How to let customers track orders in WooCommerce
WooCommerce includes a basic order-tracking form where customers enter their order number and billing email, while logged-in customers can view orders in My Account. For carrier links, real-time updates or SMS alerts, you need a shipment-tracking extension or plugin.
- 01Choose the tracking experience
- 02Create an order tracking page
- 03Check the customer account route
- 04Send tracking details manually
- 05Add carrier tracking automatically
- 06Use the fast plugin route
What you need
- A WooCommerce store on WordPress
- Administrator or Shop Manager access
- A published customer-facing page
- Your shipping carrier names and tracking links
Choose the tracking experience
Decide whether customers only need to see the WooCommerce order status, or whether they need a carrier tracking number, a clickable delivery link and shipment updates. WooCommerce handles order statuses and account order history, but carrier-level tracking requires an extension or another integration.
For a small shop with occasional shipments, the built-in lookup and customer notes may be enough. For multiple carriers or frequent dispatches, use the extension route so staff do not have to copy tracking details into emails by hand.
Create an order tracking page
Go to Pages > Add New, create a page such as Track your order, and add the WooCommerce order-tracking shortcode: [woocommerce_order_tracking]. Publish the page, then add it to your menu, help page or order-confirmation email.
The form asks guests for their order number and billing email before showing the order status and details. WooCommerce usually creates the necessary pages during setup, so check for an existing tracking page before making a duplicate.
Check the customer account route
Registered customers can normally open My Account > Orders to view their previous orders and current statuses. Guests cannot use that account history, so keep the public tracking page available if you accept guest checkout.
Do not remove the billing-email check just to make the form shorter. It helps prevent someone who knows an order number from viewing another customer’s order details; changing that behaviour requires custom development or a suitable third-party tool.
Send tracking details manually
For a no-extension setup, open the order under WooCommerce > Orders, add the carrier name and tracking link to a customer note, and send it as a public note. WooCommerce emails customer notes and also shows them in the customer’s order details.
Use the full carrier URL and verify the number before sending. The common Friday problem is a correct-looking tracking number paired with the wrong carrier, which produces a dead or misleading tracking page. This method does not provide a live timeline or automatic carrier updates.
Add carrier tracking automatically
Install a shipment-tracking extension that supports your carriers, then configure the carrier list and the position of tracking information in customer emails. These extensions can attach a provider, tracking number, tracking link and shipped date to an order, and display the information in emails and the customer’s My Account area.
When fulfilling an order, enter the tracking number against the order, select the matching carrier and save it before notifying the customer. Send a test order to confirm that the link opens the carrier’s page and that the details appear for both a guest and a logged-in customer.
Use the fast plugin route
If you need proactive delivery notifications rather than a simple lookup page, use WooCommerce Orders Tracking. It is intended for stores that want shipment tracking with SMS updates and PayPal tracking integration, alongside configurable customer notifications.
Install the plugin from its ZIP file through Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin, activate it, and follow its setup screens for SMS and PayPal settings. Configure the message templates, connect the required services, then test an order-status change before enabling notifications for all customers.
Let WooCommerce Orders Tracking do it
Adds real-time shipment tracking, PayPal integration, and SMS updates for stores that need proactive delivery notifications.
Sources
- woocommerce.com /document/woocommerce-shortcodes/page-shortcodes/?utm_source…
- wordpress.org /support/topic/order-tracking-email/?utm_source=openai
- woocommerce.com /document/managing-orders/view-edit-or-add-an-order/?utm_sou…
- woocommerce.com /documentation/products/extensions/shipment-tracking/?utm_so…
- woocommerce.com /document/shipment-and-order-tracking/?utm_source=openai
Questions
- Does WooCommerce track parcels by itself?
- No. WooCommerce core can show order statuses and provide a form where customers look up an order with its number and billing email, but it does not automatically provide carrier scans or live parcel movement. Add tracking details manually as a customer note, or install a shipment-tracking extension that stores the carrier, tracking number and tracking link.
- Can guests track WooCommerce orders?
- Yes. Create a page containing <code>[woocommerce_order_tracking]</code>. A guest enters the order number and billing email to retrieve the order status and details. This is separate from the My Account order list, which is intended for logged-in customers. Keep the billing-email requirement in place because it helps restrict access to the correct customer.
- How do I send a tracking number without a plugin?
- Open the order in WooCommerce, add the carrier and tracking link as a customer note, choose the public customer-notification option, and send it. WooCommerce emails that note and displays it in the customer’s order details. This is suitable for occasional shipments, but it will not update automatically when the carrier scans the parcel.
- Why does the tracking link show no result?
- The usual causes are a mistyped tracking number, the wrong carrier selected, or a link format that the carrier does not recognise. Check the number directly on the carrier’s website before contacting the customer. If you use a tracking extension, confirm that the carrier is enabled and that tracking information is included in the relevant customer email settings.
- What is the quickest way to add order tracking?
- For a basic lookup, publish a page with <code>[woocommerce_order_tracking]</code> and add it to your navigation. For carrier links, timelines and SMS notifications, install a tracking plugin and configure its notification service. The manual shortcode route is quicker for a small store; the plugin route saves more time once staff are processing regular shipments.