WooCommerce Free Shipping Not Showing? Causes & Fix

You've set up Free Shipping, the customer qualifies, and it still doesn't appear at checkout. Almost always it's a condition on the method that isn't being met — and there are only a handful of them. Here's how to find yours.

Last updated: 16 Jul 2026 · ~6 min read

What's actually happening at checkout

Free Shipping isn't a discount — it's a shipping method, and it only offers itself when two things are true. First, it has to live in the shipping zone the customer's address matched. Second, whatever condition you set on it (a coupon, a minimum spend, or both) has to be satisfied. Fail either and WooCommerce doesn't warn you. The method simply isn't in the list.

From the customer's side that reads as "your free shipping offer is broken" — they applied the code, they see the discount land, and shipping still costs money. That specific combination — coupon works, shipping still charged — is the fingerprint of the number-one cause below.

The most common causes (most likely first)

1. The method requires a coupon, but the coupon doesn't grant free shippingThe coupon applies cleanly and the discount lands, but shipping is still charged. Two separate settings have to agree: Free shipping requires… on the method, and the Allow free shipping checkbox on the coupon itself (Marketing → Coupons → edit → General). Ticking the discount is not enough.
2. Free Shipping isn't in the zone this customer matchedThey're offered a paid rate instead of nothing — so they did match a zone, just not the one you added Free Shipping to. Zones are checked top to bottom and the first match wins, so a broad zone sitting above a narrow one swallows it. Check WooCommerce → Settings → Shipping.
3. The method is in the right zone but toggled offThe Free Shipping row is visible in the zone — which is why it's so easy to skim past — but its enabled toggle is grey. It was added and never switched on, or switched off during testing.
4. The minimum order amount isn't actually metThe cart looks like it clears your threshold but doesn't. The minimum is compared against the cart subtotal — not including shipping — and whether coupon discounts come off before the comparison depends on the Apply minimum order rule before coupon discount checkbox on the method. A £5 code on a £52 cart against a £50 threshold flips it.
5. The requirement is set to "minimum order amount AND a coupon" when you meant ORFree shipping works for nobody, or only for the rare customer who happens to do both. Reread the Free shipping requires… dropdown — AND and OR are adjacent options and one word apart.
6. You're looking at stale shipping rates in your own sessionIt works in a private window but not in the browser you've been testing in. Rates are cached per-session, so a settings change you just made isn't reflected. Clear it under WooCommerce → Status → Tools, or just test in a fresh private window.

Where to look first

• Does the discount land but shipping still charges? Go straight to the coupon — Marketing → Coupons → edit → General — and check Allow free shipping is ticked (cause 1). This is the one, most of the time.
• Open WooCommerce → Settings → Shipping and find which zone your test address matches — remember, first match from the top wins. Is Free Shipping in that zone, and is its toggle actually on (causes 2 and 3)?
• Open the Free Shipping method itself and read the Free shipping requires… dropdown out loud. Coupon? Minimum? AND or OR? Then check the cart genuinely satisfies it (causes 4 and 5).
• Retest in a private window. If free shipping appears there but not in your usual browser, you were looking at a cached rate, not a broken setting (cause 6).

How to know you fixed it

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