Intro
When your WooCommerce checkout stops working, every minute costs you real money. Customers add products to the cart, reach the last step, and then see an error, a frozen button or a blank page. Most of the time the cause is small and fixable. Here are eight common reasons WooCommerce checkout breaks, and how to fix each one. Before you start, take a full backup of your site.
1. A plugin conflict
This is the most common cause. A recently updated plugin, such as a security, cache, popup or payment add-on, can clash with WooCommerce. To test, temporarily disable all plugins except WooCommerce and your payment gateway. If checkout works, turn plugins back on one by one until it breaks again. The last one you enabled is the culprit.
2. Theme problems
Some themes override WooCommerce templates, and an outdated template can break checkout after a WooCommerce update. Switch to a default theme like Storefront on a staging copy and test. If checkout works there, update your theme or ask the developer to fix the template files.
3. Caching the checkout page
Cart, checkout and My Account pages must never be cached. If a caching plugin or your hosting cache stores them, customers may see an empty cart, wrong totals or expired sessions. Add these pages to the cache exclusion list in your caching plugin, then clear all caches.
4. Payment gateway errors
If the checkout loads but the payment fails, check your gateway settings. Make sure the API keys are correct, the gateway is not in test mode on a live store, and the plugin is on the latest version. Also check WooCommerce → Status → Logs for payment errors.
5. JavaScript errors
The checkout page depends on JavaScript. If a script fails, the “Place order” button may do nothing. Open your browser, press F12 and check the Console tab for red errors. Often a minify or “combine JS” option in an optimisation plugin is the cause. Turn it off for the checkout page and test again.
6. Missing or broken WooCommerce pages
WooCommerce needs its Cart, Checkout and My Account pages assigned correctly. Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Advanced and confirm each page is set. The checkout page should contain the WooCommerce checkout block or the [woocommerce_checkout] shortcode.
7. SSL and mixed-content issues
Checkout must run on HTTPS. If your site loads some files over HTTP, browsers can block them and the page may break or show a security warning. Make sure your SSL certificate is active and that your WordPress and Site URL settings both use https.
8. Server limits and PHP errors
Low PHP memory, timeouts or an old PHP version can make checkout fail silently, often with a “500 Internal Server Error”. Ask your host to raise the PHP memory limit (256 MB is a good start) and check the error log. Turn on WP_DEBUG on a staging site to see the exact error.
Still not working?
Checkout bugs are tricky because they can come from several places at once, and testing on a live store risks more lost orders. If you want it fixed safely, our WooCommerce support service finds the cause, fixes it on a staging copy first, and then moves the fix live.