Written 27 Aug 2026. This is a how-to, not a product card.

Change the Pi-hole admin password

After the house ad block is up, change the admin password the installer printed. That password is not the login.

The installer printed a password so you could open the dashboard once. Before you leave that password on a sticky note forever, set one you chose. The admin password unlocks the Pi-hole web dashboard. The password is what SSH asks for. Those are different jobs. For the login, see change the login password. If names fail or ads come back first, see which name server the computer is using, then look up a site name from the computer.

Skip until Pi-hole is installed

If you never installed Pi-hole, stop. That is the first useful thing on the computer. If the admin page never opened, see when the Pi-hole admin page won't open. This note assumes Pi-hole is already on the computer.

What this is

You are changing only the Pi-hole web login. Not SSH. Not the router. Not Samba. Not the Wi-Fi password. When you open the dashboard, this is the password the page asks for.

Change it from SSH

SSH from the couch the way you already do. Then run the official Pi-hole command:

pihole setpassword

It asks for a new password twice. Nothing shows as you type. That is normal. Pick a password you chose, not the one the installer printed. Older guides show pihole -a -p. On current Pi-hole for Debian and Ubuntu computers, pihole setpassword is the command the docs list.

Confirm

Open the admin page in a browser: http://pi.hole/admin, or the computer address plus /admin. Log in with the new password. If it fails, you still have SSH. Run pihole setpassword again and try once more.

What next

If the house is not pointed at the computer yet, do that in point the house at the ad block. If ads came back later, check that Pi-hole is still answering. The login password is a different note: change the login password. Skip Unbound. Skip buying a Raspberry Pi. Settings zip before a reinstall: save a Pi-hole backup.

Skip

Skip if Pi-hole is not installed. That is the first useful thing on the computer.
Skip changing the router password here.
Skip opening the admin page to the internet.
Skip a mesh kit.
Skip Unbound on day one.

Sources

Pi-hole: the pihole command (setpassword). Official pages only. For install, see the first useful thing on the computer. For router DNS, see point the house at the ad block. For the login, see change the login password. If ads come back later, see when ads come back, check the ad block.

Also on this topic

When the Pi-hole admin page won't openhttp://pi.hole/admin or the computer's address plus /admin won't load. Check house Wi-Fi, the address, then Pi-hole and the web service. You don't need a new router. The first useful thing on the computerPut a house-wide ad block on the computer. The rest of the house keeps using the internet as usual. You don't need a Raspberry Pi. Point the house at the ad blockAfter Pi-hole is installed, point the house router at the computer for DNS. Phones and laptops need no app. Sites still load. A lot of ads don't. When ads come back, check the ad blockThe computer is awake, but banners are back. Check that Pi-hole is still answering before you buy a mesh kit or blame the router. Look up a site name from the computerWhen a website name fails, try resolving it from the computer before you buy a mesh kit.