WooCommerce allows orders to be placed both with and without a customer account. You decide for yourself whether customers are allowed to order as guests, whether they can log in during checkout, and when a new customer account may be created.
You can find these settings in the WordPress backend under:
WooCommerce
→ Settings
→ Accounts & Privacy
The correct configuration depends on how your shop should function. A simple online shop can allow guest checkouts. For other business models, a customer account may be necessary or advisable.
How shopping cart and checkout fundamentally interact is explained in our article Understanding Cart and Checkout in WooCommerce.
Briefly explained: For a guest checkout, the customer buys without a WordPress user account. For an order with a customer account, the order is assigned to a registered user who can later view their orders and addresses in the „My Account“ area, for example.
What is a guest order? #
With a guest order, the customer does not need to create a user account in your shop.
He enters the required data at checkout, for example:
- Name
- Billing address
- Delivery address, if required
- Email address
- further information required for checkout
WooCommerce creates an order from this, but not a normal WordPress user account for this customer.
Therefore, the guest order is not automatically linked to an existing customer account.
What is a WooCommerce customer account? #
Technically, a WooCommerce customer account is based on the WordPress user system.
A registered customer can log in to your shop and gets access to the area My account.
There, customers can, depending on the shop configuration and installed extensions, for example:
- View orders
- View downloads
- Manage billing and shipping addresses
- Change account details
- manage saved payment methods if supported by the payment provider
Which areas are actually displayed depends on your WooCommerce shop and the installed extensions.
Allow or disallow guest orders #
Open:
WooCommerce
→ Settings
→ Accounts & Privacy
In the checkout and accounts section, you will find the setting for Guest orders.
If guest ordering is enabled, customers can generally place orders without creating an account beforehand.
If it is deactivated, the customer needs a customer account to place an order.
Important: Individual extensions may still require a customer to have an account. For example, this applies to certain products or features that must be permanently linked to a user account.
When do guest orders make sense? #
Guest orders reduce the number of steps a new customer has to complete before purchasing.
This can be particularly useful for shops where customers only shop occasionally and do not need a permanent personal area.
An example would be a shop with normal physical single products:
Select product
↓
Cart
↓
Checkout
↓
Enter address
↓
Pay
↓
Order completed
The customer does not necessarily have to manage an additional username and password for this.
When can a customer account be useful or necessary? #
A customer account is especially helpful if customers need regular access to personal information or features.
Examples can be:
- recurring purchases
- Access to previous orders
- Downloads
- saved addresses
- saved payment methods
- Subscriptions
- Membership or customer areas via extensions
WooCommerce explicitly points out that, for example, purchases with the WooCommerce Subscriptions extension require a customer account.
Whether an account is necessary for your specific product may therefore also depend on the extensions used.
Allow registration during checkout #
WooCommerce can allow already registered customers to log in during checkout.
If you enable this feature, WooCommerce displays a login option to non-logged-in visitors in the checkout.
This makes sense if you want to serve both new guest customers and existing customers.
An existing customer can then log in and use the information associated with their account, rather than going through checkout like a brand new visitor.
Guest checkout and registration are not mutually exclusive #
You can simultaneously:
Allow guest checkout
+
Allow registration during checkout
This gives a new customer the opportunity to order without an account, while a registered customer can log in.
This combination makes sense for many standard online stores.
Allow customers to create an account during checkout #
WooCommerce can also allow customers to create an account during checkout.
The customer then does not need to open a separate registration page first.
Instead, checkout and account creation are linked together.
You can also find this setting under:
WooCommerce
→ Settings
→ Accounts & Privacy
If you enable account creation during checkout, a new customer can create a customer account before placing the order.
Create account after checkout #
Current WooCommerce versions also offer the possibility of customers after checkout to have an account created.
This means that the customer can complete the order first and then has the opportunity to create an account.
This allows checkout to be completed without prior account creation, while the customer can still set up a personal account afterwards.
Create an account on the „My Account“ page #
WooCommerce can additionally allow registration on the page My account allow.
When this option is enabled, visitors can create a new customer account there, regardless of whether they are currently in the checkout.
The „My Account“ page is one of the core WooCommerce pages and is normally created or assigned during the setup of the shop.
How can a customer set their password? #
WooCommerce offers the option to email new users a link to set their password.
This means the password does not necessarily have to be entered directly in the registration form.
After creating the account, the customer receives a corresponding email and can set their password using the link included.
Practical Tip: When using this function, you should definitely test whether the password reset email is reliably delivered to the customer.
We will cover the WooCommerce email configuration later in the article Set up WooCommerce emails and order notifications.
Use email address as username #
WooCommerce can use the customer's email address as the login name for the account.
If this feature is disabled, a custom username may also be required when creating an account.
With the modern WooCommerce cart and checkout blocks, using the email address as the account login is automatically applied for compatibility reasons, and the corresponding setting may be hidden there.
If your interface therefore does not show the exact same options as an older manual, that does not necessarily mean it's an error.
Confirm customer's email address #
In current versions, WooCommerce has a feature for confirming the customer's email address.
This allows a customer to confirm their email address and link matching past guest orders to their customer account.
This is particularly interesting if guest orders are allowed and a customer creates an account later.
Note: Which account functions are displayed in your backend can depend on the WooCommerce version used and installed extensions.
What happens to previous guest orders? #
A guest order is initially not assigned to a regular WordPress user account.
However, WooCommerce now has features that allow matching guest orders to be linked to a customer account after a confirmed email address.
Therefore, you should not assume across the board that a previous guest order can never be linked to an account created later.
Understanding the „My Account“ Page #
The page My account is the personal area of registered WooCommerce customers.
A registered customer can normally access various areas there.
Typically, this includes:
Dashboard
Orders
Downloads
Addresses
Account details
Log out
Depending on the extensions, additional areas may be added.
For example, additional menu items may appear in a shop with subscriptions. Other extensions can also add their own features.
Orders in the customer account #
Registered customers can in the area Orders view the orders associated with your account.
Depending on the order status and shop configuration, additional actions may be available there.
For you as a store owner, on the other hand, you can find orders in the WooCommerce backend.
How to process and check orders there is explained in the article Managing WooCommerce orders: status, payment, and shipping.
Addresses in the customer account #
A registered customer can save or edit their billing and shipping address in their customer account.
These details can be reused during checkout for a future order.
This prevents a returning customer from having to re-enter their complete address with every purchase.
Downloads in the customer account #
If you sell downloadable products, WooCommerce can display a registered customer's available downloads in their customer account.
Which files are available and how long or how often they can be downloaded depends on the settings of the respective product.
Saved payment methods #
Depending on the payment method used, a registered customer can also manage saved payment methods in their account.
However, this does not work automatically with every payment provider.
Whether, for example, a card or another payment method can be saved depends on the respective payment extension and its configuration.
Guest customers do not have a permanent customer account to which WooCommerce could assign such saved payment information.
Privacy settings belong to the same area #
The area Account & Privacy not only contains settings for guest orders and account creation.
There you will also find functions for handling personal data.
These include, among others:
- Privacy policy notes
- Retention of personal data
- Handling deletion requests
- Removal of personal data from orders
- Access to downloadable files upon deletion requests
Important: WooCommerce provides you with technical settings for data privacy and data retention. You must determine the retention periods and legal requirements that apply to your business based on the statutory and business requirements applicable to you.
Show privacy policy in checkout #
WooCommerce allows you to display a privacy notice in the checkout.
Likewise, a notice can be displayed during the registration of a customer account.
For this purpose, WooCommerce uses the privacy policy page stored in WordPress.
You can find the corresponding texts at:
WooCommerce
→ Settings
→ Accounts & Privacy
customize.
With the placeholder:
[privacy_policy]
WooCommerce can link to the stored privacy policy within these notices.
Automatically retain or remove personal data #
WooCommerce can use retention periods for various types of data.
For example, you can specify how long certain data from:
- inactive customer accounts
- pending orders
- failed orders
- cancelled orders
- completed orders
should be kept.
If a field remains empty, WooCommerce generally retains this data without a set automatic expiration time.
With established deadlines, WooCommerce automatically performs corresponding cleanups.
Important: Do not just enter any deadline here simply because it is technically possible. Order data may be subject to statutory retention periods, for example. The correct deadline depends on your company and the regulations applicable to you.
What happens during a deletion request? #
WordPress has tools for exporting and erasing personal data.
WooCommerce expands these features with shop data.
Among other things, WooCommerce can anonymize or remove customer data from orders upon corresponding requests, handle download access, and take other customer-related data into account.
What data is actually deleted or retained depends on your settings and potential legal retention obligations.
Guest orders do not mean „no customer data“ #
A common misconception is:
Guest order
=
no personal data stored
That is not true.
WooCommerce also requires the data necessary for the order, even with a guest checkout.
This can include, for example, name, address, and email address.
The difference is that no permanent regular user account is created for the customer.
Note: „In WooCommerce, “guest„ means “without a customer account„—not “order anonymously".
Which setting makes sense for a normal online shop? #
There is no single correct setting for every WooCommerce store.
For a traditional shop with standard physical products, the following configuration could be useful, for example:
Guest checkout:
Allowed
Registration during checkout:
Allowed
Account creation during or after checkout:
Allowed
Registration on „My Account“:
Allowed
This way you don't force a new customer to register, but at the same time you offer a customer account for returning buyers.
However, this is only one possible model. If your business model requires a customer account, you must disable guest checkout accordingly.
A subscription-based shop can work differently #
When extensions like WooCommerce Subscriptions are used, different requirements may apply.
WooCommerce explicitly documents that customers need an account for subscriptions.
A shop with:
monthly subscription
annual membership
recurring payments
cannot therefore be configured in the same way as a simple shop for one-time product purchases.
Always check the documentation of such extensions as well.
Test account creation after changes #
If you change settings for guest orders or customer accounts, you should test the checkout afterward from the customer's perspective.
It is best to use a private browser window or a browser where you are not logged in as a WordPress administrator.
Check in particular:
- Can a guest place an order if guest orders are allowed?
- Is registration offered when it is enabled?
- Can a new account be created during checkout?
- Does account creation work after checkout, if enabled?
- Is the password reset email arriving?
- Can the new customer log in afterwards?
- Will the order be displayed in the customer account?
- Are the billing and shipping addresses saved correctly?
We cover the complete audit of a shop in the article Testing a WooCommerce shop before launch: Test order and checklist.
If account creation does not work #
First check the settings under:
WooCommerce
→ Settings
→ Accounts & Privacy
Check afterwards whether the page My account is configured correctly and whether emails for account creation or password assignment are being sent.
Additional plugins can modify registration and login functions. If your shop uses a custom registration extension, a membership plugin, or a customized checkout, this can create additional rules.
We will address technical problems later in the article Systematically finding WooCommerce issues: status, logs, and error diagnostics go into more detail on troubleshooting.
What's next? #
With shopping cart, checkout, and customer accounts, the purchasing process is basically explained from the customer's perspective.
After submitting the checkout, the work begins on the shop side: the order appears in the WooCommerce backend and must be further processed depending on the payment and shipping method.
In the next article, we therefore explain Managing WooCommerce orders: status, payment, and shipping.
Summary #
WooCommerce can allow customers to, as a guest to order or a Customer account to be used or newly created.
When placing a guest order, no standard user account is created. The customer data required for the order is still processed and saved in the order.
Registered customers can use the page My account manage orders, addresses, downloads, and—depending on the payment method used—saved payment methods, among other things.
Under WooCommerce → Settings → Accounts & Privacy Can you configure guest orders, login, and account creation? There are also settings there for the privacy policy and the retention or removal of personal data.
Which configuration is correct depends on your shop. After every change to these settings, you should test the complete checkout and account creation yourself as a customer.
