different Pages

A single redirect works fine for basic sites, but it isn’t ideal for all websites. For example, on a membership site you may want to send admins straight to the dashboard, while active members land directly on their account page.

This alternative code snippet checks each person’s user role and sends them to the right place:

add_filter( 'login_redirect', 'wpb_login_redirect_by_role', 10, 3 );
function wpb_login_redirect_by_role( $redirect_to, $requested_redirect_to, $user ) {
    // Make sure we have a valid user with roles.
    if ( isset( $user->roles ) && is_array( $user->roles ) ) {
        // Send administrators to the WordPress dashboard.
        if ( in_array( 'administrator', $user->roles, true ) ) {
            return admin_url();
        }
        // Send all other users to a custom page.
        return home_url( '/members-area/' );
    }
    return $redirect_to;
}

Currently, this snippet sends administrators to the main dashboard and everyone else to your members page. You can swap administrator for another role, such as editor or subscriber, and change the URLs to match your site.

Adding the Snippet Safely With WPCode

Editing your theme’s functions.php file by hand can be risky, because one small mistake there can take your whole site offline.

To add either snippet safely, we recommend the free WPCode plugin instead. It lets you add custom code without touching your theme files.

After installing and activating WPCode, go to Code Snippets » + Add Snippet. Then, hover over the ‘Add Your Custom Code (New Snippet)’ box, click the ‘Add Custom Snippet’ button, and choose ‘PHP Snippet’ as the code type.

On the next screen, give your snippet a name you will recognize later, such as ‘Login redirect’. After that, paste your chosen snippet into the ‘Code Preview’ box.

Below the code box, make sure the insertion method is set to ‘Auto Insert’ with the location set to ‘Run Everywhere’.

This lets the snippet load during the login process.

Finally, toggle the switch at the top of the page from ‘Inactive’ to ‘Active’, then click the ‘Save Snippet’ button.

To confirm the redirect works, log out of your site and then log back in with a test account.

If you’re using the role-based snippet, then it’s a good idea to test more than one account, such as an administrator and a subscriber. This lets you check that each role lands on the correct page.

If the redirect does not happen, open the snippet again and confirm the toggle is set to ‘Active’ and the location is ‘Run Everywhere’. Then, click the ‘Save Snippet’ button and test the login once more.

For more ways to use the plugin, see our guide on how to add custom code in WordPress.

How to Troubleshoot Common Login Issues in WordPress

Setting up redirects usually works smoothly. However, you might run into problems depending on your website setup and plugins.

Here are some tips to help you resolve those issues:

1. Update Your Permalink Structure

From your dashboard, go to Settings » Permalinks and click the ‘Save Changes’ button without making any changes.

This refreshes your WordPress permalink settings. If you are seeing general redirect issues, this often fixes the problem.

For more information, read our guide on how to regenerate WordPress permalinks.

2. Fix Login Page Redirect Issue

If your login page keeps refreshing and sending you back to the login form, it is often due to a browser cache or cookie issue.

To start, try clearing your browser cache and cookies. If you use a WordPress caching plugin or if your web hosting has built-in server caching, you should clear those caches as well. If that doesn’t solve the problem, it could be a sign of a settings conflict.

For help, see our guide on fixing the WordPress login page refreshing and redirecting issue.

Frequently Asked Questions About Redirecting Users After a Successful Login

Here are some questions our readers often ask about redirecting users after a successful login:

Can I redirect users to different pages based on their role?

Yes. You can redirect users based on their role with a plugin like LoginWP or with a tiny code snippet. This is helpful if you run a membership site, online store, or multi-author blog.

For example, you can redirect:

• Admins to the WordPress dashboard.
• Customers to their account or a thank you page.
• Contributors or authors to the post editor or pending drafts section.

Can I redirect users after login without using a plugin?

Yes. You can add a tiny code snippet that hooks into the login_redirect filter, as covered in Method 2 above. We recommend adding it with the free WPCode plugin rather than editing your theme’s functions.php file directly so that a small mistake cannot break your site.

If you do decide to edit code directly, always create a backup first so you can restore your site if anything goes wrong.

Is it possible to redirect users after logging in through a custom login form?

Yes. If you use a custom login form built with a plugin like WPForms, you can set a redirect URL right in the form settings.

This lets you:

• Send users to a welcome or thank-you page.
• Take them to their account area or dashboard.
• Show them a special offer or message based on their membership level.

We hope this article helped you learn how to redirect users after a successful login in WordPress. You may also want to see our complete guide on how to find your WordPress login URL and our tutorial on how to set up two-factor authentication in WordPress.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.