phpMyAdmin #1045 “Access denied for user root@localhost”: the fix

Step 1: Read the end of the message

using password: NO means phpMyAdmin sent no password, but root has one. using password: YES means it sent a password and MySQL rejected it: the password is wrong, or phpMyAdmin is talking to a different server than you think.

If the code is #2002 or #2054 instead of #1045, the cause is different; both are covered under troubleshooting below.

Step 2: Test the login outside phpMyAdmin

Use the MySQL client that came with the server. At the password prompt, press Enter to try an empty password, or type the one you think is right. If a password works here, phpMyAdmin only needs that password in its config. If nothing works, reset it (step 5).

C:\xampp\mysql\bin\mysql.exe -u root -p -h 127.0.0.1 -P 3306

Step 3: Check config.inc.php

XAMPP’s phpMyAdmin logs in automatically with the user and password written in config.inc.php. With auth_type set to config, password must match root’s real password. Set auth_type to cookie to get a login form instead, and type the password when you open phpMyAdmin; cookie mode also needs a 32-character blowfish_secret.

Save the file and reload phpMyAdmin. Nothing needs a restart.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type'] = 'config';   // or 'cookie' for a login form
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['user'] = 'root';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['password'] = 'your-root-password';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['host'] = '127.0.0.1';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['port'] = '3306';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['AllowNoPassword'] = true;

Step 4: Make sure phpMyAdmin reaches the right server

If another MySQL is installed (the MySQL80 service from MySQL Installer, WampServer, Laragon), it may be the one listening on 3306, with its own root password. Find the PID on the port and look it up. If it is not XAMPP’s mysqld.exe, stop that service in services.msc, or move XAMPP’s MySQL to another port in my.ini and set the same port in config.inc.php.

netstat -ano | findstr LISTENING | findstr :3306
tasklist /FI "PID eq 1234"

Step 5: Reset a forgotten root password

Stop MySQL in the Control Panel. Start it by hand without the privilege tables, so root can log in with no password, and set a new password from a second window. While it runs this way anyone on this computer can log in, so finish in one go.

REM Window 1: start MySQL without the privilege tables
C:\xampp\mysql\bin\mysqld.exe --defaults-file=C:\xampp\mysql\bin\my.ini --skip-grant-tables

REM Window 2: set the new password, then stop the server
C:\xampp\mysql\bin\mysql.exe -u root
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new-password';
exit
C:\xampp\mysql\bin\mysqladmin.exe -u root -p shutdown

Step 6: MySQL 8 and the authentication plugin

MySQL 8 creates users with caching_sha2_password. A PHP or phpMyAdmin too old for it fails with #2054 “The server requested authentication method unknown to the client”. Update PHP and phpMyAdmin first. On MySQL 8.0 you can switch root back to the older plugin as a stopgap, but MySQL 8.4 turns mysql_native_password off by default and MySQL 9 removes it. MariaDB, which XAMPP ships, uses mysql_native_password by default.

ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED WITH mysql_native_password BY 'your-password';

Step 7: Or use EnvKit’s MySQL and phpMyAdmin

EnvKit is a free app that installs MySQL or MariaDB, phpMyAdmin and the rest of a PHP stack. Stop XAMPP’s MySQL first so the two do not compete for port 3306.

Step 8: How EnvKit’s phpMyAdmin logs in

EnvKit writes phpMyAdmin’s config.inc.php itself: a config login as root with an empty password on 127.0.0.1 and the port EnvKit’s MySQL uses, so phpMyAdmin opens without a login form. Open it from the Databases page with Open phpMyAdmin.

If you give root a password, enter it in Services → phpMyAdmin → Settings under MySQL password (config auth), or set Auth type to cookie to get the login form back. A database port you change in EnvKit is carried into phpMyAdmin’s config.