Get Started with Square Online Checkout Links

To create a checkout link from your online Square Dashboard:

1. In your online Square Dashboard, go to Online Checkout.
2. Choose to create a link, button, or QR code using the buttons.
3. Under Link purpose, choose to either collect a payment, sell an item, or accept a donation.
4. Enter a name for your link to be displayed to your customer.
5. If prompted, enter the amount you want to charge.
6. Add an image by selecting Add Image. Select either an image from your files or from your existing item library. Note: If you’re adding a new image for an item in your library that already has one, the new image will automatically replace the previous image. You can also edit your image by adjusting the zoom.
7. Choose a Frequency if prompted.
8. Add a description (optional). The description for each checkout link has a 400 character limit. Note: When creating a new link for a new product in your item library, you can add a brand new description. This description will sync back to your item library for future use. For an existing item in your library, you can use your pre-existing description or create a new description to overwrite the previous one. Managing descriptions is currently only available in the online Square Dashboard.
9. Select Create link.
10. Select Copy link to share the link anywhere.

Note: Square Online Checkout links can only be enabled for one location at a time. You can change the location you want to use to track sales and inventory for checkout links in your Square Dashboard by going to your Online Checkout Settings > General and selecting a Primary Location.

See additional resources about creating and managing Checkout Links in app.

Once you’ve created a checkout link, you’re ready to start accepting payments online. You can manage all of your links from the Online Checkout section of your online Square Dashboard where you can view a list of all of your links and the sales generated from each active and inactive link.

You can also access and enable Online Checkout links for items in your Item Library. To do so:

1. In your online Square Dashboard, go to Items to access your Item Library.
2. Select the item you want to sell with a checkout link.
3. Toggle on the Online Checkout option.
4. Select Save when finished.

When you enable Online Checkout links from your Item Library, you’ll have access to more Online Checkout options including:

• Enabling a shipping fee through Online Checkout Settings.
• Collecting shipping information such as an address on the checkout page.
• Enabling online sales tax through Online Checkout Settings.
• Displaying a product image on the checkout page.
• Displaying product variants on the checkout page.

Note: The blue chainlink symbol means your Online Checkout link is active. A gray one indicates your Online Checkout link is inactive.

By default, Online Checkout is only available for account owners but can be opened up to all employees via Permissions. Once the account owner enables the Online Checkout feature, employees with online Square Dashboard access can view, create, update, and manage settings for Square Online Checkout links.

Once you’ve copied checkout links, you’re ready to share your links anywhere. Add a checkout link to an email, your social media page, or your blog. Additionally, you can send out a customizable Square Marketing campaign to a targeted customer group. Note: Purchases made with checkout links will not issue a standard customized receipt. Instead, they’ll generate a basic digital receipt.

When a customer clicks the checkout link for an item, they’ll be directed to a single checkout page where they can pay with a card of their choice, with Apple Pay or Google Pay, or using Cash App Pay.

Buy now, pay later with Afterpay is also available for eligible accounts. Learn how to accept payments with Afterpay in our Support Center.

You can download and print a custom QR code to direct your customers to Online Checkout links, offering a simple contactless payment solution that will allow your customers to self-serve.

To create a QR code for an Item from your online Square Dashboard:

1. In your online Square Dashboard, go to Online Checkout to start creating your checkout link to sell an item.
2. Select the Item you want to generate a QR code for.
3. After you create your checkout link, share your link via QR code by selecting Create under the QR code option.
4. Download QR Code to your device to print it for use in your business.

You can also learn how to set up and manage a QR Code for Payment in the Square POS app.

Calculate and apply tax rates automatically for Square Online Checkout payment links in your online Square Dashboard. 

To enable sales taxes:

1. From your online Square Dashboard, select Online Checkout.
2. Go to Settings > General.
3. Under Automatic settings, toggle on Apply sales tax to calculate taxes based on seller and buyer location for “Sell an item,” “Accept a payment,” and “Sell classes and tickets” links. Taxes will not be applied to “Accept a donation” links.

If you have a Square Online account, you can adjust your tax settings by going to Online > Settings > Sales Taxes > Order Level Tax Rates in your Square Dashboard. Note: Square Online taxes do not currently apply to “Accept a payment” links. Taxes set up in Square settings through Account & Settings > Business information > Sales tax will not impact Online Checkout links created in Dashboard.

When you’re creating a Checkout link, you can easily allow for tips from your customers. To get started with accepting tips from your customers:

1. In your online Square Dashboard, go to Online Checkout.
2. As you’re creating your checkout link, go to Advanced Settings and check the box to Enable tipping.
3. Enter a name for your link and the amount you want to charge.
4. Click Create link and select Copy link to share the link anywhere.

Your customers will now automatically see tipping settings of 15%, 20%, and 25% on their payment link, with a default tip percentage of 15%. Note: Tipping is currently not available for links with subscriptions or recurring payments.

You can add extra charges to your checkout page to cover overhead costs. To create service charges and instantly add them to your Online Checkout payment links:

1. From your online Square Dashboard, create a service charge by going to Account & Settings > Business information > Service charges > Create a service charge.
2. Then, access the service charges created within Square Online Checkout through Online Checkout > General > Service charges > Add service charge.
3. Select the service charges you would like to automatically apply to Square Online Checkout purchases.
4. Click Save.

Enable your customers to add a comment or note while they checkout using Square Online Checkout. This will better help your business to:

• Collect needed order information from your customers.
• Track donation details.
• Customize your customers’ orders.

To start accepting notes from your customers:

1. In your online Square Dashboard, go to Online Checkout.
2. Go to Settings > General.
3. Toggle the “Note from Customer” option on.
4. Click Save.

When your customers pay through a checkout link, they will see a box for an optional note. Any information entered by your customer in the note section at checkout will appear on the order details for each transaction. Simply select Transactions from your Online Checkout dashboard and click on any payment to see your customer note. You will also see this information in your Order Manager.

If you have Square Online set up, you’ll have this option listed under your Online settings rather than your Online Checkout settings. To turn on customer notes through Square Online, from your Square Online Overview page, go to Settings > Checkout or Shared Settings > Checkout and select Advanced Settings. Check the box next to Allow customer to leave a note to seller and select Save when finished.

Learn more about payment tracking with Square checkout links.

You have the option to allow your customers to set the price at checkout for Square Online Checkout. This setting is accessible from both the online Square Dashboard and Square POS app.

From your online Square Dashboard:

1. In your online Square Dashboard, go to Online Checkout.
2. Select Create checkout link.
3. Select Collect a payment.
4. Enter a name for the link that will be displayed to the customer.
5. In Advanced Settings, check the Allow buyer to set the price option.
6. Complete your checkout link setup and select Create link.
7. Select Copy link to share the link anywhere.

See additional resources about creating and managing Checkout Links in app.

You can choose to have your logo or business name placed in the header of your checkout links. To add a logo, to your Square Online Checkout links:

1. From your Square Dashboard, go to Online Checkout.
2. Under the Settings menu, select Branding > Logo.
3. Click +Add a full-width logo to upload your logo. To make sure your image is high resolution, the recommended logo size is 1280x680 px or a 2:1 ratio.
4. Select and upload an image.

Note: If you have already added a full-width logo in Account Settings > Locations > Location Details, that logo will automatically appear on your checkout page header and apply to the look of your receipts, invoices, appointment bookings, and marketing.

Create a buy button and add it to your website as a convenient way to take customers directly to a checkout page. Create your buy button by generating a small piece of HTML code that you can embed on your website, blog, landing page, or the body of an email.

Learn more about adding buy buttons to your website with Square Online Checkout.

Subscription checkout links can be used to accept weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual payments from multiple customers with a single checkout link. For more info on getting started, visit Subscriptions in Square Online Checkout.

With Square Loyalty, you can create a digital rewards program that lets customers earn incentives with each purchase.

With Square Online Checkout, you can set up a checkout link with Square Loyalty enabled. Your customers can sign up for Square Loyalty and earn or redeem rewards using their phone number at checkout. If you’re enrolled in the Square Loyalty program, there is no extra monthly fee for using Square Loyalty with Square Online Checkout links.

If you are setting up a Loyalty program for the first time:

1. From your online Square Dashboard, go to Customers > Loyalty.
2. Follow the steps to create your loyalty program.
3. Once your Square Loyalty account is activated and you create rewards, customers will automatically see the option to sign up, earn, or redeem rewards on their checkout links.

If you are already enrolled in a Square Loyalty program, customers will automatically see the option to enroll, earn, or redeem rewards on their checkout links created from Square Online Checkout. Note: Below are some limitations to consider when using Square Loyalty with Square Online Checkout links:

• Square Loyalty is currently available with Square Online Checkout only on “Send payment links” through the Square Point of Sale > Payment app.
• Square Loyalty SMS notifications are only available for in-store purchases.

Learn more about getting started with Square Loyalty and creating a loyalty program. You can also review the Square Loyalty FAQ.

You can promote your items by reaching your customers with a Square Marketing campaign. To include a Square Online Checkout link in your campaign:

1. In your online Square Dashboard, go to Online Checkout to start creating your checkout link.
2. After you create your checkout link, copy any link by clicking the blue chainlink icon.
3. In your online Square Dashboard, go to Marketing. Depending on the campaign type, you can paste the checkout link directly in the body text.
4. Send your campaign.

Once you send your marketing campaign, customers can click on the checkout link to purchase items on the spot. Note: At this time, you’re unable to track click-through rate for checkout links.

Customers can apply the coupons you create with Square Marketing to the Square Online Checkout payment links you share with them. Your customers will need to enter the coupon code in the designated field in your payment link’s checkout screen for the discount to apply. One coupon can be applied per payment link.