Square Register Troubleshooting
There are basic checks you can do for issues you may encounter with Square Register. Make sure you walk through the following before going through issue-specific troubleshooting steps:
General Troubleshooting
Make sure your device is connected to power. Square Register needs to be powered on to function.
Make sure your device’s date and time are accurate. If they are wrong, please update them in the settings. Tap ≡ More > Settings > Hardware > General > Date and Time and adjust accordingly.
Make sure your device has the latest software. Software updates typically take around 20 minutes to complete, but may take up to one hour. Square Register will update automatically overnight as long as it’s powered on and plugged in.
To update your Square Register software:
Tap ≡ More > Settings > Hardware > General > About Square Register > Software Update.
Tap Check for Update to see if there is an available software update.
If you see Software Up To Date then you are ready.
Payment Troubleshooting
Customer display doesn’t recognise tap or contactless payment.
On Square Register, confirm that you’ve pressed the Charge button to activate the customer display to accept contactless cards and phones. The LED indicators should light up when you tap the Charge button.
If the contactless card or NFC-enabled phone is damaged or broken. In this case, ask your customer to present a different form of payment.
Chip and PINcards aren’t recognised.
Ensure chip and PIN cards are inserted with the chip facing towards the buyer when the customer display is both docked and undocked.
If magstripe and contactless payments still work, the chip may be damaged. In this case, ask your customer to present a different form of payment.
If magnetic stripe cards and contactless payments still work, something may have damaged the card slot. If you think this is the case, contact Square Support.
Payments aren’t going through.
Check your Wi-Fi and Ethernet connection by following the troubleshooting steps below.
Display Troubleshooting
Connectivity
Is the customer display connected to Register properly?
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If your device is docked:
Make sure that the display is docked completely and evenly on both sides. There should not be any gap between Register and the customer display and you should hear the latch click on both the left and right sides of the customer display.
See if undocking and connecting the customer display via USB cable works. This can help Square diagnose whether it’s an issue with the docked position only.
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If undocked and connecting via USB cable:
Make sure that the USB cable is plugged in properly into both the customer display and the bottom of the Register.
See if docking the customer display works. This can help us diagnose whether it’s an issue with the undocked position only (it’s possible that there’s an issue with the cable that connects to two devices).
Display Issues
Most display issues, such as a few common ones listed below, are resolved by undocking/docking or unplugging/plugging in the customer display. You can also reboot the system by using the power on the bottom edge of Square Register.
Customer display not responding to touch.
Customer display frozen on one screen.
Customer display stuck on the Square logo.
If you’re still having trouble after you’ve tried these troubleshooting steps, please contact our Square Support.
Hub Connectivity Troubleshooting
Test another accessory
To determine whether there’s an issue with the Hub or with the USB hardware accessory (printer, barcode scanner, cash drawer), try connecting a different USB hardware accessory to the Hub.
Test USB ports
Try plugging the USB hardware accessory into a different port. The issue may be isolated to one port.
Wi-Fi Troubleshooting
Confirm Square Register is connected to Wi-Fi
Toggle Wi-Fi off and on in Settings and check to make sure that you see a tick next to the network to which you are trying to connect. Confirm that you see the Wi-Fi status indicator in the top-right corner of the status bar.
Keep in mind, you won’t be able to connect your Square Register to a captive portal network. A captive portal is a network that requires you to agree to terms or conditions to access the internet connection (these networks are common at coffee shops, airports and other public internet access points).
Confirm Wi-Fi signal strength
Confirm that you have a strong Wi-Fi signal by checking other devices (such as phones, tablets or laptops) on your network near the location of your Square Register. The Wi-Fi status indicator in the upper-right corner of the status bar should have three to four white bars to indicate a strong signal. Depending on the position of your router, you may need to move your Square Register closer to your router. If it does not, consider contacting your network professional.
Switch to Ethernet
If you have an Ethernet connection available, switch to Ethernet by plugging in a cable to the port on the Hub.
Ethernet Troubleshooting
Confirm Square Register is connected to Ethernet
Confirm that you can see the Ethernet network status indicator in the top-right corner of the status bar. If you don’t see the Ethernet network status indicator, try unplugging and plugging in the cable from the Ethernet port on the Hub and from the router or modem.
Confirm modem/router connectivity
Test your modem and/or router by plugging in other devices (such as a laptop) and seeing if they connect to the internet.
Switch to Wi-Fi
If you have a Wi-Fi network available, unplug the Ethernet cable and switch to Wi-Fi in Settings. Make sure you unplug the Ethernet cable since the device will default to using Ethernet connection over Wi-Fi if both are available.
Offline Mode Troubleshooting
If Offline mode is enabled in your settings, Square Register will automatically activate Offline mode if your internet connection is disrupted or lost. If your device goes into Offline mode without losing a network connection, try the following troubleshooting steps:
Forget the network you’re connected to on your device.
Reconnect to the same network.
Reboot the system by pressing the power button on the bottom edge of Square Register.
Note: do not factory-reset your Square Register. Doing so will delete any Offline payments that you’ve not uploaded.
Learn more about accepting payments in Offline Mode.
Reset your Register
On rare occasions, you may need to perform a factory-reset. Don’t worry: resetting your device will not erase important account settings like items, transaction histories, customer lists or team permissions. It’ll all be there when you sign back in.
Before resetting your Register, please have the following information on hand since you’ll need it to log back in afterwards:
Wi-Fi network name and password.
Account login information (email address and password) or device code.
Location name, if applicable.
Accessory settings: printer stations, drawers and any other accessories. The recommendation is to take a picture of the configuration of each accessory.
It’s also a good idea to send a Diagnostic Report and Support Ledger from your device prior to factory-resetting. Diagnostic reports and Support Ledgers contain essential logs that will help us diagnose and resolve issues faster.
To submit a diagnostic report and support ledger from your Square Register:
From the navigation bar at the bottom of your screen, tap More > Support.
Under Troubleshooting, tap Upload Support Ledger
Tap Send Diagnostic Report.
Once you tap Send Diagnostic Report, you can leave the screen and continue using your Register normally while the report is sent in the background.
Note: diagnostic reports can take between two to seven minutes to upload – please ensure you have a strong internet connection and your device is powered on during this time.
To factory-reset your Square Register:
Tap ≡ More > tap Settings > Hardware > General > About Register.
Scroll to the bottom of the screen and tap Factory Reset > Confirm Factory Reset.
Tap Reset one last time. The countdown will begin and your Register will reset.
Once the reset is complete, you’ll need to reconnect to your internet connection and sign back in.
Go back through basic setup questions like your time zone, date and time.
Reconnect to the internet and sign back in with your email address and password or device code.
Add accessories such as cash drawers, printers or barcode scanners. Learn more about connecting compatible hardware to Square Register.
Adjust any settings back to your preferences.
Network Requirements
Protocol/Port Allowlist
If you enforce restrictions on what protocols and ports that devices on your network can access, Square devices require the following protocols and their corresponding ports to be allowed through your firewall:
NTP. Note: this is critical for ensuring that the device has the correct time. Connectivity may fail due to certificate validity mismatches if the device time is wrong.
HTTPS (only port 443). Note: all traffic to Square servers is made over HTTPS.
The following ports are also used for network printers, but these do not require access to the internet:
UDP: 22222, 3289
TCP: 9100:9109
Domain Filtering
If you enforce restrictions on what domains can be accessed from within your network, Square devices require the following domains to be allowlisted.
HTTPS traffic
All subdomains of:
squareup.com
issquareup.com
squarecdn.com
cash.me
cash.app
squarecloudservices.com
As well as the following FQDNs:
api.skyhookwireless.com
notify.bugsnag.com
apytiqcuyrsq6-ats.iot.us-east-2.amazonaws.com
square.site
www.weebly.com
api.mapbox.com
mobile-data.onetrust.io
privacyportal.onetrust.com
cdn.cookielaw.org
memfault-prod-east1.s3.amazonaws.com
memfault-prod-ap-south-1.s3.amazonaws.com
files.memfault.com
device.memfault.com
ingress.memfault.com
NTP traffic
NTP requires access to:
time.android.com
IP Addresses
Square’s IP address ranges are:
US: 74.122.184.0/21
Asia/Pacific: 103.31.216.0/22
Europe: 185.57.56.0/22
Square devices also rely on access to Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). AWS IP ranges are published here, and Google is AS15169.
Note: Square devices have an internal firewall and an internal (domain, not IP) allowlist, and perform TLS certificate pinning on all Square endpoints, so you may consider the IP allowlisting on your side redundant depending on your purpose. It could make sense just to ensure Square devices can’t access any internal company IP addresses, and leave the rest of the internet open for Square’s on-device firewall and domain filter.
MAC Addresses
Square’s MAC OUI: 44:59:25
Merchants should allowlist all MAC addresses that start with the above prefix (ie, devices with MAC addresses following the pattern 44:59:25:XX:XX:XX). Alternatively, merchants can allowlist each individual device that shows up with that MAC address prefix (this prefix is owned by Square and should not be used by any other device vendors).
If you have older Square hardware, you may need to also allowlist the following MAC prefixes:
Older MAC OUIs: 2C:D1:41:D, 8C:47:6E:5, 1C:59:74:6
DNS
Square devices are compatible with any DNS server sent to the device over DHCP as long as it works. Feel free to use your ISP’s servers, or your favourite public servers (eg, Level3 at 4.2.2.1/4.2.2.2).
Supported Network Authentication Protocols
Square devices support:
WPA/WPA2 PSK
WEP (US only)
They do not support:
WPA/WPA2 Enterprise
WPA3 PSK/WPA3 Enterprise
Cleaning your Register
For minor scuffs and marks, you can use any electronic cleaning cloth included with your Square Register.
To clean the reader on Square Register, you can use card reader cleaning cards or a folded paper towel. Slide the cleaning card or paper towel through the card reader slot to clear any spills or debris.
If you’re still having trouble, please contact Square Support and we can help get you back to business.