The management of MySQL databases has come a long way thanks to tools like phpMyAdmin. Using phpMyAdmin you are able to not only manage your existing database but also import data from a database backup file with just a few clicks. Sometimes, however, you may run into an issue where a backup fails to import successfully and phpMyAdmin presents you with error 1044 “Access denied for user”. In this article, we will go over why this issue occurs and how to resolve it.

What Causes the phpMyAdmin Error 1044 “Access Denied for User”?

At its core, phpMyAdmin error 1044 signals that there may be something wrong with the permissions assigned to your database user. As the “Access denied for user” description suggests, your database user lacks the necessary privileges to execute one or more of the commands contained within your database backup.

The 1044 access denied error is generally limited to shared hosting accounts since they often do not have full root access to the database server. As such, you may run into this issue if you are using our free website hosting, premium shared hosting, or our Semi-Dedicated web server plans. The only hosting package where you would not be faced with such an issue is our VPS Cloud Hosting plan.

Which Commands Are Restricted in Shared Hosting?

In most shared hosting environments you will not be able to issue commands that directly manipulate entire databases. For example, you will not be able to create or delete a database using SQL commands. The two screenshots below illustrate what happens when you try to create and drop (delete) a database while working in a shared hosting environment: