Chykalophia Docs

Learn what an order is in WooCommerce, where to find your orders, and what information each order contains.

Every time a customer completes a purchase on your store, WooCommerce creates an order. This guide explains what orders are, where to find them, and what all that information means.

Quick summary

Orders live under WooCommerce → Orders in your WordPress dashboard. Each order has a unique number, a status (like "Processing" or "Completed"), and a full record of what was bought, who bought it, and how they paid. You can view, edit, and manage every order from that screen.

Where to find your orders

Log in to WordPress. Go to your site's login page and sign in with your admin account.

Go to WooCommerce → Orders. In the left-hand menu, click WooCommerce, then click Orders.

Browse or search. You'll see a list of all orders. The status links above the table (Processing, Completed and so on) narrow the list in one click. To filter, pick a month, search for a registered customer, or both, then click Filter. The search box in the top-right finds a specific order.

Click an order number to open the full order detail page.

What's inside an order

When you open an order, you'll see several sections. Here's what each one means.

Section	What it shows
Order number & date	A unique ID and the date/time the order was placed
Order status	Where this order is in your workflow (e.g., Processing, Completed)
Items ordered	Products, quantities, and prices
Customer details	Name, email, billing address, and shipping address
Payment method	How the customer paid (credit card, PayPal, etc.)
Order notes	A running log of activity and any notes you or the customer left
Totals	Subtotal, shipping cost, taxes, discounts, and grand total

The order number

Every order gets a unique number (for example, #1042). When a customer emails you about an order, ask for this number — it makes finding the right order instant.

The numbers are unique, but they are not sequential. WordPress hands out IDs to every kind of content, not just orders, so you will see gaps: #1042 may be followed by #1047. That is normal and not a sign of missing orders. Extensions exist that give you sequential order numbers if you need them.

Order notes

The Order notes panel on the order page is a log. There are three kinds of note: system notes that WooCommerce and your extensions add automatically for things like status changes and payment results, private notes that your team adds for internal reference, and customer notes that are emailed to the customer. This is the best place to track what happened with an order.

Private vs. customer-facing notes

When you add a note, choose Private note (only your team sees it) or Public note to customer under Visibility, then click Add private note or Send note to customer. WooCommerce emails a public note immediately, so deleting it afterwards does not unsend it. Use customer notes for updates like tracking numbers.

Billing vs. shipping addresses

An order has two addresses. The billing address is where the payment comes from. The shipping address is where the goods go. They are often the same, but not always — for example, when someone buys a gift for another person.

Common questions

Can I edit an order after it's been placed?

Partly. Addresses, the customer, the date and the status are edited in the main order panel at the top of the order screen — click the pencil icon next to the billing or shipping heading, or use the Status dropdown, then click Update in the Order actions panel.

The line items are different. You can only add, remove or change products, fees, coupons and shipping while the order is in Pending payment or On hold. Once an order reaches Processing or anything later, those items are locked. WooCommerce also accepts only one payment per order, so if a customer wants to add something to an order they have already paid for, create a second order rather than editing the first.

How do I search for a specific order?

On the Orders screen, use the search box in the top-right corner. Enter an order number, a customer name, or other information shown in the table (such as an address), then press Enter or click Search orders. To narrow the list instead, use the status links above the table, or pick a month and click Filter. Clicking a column heading such as Order, Date or Total sorts the list.

What does the order date mean — is it when they ordered or when they paid?

The date shown is when the order was created (submitted). For most payment methods, this happens at the same moment as payment. For bank transfer orders, the order is created when submitted but payment may come later.

Can customers see their orders too?

Yes. Customers can log in to their account on your store and view their order history under "My Account." They see status, items, and tracking notes you mark as customer-visible.

Need a hand?

If you're stuck, email support@chykalophia.com and we'll help. Include your website address and a screenshot if you can.

Understanding orders