Checkout Guard troubleshooting guide

Check that the entry in your Blocked Entries list actually matches the order’s billing details. A name match needs both First Name and Last Name to match together, not just one of them, so an entry with only a first name never blocks on name alone. Also check for typos or extra spaces in the entry itself. For the full matching rules, including how partial name entries are handled, see Block customers by name or email in Checkout Guard.

Checkout Guard only checks orders as they’re placed through your store’s checkout. It doesn’t check orders created directly in the WordPress admin (WooCommerce → Orders → Add order), orders brought in through an import tool, or subscription renewal orders, since none of these pass through the checkout process Checkout Guard hooks into. If you need a customer blocked from any of these paths too, you’ll need to review those orders manually.

Checkout Guard only matches what’s actually in your Blocked Entries list. If a customer originally checked out as “Jon Smith” and you blocked that name, a later order under “Jonathan Smith” or a different email address won’t match, since these are treated as different values. Block by whichever detail is most consistent for that customer. Email is usually the more reliable choice, since names are easy to enter differently between orders.

Confirm your checkout page is still using WooCommerce’s standard Cart and Checkout blocks, not a heavily customized or third-party checkout replacement. Checkout Guard’s Block Checkout matching relies on WooCommerce’s own Store API, so a checkout that bypasses that API entirely won’t trigger it. Also confirm WooCommerce is reasonably up to date, since Checkout Guard supports current and recent WooCommerce Blocks versions. For a full explanation of how blocking differs between the two checkout types, see How Checkout Guard blocks orders at WooCommerce checkout.

It doesn’t. Checkout Guard detects which checkout processed the order and applies the right matching check automatically, whether that’s the classic checkout or Block Checkout.

Most license problems, like a failed activation, an Expired status, or the activation banner not going away, are covered step by step in How to activate your Checkout Guard license. If activation keeps failing specifically with “Could not connect to license server,” and not just on your first attempt, a security plugin or firewall on your host might be blocking outbound requests from your site. Check with your host or temporarily disable a security plugin to test, then try activating again.

Open a support ticket with a description of what you expected to happen and what happened instead. Include the order or the blocked entry involved if you have it, since that helps our team check your setup directly.