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Troubleshoot payment errors on Square Handheld

Square Handheld can accept tap, dip, and swipe payments. Learn how to Accept payments with Square Handheld.

This article provides troubleshooting steps for your Square Handheld if you are experiencing issues accepting card payments.

Before you begin troubleshooting

When to troubleshoot 

Troubleshooting payment issues involves steps that may take a bit of time, such as rebooting your hardware. For minimal disruption to your business, perform Square Handheld troubleshooting before or after business hours. If you need to resolve payment issues during operating hours, avoid peak times as some steps may temporarily interrupt service.

If you have pending offline payments, do not factory reset your Square Handheld. Pending offline payments will be permanently lost, and the funds won’t be captured. Learn how to process offline payments.

To troubleshoot payments, you may need the following:

  • Your Square account login information (email address and password, or device code)

  • Wi-Fi network name and password

Step 1: Confirm card processing method

If you have Skip payment type selection enabled, tap Confirm & Pay to accept payments ―  you’ll see Tap, Insert, or Swipe on your screen. If a specific card processing method isn’t working, ask your customer to try a different form of payment.

Tap (Apple Pay, Google Pay, or contactless device)

Ask your customer to hold a contactless device or card near the contactless symbol in the top center of the screen to start the payment.

Dip (chip cards)

The front of the card with the chip on it should face up. Insert the chip card into the chip card slot and leave it in place until prompted to remove the card.

Swipe (magnetic stripe cards)

Swipe magnetic stripe cards through a connected Square Reader for magstripe USB-C (sold separately) on the left side of Square Handheld. The magnetic stripe must face inward.

Step 2: Verify your internet connection

Make sure that your Square Handheld is not near objects that can cause signal interference, such as microwaves and large electric motors such as blenders and grinders. Placing your Square Handheld inside a metal cash drawer can interfere with the signal.

Check your Wi-Fi connection on Square Handheld

  1. Make sure you see the Wi-Fi status indicator on the top right corner of the status bar.
  2. Tap ≡ More > Settings > Hardware > Network and make sure you see a checkmark next to the network you are trying to connect to.
  3. Toggle Wi-Fi OFF and then back ON.

Check your Ethernet connection on Square Handheld

  1. Make sure your Ethernet cable is clicked all the way into the Hub for Square Terminal.
  2. Make sure your Hub for Square Terminal is plugged into power through the power adapter.
  3. Make sure you can see the Ethernet network status indicator on the top right corner of the status bar.

Step 3: Update Square Handheld software

  1. Tap ≡ More > Settings > Hardware > General. If you’re signed out, tap Change Settings > General.

  2. Tap About Square Handheld.

  3. From this page, you’ll see your software version. Tap Check for Update to see if a software update is available. If you see Software Up To Date then you are all set.

Step 4: Restart your Square Handheld

Restarting your Square Handheld does not erase important account settings like items, transaction histories, customer lists, modes, or team permissions. It will all be there when you sign back in. There are three ways to restart the Square Handheld:

  • Swipe down on the screen to open the quick menu. Tap the power icon in the top right corner and then tap Restart.

Or

  • Press and hold the circular power button on the right side of the Square Handheld and release as soon as you see the restart option. Tap Restart.

Or

  • Press and hold the circular power button until the screen turns off. Wait a moment, and then press and hold the power button again. Release the power button as soon as the Square logo appears on the screen.

Try to process a payment before moving on to the steps below to send a diagnostic report and factory reset your Square Handheld.

Step 5: Send a diagnostic report

Sending a diagnostic report helps Square further investigate your issue if you cannot resolve it on your own. This report is vital for discovering the cause of the issue and must be sent prior to factory resetting your device.

Diagnostic reports can take between 2-7 minutes to upload — make sure you have a strong internet connection and your device is powered on during this time.

  1. Sign in to the Square POS app on your Square Handheld.

  2. Tap ≡ More > Support > Troubleshooting.

  3. Tap Upload Support Ledger.

  4. Tap Send Diagnostic Report.

A blue loading circle will appear next to Sending Diagnostic Report as the report is uploaded to Square servers. Do not attempt any other troubleshooting steps until the circle disappears and the Send Diagnostic Report text turns blue.

Step 6: Factory reset your Square Handheld

The final troubleshooting step is to perform a factory reset on your Square Handheld. A factory reset, unlike a normal reset, will restore your hardware to its original state when it was first purchased. 

Factory resetting your device should only be done after all other troubleshooting steps have been attempted.

Before you factory reset your device, you must:

Performing a factory reset on your device will reset your general settings (date, time, language, etc.), remove any assigned modes or printer profiles, delete all pending offline payments, and remove previous software updates.

Once you have read and understood the risks of factory resetting your device, you may proceed to perform a factory reset on your Square hardware. After the factory reset is complete, you will need to set up Square Handheld.

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