Single Order Page and Manually Adding an Order

The single order page in WooCommerce lets you view, create, and edit orders. This document explains how to:

• Find information on the single order page.
• Edit an order.
• Understand and add order notes.
• Manually add an order.
• Use customer payment links for manual orders.

Viewing and editing a single order

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On the single order page, you can:

• Change the order status.
• Edit order items, including products, quantities, prices, and taxes.
• Send order details to the customer, regenerate download permissions, and run other order actions.
• Add or remove custom metadata for a line item.
• Apply or remove coupons.
  • You need the coupon code to apply it to an order.
  • WooCommerce tracks coupon usage counts.
  • Coupons affect only unpaid orders.
• Add a fixed or percentage-based fee.
  • Negative fees distribute taxes among all other items and do not reduce the cart total below zero.

Order details

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The Order details panel contains the following information:

• Order number
• Payment details
• Order date and time
• Order status
• Customer details:
  • Username and email, with a link to view the customer’s profile and previous purchases
  • Billing details
  • Shipping details

Editing order details

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You can update most order details in this panel. To edit billing or shipping information, select the pencil icon next to the corresponding heading.

• To change the date and time, use the date, hour, and minute fields.
• To change the status, choose the appropriate option from the Status dropdown.
• To change the customer, select the current customer and search for the new customer.

You can edit the following fields under Billing:

• Billing address: You can also load it from the customer’s profile by selecting Load billing address
• Email
• Phone number
• Payment method and details

You can edit the following fields under Shipping:

• Shipping address: You can also load it from the customer’s profile or copy it from the billing address
• Customer provided note

After you make changes, select Update in the Order actions panel to save the order.

Order items and totals

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The Order items panel shows the products, shipping details, and order totals.

Viewing order items

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The Order items panel has three sections:

• Each product item row lists:
  • Product image
  • Product name
  • Price per item
  • Quantity
  • Total (price × quantity, with discounts applied)
  • Taxes
• Below that, the shipping details include:
  • Shipping method
  • Boxed items
  • Total cost
  • Taxes
• The order totals section changes if an order is refunded. By default, it includes:
  • Items subtotal: the total before tax
  • Coupons: the discount amount; applied coupons appear to the left of the totals
  • Shipping: the shipping cost for the order
  • Taxes: the total order tax, labeled with the tax code applied to the order
  • Order total: the total of the above costs
  • The amount paid and any payment gateway fees

Editing or adding order items

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Apart from refunding, you can edit order items only when the order status is Pending payment or On hold.

To edit a product item, select the pencil icon next to the product line.

You can edit the following product item fields:

• Add Meta: Add or remove custom metadata for a line item. WooCommerce ignores reserved fields that it manages internally, so use the standard order-item controls to change product, quantity, total, or tax data.
• Quantity: The number of items the customer is purchasing.
• Total: The line price and tax before pre-tax discounts.
• Tax: The tax amount. For example, remove the tax when a customer is tax-exempt.

Four additional actions appear at the bottom of this panel:

• Add item(s) reveals six options:
  • Add product(s): Add products to the order.
  • Add fee: Add a fee, such as gift wrapping.
  • Add shipping: Add a shipping cost. Then select the pencil icon to update its name, method, cost, and tax.
  • Add tax: Add a tax code to every section in the order.
  • Cancel: Discard the changes.
  • Save: Save the changes.

When you select Add product(s), the search results show stock quantities for products that manage stock. Products and variations also display the Out of stock, On backorder, Disabled, or Draft label when applicable. You can still select them to create backorders, phone orders, and other manually arranged orders.

• Apply coupon: Apply a coupon before the customer pays. For example, use this option if the customer forgot to enter a coupon code.
• Refund: Issue a refund. To learn about manual and automatic refunds, see WooCommerce refunds.
• Recalculate: Update taxes from your store settings and the customer’s address after adding or removing products, coupons, or shipping methods. This overwrites any manual tax changes.

Custom fields

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Use the Custom Fields panel to add data that is not included in the standard order fields. Custom fields are a core WordPress feature.

Order notes

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The Order notes panel stores details about events such as payment results and stock changes. Some payment gateways also add notes for debugging.

WooCommerce uses three types of order notes. Text labels and layout, rather than color alone, distinguish them:

• System notes: WooCommerce or extensions add these automatically for events such as status changes, payment results, and webhook callbacks. They use a muted gray background and are not visible to the customer. Some events may also trigger an email notification.
• Private notes: Store administrators add these for internal reference. They appear on a white background and are not visible to the customer.
• Customer notes: Store administrators add these for customers, and WooCommerce sends them by email. They include a Sent to customer label and also appear in the customer’s My account order details.

Use notes to communicate with customers or other store managers. For example, when you add a customer note with a tracking number, WooCommerce emails it to the customer automatically.

To add a note to an order:

1. Enter the note in the text area. Some HTML is accepted, including <a> tags for links.
2. Select Private note or Public note to customer under Visibility.
3. For a private note, select Add private note. For a public note, review the Preview or edit email template link if needed, then select Send note to customer →. WooCommerce emails the public note immediately.

Manually adding an order

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You can create orders directly from the WordPress admin when you need to enter a phone order, create an order on behalf of a customer, or set up an order for testing. To add an order manually:

1. Go to WooCommerce > Orders.
2. Select Add order at the top of the page. The single order page appears.
3. Enter customer details, add line items, apply coupons and fees, and calculate totals. Use the controls described in Editing or adding order items.
4. Set a status for the new order. If the customer needs to pay, select Pending payment.
5. Select Save.

To send the customer a payment link, open the Order actions dropdown and select Send order details to customer. WooCommerce emails the customer a link to the order payment page.

Customer payment links

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When you email an invoice for a manual order, it includes a link to the order payment page. Access depends on whether the order belongs to a registered customer account or a guest.

Orders assigned to a customer account

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When you select a registered customer in the Customer field, WooCommerce assigns the order to that account. Only the assigned customer can pay for the order, and they must log in first.

If anyone else opens the payment link—including a store administrator—WooCommerce displays the following message:

This order cannot be paid for. Please contact us if you need assistance.

This message is expected. WooCommerce checks that the logged-in user matches the customer assigned to the order before allowing payment. If you see this message while testing a payment link as a store administrator, it does not indicate a problem with your payment gateway or a plugin conflict.

Guest orders

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If you create an order without assigning it to a customer account by leaving the Customer field empty or choosing Guest, the payment link does not require a login.

WooCommerce may still ask the person opening the link to verify the order’s billing email address before showing the payment form. The verification prompt depends on the shopper’s session and the age of the order. This protects the order details from unauthorized access.

If prompted, the customer must enter the email address used in the order’s billing details. After verification, they can continue to payment.

Choose between guest and customer-linked orders

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Choose how to assign a manual order based on who needs to pay:

• Assign to a customer account when the customer has a registered account and you want the order to appear in their My account > Orders history. The customer must log in to pay.
• Create a guest order when the customer does not have an account or should be able to pay without logging in.

Questions and support

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Do you still have questions and need assistance? 

• If you’re looking to extend the core functionality shown here, we recommend reviewing available extensions in the WooCommerce Marketplace.
• Need ongoing advanced support or a customization built for WooCommerce? Hire a Woo Agency Partner.
• Are you a developer building your own WooCommerce integration or extension? Check our Developer Resources.

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