Express Checkout Not Showing in WooCommerce? Causes & Fix

The Apple Pay or Google Pay button isn't rendering on your product, cart or checkout page. Before you start disabling plugins: half of these reports aren't bugs at all — the button was never going to show on the device you tested with. Here's how to tell the difference in one step.

Last updated: 16 Jul 2026 · ~7 min read

Why the button is missing on your screen but not everyone's

Express checkout buttons are conditional by design. The gateway's script asks the browser whether it can pay — is this Safari on a device with Apple Pay set up? is this Chrome with a Google Pay card saved? — and only renders the button if the answer is yes. There's no error, no console warning, no placeholder. The button just isn't there.

That's the trap. An owner opens their store in desktop Chrome on Windows, sees no Apple Pay button, and files a bug. Nothing is broken; Apple Pay was never available in that browser. So the first job isn't fixing anything — it's establishing whether the button is missing for a browser that should show it. Only then are you looking at a real fault.

The most common causes (most likely first)

1. You're testing in a browser that can't show itNo Apple Pay button in Chrome or Firefox on desktop, or no Google Pay in Safari. Working exactly as designed — check in Safari on a Mac or iPhone with a card in Wallet before treating this as a fault. Ranked first because it's the most common report, not the most common bug.
2. The domain isn't verified with Apple PayGoogle Pay shows, Apple Pay doesn't, even in Safari on a device with Wallet set up. Load https://yourdomain.com/.well-known/apple-developer-merchantid-domain-association in a browser — if you get a 404, a redirect, or a login wall instead of the file's contents, that's your cause.
3. Express checkout isn't enabled in the gateway settingsNeither button shows, in any browser, anywhere. The express checkout / payment request button section in the gateway's settings is off, or is enabled only on some page types — product, cart and checkout are usually separate toggles.
4. The site isn't fully HTTPSThe certificate is invalid or expired, or the page has mixed content. Express checkout requires a valid secure context and will silently decline to render without one.
5. The .well-known path is being interceptedThe verification file exists on disk but doesn't load over the web. A security plugin, a server rule, a CDN, or a redirect (http→https, non-www→www) is rewriting or blocking the request, so Apple's checker never sees the file.
6. A JavaScript error is killing the gateway's scriptOpen the browser console on the page where the button should be: an unrelated error from a theme or another plugin appears, and the gateway's script never runs. Every other cause here is silent — this one leaves a trace.

Where to look first

• Test on the right device first. Open the page in Safari on a Mac or iPhone with a card in Wallet. Button appears? Nothing is broken — you were testing in a browser that never shows it (cause 1). Stop here.
• Load the verification file directly in a browser: https://yourdomain.com/.well-known/apple-developer-merchantid-domain-association. A 404, a redirect, or anything other than the file contents means Apple can't verify the domain (causes 2 and 5).
• Check the gateway settings. Open the gateway under WooCommerce → Settings → Payments and confirm express checkout is enabled and switched on for the page types you're testing — product, cart and checkout are usually separate.
• Check the domain list in the gateway's own dashboard. Your live domain needs to be registered there for Apple Pay. Staging domains, www vs non-www, and domains changed after setup are the usual misses.
• Open the browser console on the page. A JavaScript error from another plugin or the theme will stop the button rendering even when every setting is correct (cause 6) — and it's the only cause here that announces itself.

How to know you fixed it

Frequently asked