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Joomla Admin Login Redirects Back to the Login Page: Fix

Symptoms: Correct password, but you're returned to the login page · 'Your session has expired' right after logging in · Started after moving host, enabling a CDN, or changing session settings

Mostly verified. Causes corroborated by itoctopus + the official issue tracker (#35562, #29529), researched 2026-06-01. ✅ Config keys below ($live_site, session settings) confirmed on a live Joomla 5.4.6 install.

You enter the right username and password, Joomla seems to accept it, then dumps you back at the login screen — no error. The session isn’t surviving the redirect. Common causes, most likely first:

Cause 1 — Session handler can’t be reached

If Joomla’s Session Handler is set to Memcached/Redis but that service isn’t actually available, the session is lost immediately and you loop.

Fix: in configuration.php set public $session_handler = 'database'; (the safe default), or fix the cache service. (Don’t switch handlers blindly as a cure-all — set it to database only if the current one is genuinely unavailable.)

Cause 2 — Wrong cookie domain / path

If the Cookie Domain or Cookie Path is set (System → Global Configuration → System → Session settings) and doesn’t match the real domain, the session cookie isn’t sent back.

Fix: clear Cookie Domain and Cookie Path (leave blank) unless you specifically need them.

Cause 3 — Wrong $live_site

A $live_site value in configuration.php that doesn’t match your real URL (e.g. after migrating) can break sessions/redirects.

Fix: set public $live_site = ''; (empty is correct for most sites) — confirmed present and empty on a default Joomla 5 install.

Cause 4 — Required login plugins disabled

The User – Joomla (plg_user_joomla) and Authentication – Joomla (plg_authentication_joomla) plugins must be enabled.

Fix: re-enable them — if you can’t log in, set enabled = 1 for them in the #__extensions table directly.

Cause 5 — A CDN / proxy or .htaccess stripping cookies

Cloudflare or a Header set Set-Cookie line in .htaccess can interfere with the session cookie.

Fix: remove cookie-rewriting header lines from .htaccess; in Cloudflare, make sure caching isn’t stripping Set-Cookie on the admin.

joomla admin login redirect loop · joomla login goes back to login page · joomla session expired after login · joomla 4 can't log in to administrator

Sources