Why are my WooCommerce orders stuck in pending payment?
The WooCommerce help pages give 5 common reasons. The first to rule out: An order in pending payment has come in, but WooCommerce has not been told the payment went through, so it is not counted as paid yet.
Is it broken, or just quiet?
A number can fall because fewer people came, or because something stopped counting them. Below are the causes the WooCommerce help pages give, and how to check each one yourself.
What causes it?
An order in pending payment has come in, but WooCommerce has not been told the payment went through, so it is not counted as paid yet.
In the WooCommerce help:
The Pending payment order status indicates that WooCommerce received an order but payment has not yet been confirmed.
Troubleshooting Orders, read 2026-11-12.Your payment provider is what normally marks an order as paid. If that update does not reach your store, the order stays pending.
In the WooCommerce help:
Most payment gateways automatically update the order status to Processing once payment is received.
Troubleshooting Orders, read 2026-11-12.Some payment providers need a webhook, an automatic message that tells your store a payment succeeded, set up by hand. If it is missing or broken, orders can stay pending.
In the WooCommerce help:
Some payment gateways require you to manually set up webhooks, while others handle this automatically.
Troubleshooting Orders, read 2026-11-12.If your payment provider only authorizes a charge, the money is held but not taken until the charge is captured, so the order may not be paid yet.
In the WooCommerce help:
An authorization places a hold on funds but requires you to manually capture the charge before any money transfers.
Troubleshooting Orders, read 2026-11-12.An on hold order is waiting for you to confirm that the payment arrived, so it does not count as paid until you do.
In the WooCommerce help:
The order is awaiting payment confirmation. Stock is reduced, but you need to confirm payment.
Order Statuses, read 2026-11-12.
How do I check it myself?
Count orders in processing (and later completed) as your paid orders, and compare them with orders still in pending payment or on hold.
In the WooCommerce help:
Payment has been received (paid), and the stock has been reduced.
Order Statuses, read 2026-11-12.Open a stuck order and read its notes. Messages from your payment provider there often say why the payment did not finish.
In the WooCommerce help:
Payment gateway messages often appear in order notes and can reveal why a payment was not completed.
Troubleshooting Orders, read 2026-11-12.If an order has no notes about a payment attempt at all, that is a sign something went wrong between your store and the payment provider.
In the WooCommerce help:
If you see no order notes related to the payment attempt, that itself indicates a potential problem.
Troubleshooting Orders, read 2026-11-12.If pending orders disappear into cancelled, check how long your store holds stock for unpaid orders. When that time runs out, eligible pending orders are cancelled.
In the WooCommerce help:
When the limit expires, WooCommerce cancels eligible pending orders and releases their stock.
Troubleshooting Orders, read 2026-11-12.
How would I know the day it starts?
- Feder reads your paid WooCommerce orders each day and compares each day with your own history.
- Orders still waiting for payment are not paid orders. It tells you when paid orders go quiet or move outside their usual range.
Some numbers are too quiet to judge daily, such as a form filled in a few times a week. Until there is enough of your own history to judge a change, Feder says it is still learning and scores nothing, rather than guessing.
See what Feder reads from WooCommerce, which feeds Wins. Feder only reads. It never changes anything in WooCommerce.
What else goes wrong with these numbers?
- Why don't my WooCommerce Analytics numbers match my orders?WooCommerce
- Why did my WooCommerce orders suddenly stop?WooCommerce
- Why did Google Analytics stop collecting data?Google Analytics
- Why aren't my key events showing in Google Analytics?Google Analytics
- Why does Google Analytics show (not set)?Google Analytics
See every question.
Where do these answers come from?
Every cause and check on this page comes from the WooCommerce help pages, quoted above with the date we read them. Last reviewed 2026-11-12. We read them again by 2027-11-12. If one changes, this page changes or comes down.