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Theekshana Nuwan
Theekshana Nuwan

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🔐 How to Reset MySQL Root Password (Windows - Beginner Friendly)

#fix #mysql #tutorial #database

If you forgot your MySQL root password, follow these simple steps to reset it.

🛠️ What You Need:

  • MySQL installed
  • Access to Command Prompt (as Administrator)
  • A little bit of copy-paste power 💪

✅ Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Create a password reset file

  1. Open Notepad as Administrator

  2. Paste this inside:

   ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'newpassword';
   FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
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🔐 Replace newpassword with your desired password.

  1. Click File → Save As

  2. Name the file exactly:

   mysql-init.txt
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  1. Save it to: 
   C:\
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So the full path will be C:\mysql-init.txt

2. Stop MySQL

  1. Press Start
  2. Type cmd
  3. Right-click and choose Run as Administrator
  4. Run this command: 
   net stop mysql80
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3. Start MySQL with the reset file

In the same command prompt, run:

mysqld --init-file=C:\\mysql-init.txt --datadir="C:\\ProgramData\\MySQL\\MySQL Server 8.0\\Data" --console
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✅ If you see:

mysqld: ready for connections.
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Then it's working! Let it run for 10 seconds, then close the window.

4. Restart MySQL

Open a new command prompt (as Administrator), and run:

net start mysql80
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5. Log in with the new password

Open MySQL Command Line and enter your new password when prompted.

🧼 Final Step (Optional):

Delete the file you created earlier:

del C:\mysql-init.txt
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🧑‍💻 That’s it!

You’ve successfully reset your MySQL root password. 🎉

Let me know if this helped you in the comments or share it with others who might need it!

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