PayPal checkout button not working on your site

The PayPal button is not part of the page's own HTML. A script fetched from another domain draws it, using an account ID that must match the mode the site is in. If that script is blocked by a content blocker, refused by a strict security header, or given the wrong ID for live payments, the spot stays empty. A button that does draw can still fail on tap, because checkout can open in a new window, and browsers and in-app browsers may block that window without a message. The shopper sees nothing happen, and then nothing happen again.

• Does a button draw in the cart area soon after the page loads, not just after a reload?
• Does a tap open a PayPal window, or does the browser block it with no message?
• Does the page log a script error when the button area stays empty?
• Does the cart total have a value when the button loads, or does the button load at zero?

When the button never draws, the cause is almost always the script. Check whether it loads at all, using the page's error log, and then check the account ID it was given. A test ID left in the live site, or a live ID used on a staging address, can draw nothing for a shopper. A content security header that the host sends can also refuse a script from a domain that is not on its list, and the browser reports that only in its console, which a shopper never opens.

The timing matters too. A button drawn before the cart total exists can load with a zero amount, which PayPal may refuse, and the empty space stays. A cart app that updates the total after the page loads can leave the button stuck at its first value. Look at what the button shows once the page has settled, not in the first moment after it appears.

Checkout flow testing

PayPal's checkout can open in a separate window. Browsers block windows that open without a direct click, and some in-app browsers block them almost every time. The shopper taps the button, nothing visible happens, and the second tap is blocked too, so the shopper decides the shop is broken. A desktop browser often shows a small blocked-window icon in the address bar, and many phone browsers show nothing at all, so the owner testing on a laptop may never see the reason.

When the window does open, the failure moves to the return. The shopper signs in or approves a payment, then should be sent back to your site. If the return address points at a page that moved, or the site drops the session that started the checkout, the shopper lands on an empty cart, or on a page that says nothing was paid. From the shopper's side the payment may have gone through while the site shows no order, which is the worst outcome of the three.

Sort the failure by the step it stops at: no button, a blocked tap, or a return that fails. Each one needs a different fix, and the screenshot of that step in the report shows which one a shopper met. A test reaches PayPal's own pages and stops there. It cannot finish a PayPal payment, or tell you whether your order system received the return.

The PayPal button depends on a script, an account ID and the cart total, and any one of them can change without you touching the button. A theme update, a new cart app, a security header or an optimization plugin can stop the script from running. Rerun the same shoppers from the cart after each change, on a phone and on a laptop, and compare what each one saw.