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To grant network-wide authority in WordPress Multisite, sign in with an authorized network administrator account, open My Sites > Network Admin > Users, edit the intended user, select “Grant this user super admin privileges for the Network.” and save the profile. You can also grant it from WP-CLI with wp super-admin add <user>. Super Admin is a powerful network-level privilege, not an ordinary role on a single site.

Before you grant Super Admin

  • Confirm the installation is Multisite. Super Admin is a network-level privilege in a Multisite network; on a single-site WordPress installation, the Administrator role provides broad site administration.
  • Sign in with network-level authority. The profile control is in Network Admin and is available to an account permitted to manage network options.
  • Check the target account carefully. Granting Super Admin gives broad authority over the network, including documented capabilities related to sites, users, themes, plugins, network options and upgrades.

WordPress describes Super Admin as access to network administration and other features. See the WordPress roles and capabilities documentation.

Add a Super Admin in Network Admin

  1. Sign in to WordPress with an authorized network administrator account.
  2. In the toolbar, go to My Sites > Network Admin. The Network Admin link is available to Super Admins.
  3. Open Users > All Users and locate the network account you want to grant access to.
  4. Select Edit for that user. In the profile, find the Super Admin section and select “Grant this user super admin privileges for the Network.”
  5. Save or update the profile.
  6. Reopen the profile and check that the Super Admin option is selected.

The Network Admin interface and its user-management screen are described in the WordPress Network Admin documentation. If the checkbox is missing, confirm that you are editing the account in Network Admin and that your signed-in account has network-level authority. WordPress core only processes the setting when the current user has the required network capability; the control’s display or wording can differ across releases. The user-edit control can be reviewed in WordPress core’s user-edit screen source.

Grant access with WP-CLI

From the WordPress installation, an operator with suitable shell access can run:

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wp super-admin add <user>

Replace <user> with the account’s user ID, email address or login. To inspect or revoke network Super Admin accounts, use:

  • wp super-admin list — lists current Super Admin accounts.
  • wp super-admin remove <user> — removes the specified account’s Super Admin privilege.

The command reference is in the official WP-CLI super-admin documentation. WP-CLI also supports the global --url=<url> parameter for selecting a site context in a multisite installation; the super-admin command itself manages network Super Admins. Available syntax and parameters may depend on the installed WP-CLI and WordPress versions.

Super Admin or a role on one site?

Choose based on the scope the person actually needs. Super Admin is for network-wide administration; a site role is for access to an individual site. The two changes are not interchangeable.

Access choice Scope When it fits
Super Admin Network-wide administration and other network features The person needs authority across the Multisite network.
Per-site role A specific site only The person needs to work on one site and does not need network administration.

Creating a network account does not automatically give it membership or a role on a particular site. To grant ordinary site access, manage the account through that site’s Users screen and assign the narrowest suitable role. See WordPress’s Multisite administration documentation and its roles and capabilities reference.

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Verify or revoke the privilege

  • In WordPress: revisit the user’s Network Admin profile and confirm the Super Admin checkbox reflects the intended state.
  • With WP-CLI: run wp super-admin list and check whether the target account appears.
  • To revoke: clear the checkbox and save the profile, or run wp super-admin remove <user>.

Before removing a Super Admin account, make sure an authorized network administrator will still be able to manage the network.

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