Connect your Square Terminal to Square Point of Sale
Connect Square Terminal to Square Point of Sale wirelessly to any tablet, iPad, or smartphone to make checkout easier for your customers. Ring up a sale on Square Point of Sale, let your customers pay on Square Terminal. If you’re new to Square Terminal, check out the Square Terminal Guide or visit Square Shop to purchase.
In seconds, you can turn Square Terminal into a dedicated customer display and checkout device. You can also:
Let customers check out anywhere: Keep your POS at the counter and use Square Terminal to let customers pay curbside or tableside.
Sell accurately and minimize errors: Show customers their itemized cart and total before they complete the transaction.
Keep a safe distance: Minimize contact by letting your customer complete the transaction on Square Terminal.
Note: Before getting started, make sure that your Square Terminal, Square POS app, and your phone, iPad or tablet are up to date.
Watch our YouTube video to learn more about connecting your Square Terminal to your Square POS app:
Connect Square Terminal to Square Point of Sale
Square POS can wirelessly connect to one Square Terminal at a time. Keep in mind before you start the setup process:
Make sure that your iOS or Android device and Square Terminal are connected to a Wi-Fi or Ethernet network. Note: It doesn't have to be the same network, but both devices must be online.
If you’re logged in to your Square Terminal, sign out of your Terminal by tapping on the menu > tap Settings > Account > Sign out. For newly purchased Square Terminals, power it on by pressing the side button and staying on the login page.
To connect Square Terminal to Square Point of Sale:
From the Square POS app on your iOS or Android device, tap Menu > Settings > Hardware > Square Terminal.
Select Connect Square Terminal.
Enter a nickname and location to associate with your Terminal, then tap Continue.
Tap Sign in.
The Square POS app will generate a device code. Enter this code on your Square Terminal to complete pairing. Then, tap Sign In.
You’ll receive a confirmation in-app once you've successfully connected your Square Terminal to your device — Square Terminal will display “Powered by Square”.
Tap Done to start accepting payments.
Device Codes
Device codes will expire after five minutes. If your device code expires before you complete the pairing process, you'll need to generate a new code by following the same steps again.
Make a note of this device code, and grab your Square Terminal device to begin the next steps. You can reuse this same device code if you ever need to reconnect to your Square Terminal.
Take Payments with Square Terminal
To take a payment:
Go to the Checkout page of the Square POS app.
Build a cart by selecting an item from your Item Library or enter a custom amount, then press Charge. Note: You can enable or restrict your team’s ability to add custom amounts to transactions by going to Permissions > Checkout in your online Square Dashboard.
On the tender screen, tap Continue next to your Square Terminal’s nickname and have your customer complete payment by following the instructions on the Terminal.
Note: Split tender functionality is not yet supported on Square Terminal connected with Square Point of Sale. To accept split tender payments, connect a Square Reader to your POS device to complete the payment.
Cancel Payments with Square Terminal
If you want to cancel a payment, tap the X on either your Square POS app or on Square Terminal. You’ll see a notification in the Square POS app that the buyer has cancelled. You can then confirm the cancellation by tapping X then Cancel Payment, or you can attempt the checkout again by tapping Try again.
Printing Receipts on the Square Terminal
When you connect your Square Terminal with your Square POS app, receipts will be printed from your Square Terminal for card payments.
Note: When your customer pays with cash, payments are marked as completed on your Square POS device. As the transaction is not sent to the Square Terminal, the terminal will not print receipts for cash payments. We recommend connecting a supported printer to your Square POS device to print all receipts.
Access Settings on the Square Terminal
From the “Powered by Square” screen on Square Terminal, swipe the screen from the left to reveal the menu that provides access to Checkout, Settings, and Support.
Under Settings, you can configure your:
Network
Display and sound options
Accessibility for talkback or magnification
Printer configurations
Other general settings, including date and time, device names, and language
Disconnect Your Square Terminal
To disconnect your Square app from Square Terminal:
On your POS device, tap Menu, then tap Settings > Hardware > Square Terminal.
Tap Disconnect from this device.
Tap Disconnect to confirm. Square Terminal will disconnect from Point of Sale automatically.
Note: If the disconnection fails, Terminal will continue to display the “Powered by Square” screen, and you'll need to manually sign out by swiping from the top left side of the Square Terminal screen to reveal the menu, then tapping Settings > Sign Out. Tap Sign Out again to confirm.
Troubleshooting
If your Square Terminal loses connection with the connected POS device using Square Point of Sale or Square Retail app, you will need to pair the device again by signing out of the Square Terminal then go through the pairing steps again.
To sign out of the Square Terminal, swipe from left to the middle to open the menu panel, then tap Settings > Sign out.
If your Square Terminal is unresponsive, try rebooting it by holding the power button down for 12 seconds. You will need to generate a new device code on your Square Terminal to sign back in.
Refer to the Square Terminal troubleshooting guide if you’re experiencing issues with your Square Terminal that aren’t related to the Square Terminal display.
With your Square Terminal, cancel the checkout by tapping X and trying again. If your Square Terminal is inaccessible, turned off, logged out, out of battery, or offline, reboot your device to cancel the outstanding payment. You can also cancel the outstanding payment from your Square POS or Square Retail app device.
Square Terminal FAQ
Find answers to common questions about connecting your device to a Square Terminal.
2.6% + 10 cents for each contactless payment, dipped chip card, or swiped magstripe card when you connect Square Terminal and Square Point of Sale or Square for Retail Free.
If you’re subscribed to Square for Retail Plus, the processing fee is 2.5% + 10 cents per transaction.
For manually entered card payments, the fee is 3.5% + 15 cents per transaction.
Learn more about Square’s fees.
You can connect your Square Terminal as a customer-facing display to a compatible smartphone, Square Stand, iPad, or tablet. Check your device compatibility.
Square Terminal will connect to the Square Retail app on compatible iOS devices only. Check your device compatibility.
You can connect Square Terminal to the Square Point of Sale app and the Square for Retail app. Square for Restaurants, Square Invoices and Square Appointments are not yet supported.
Yes, you can plug Square Reader into your Square Stand via the dock and connect the Square Terminal to your iPad wirelessly.
Yes. Learn how to connect Square Terminal to Virtual Terminal on your computer.
Once you connect your Square Terminal to a device, it will stay on a “Powered by Square” screen. From there, you’ll be able to change your settings and access support resources. Simply swipe from the left to the middle of the screen to access the menu.
Payments accepted on Square Terminal automatically appear on your online Square Dashboard and sync across all Square devices logged in to your business location.