williammarketing WI

can't log into wp-admin on my localhost install

Set up a local copy of a client site with XAMPP to test changes. The homepage loads, but wp-admin either redirects to the live domain or refreshes back to the login screen. Already reset the password in phpmyadmin. Where else should I look?
localhost admin working
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charlied Nov 12, 2026
williammarketing
If neither of those fixes it, go into wp-content and rename the plugins folder to plugins-old. A security plugin with a custom login URL, or a caching plugin, is very often what breaks login on a local copy. If you can get in after that, rename it back and turn them off one at a time to find the culprit.
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nikhil_64 Oct 14, 2026
williammarketing
Did you import this from a live site? If so the siteurl and home values in the wp_options table still point at the live domain, and the login keeps bouncing you there or loops back to the login screen. Change both to your local address in phpMyAdmin, or add WP_HOME and WP_SITEURL to wp-config.php. If it's just a forgotten password, you can set a new one on your user row in wp_users in phpMyAdmin, choose MD5 in the function dropdown, and WordPress will upgrade the hash on your next login.
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