Troubleshoot your cash drawer
When a cash drawer is working properly, it will automatically open when you accept a cash payment. You will also be able to manually open your cash drawer at any time.
This article provides troubleshooting for USB and Printer-driven cash drawers. Learn to connect a cash drawer to your point of sale.
Before you begin
When to troubleshoot
Cash drawer troubleshooting involves steps that include physically adjusting your cash drawer and checking your printer profile. It may also include resetting your Square hardware or point of sale device. If at all possible, try to troubleshoot your Square Stand after hours. If you must troubleshoot during the workday, try to avoid peak busy hours so your customers will experience few delays.
Third-party cash drawer support
Depending on your issue, you may need to contact the manufacturer — APG or StarMicronics. Attempt the troubleshooting steps below and review your situation to determine if you need to contact APG or StarMicronics.
Option 1: Troubleshoot a USB cash drawer
Make sure that your USB cable is properly connected to both your printer and the Square Stand USB hub. If it looks properly connected, try unplugging and reconnecting both sides of the cable.
Check that your USB hub is properly connected to both your Square device and a wall outlet using the power adapter and power cable.
Try updating and restarting the Square app.
If you are using a Square Stand, carefully remove your iPad from the Square Stand and fully power down and restart the device before reconnecting it to the Square Stand. For Square Register and Square Terminal, press and hold the power button and select Reboot.
Option 2: Troubleshoot a printer-driven cash drawer
Make sure you have created and enabled a printer profile for your receipt printer. You can enable a printer profile by navigating to ≡ More > Settings > Hardware > Printers > Create Printer Profile.
If you already have an active printer profile, ensure that you have enabled Receipts under the "Use this Printer For" setting — this will ensure your cash drawer will open automatically.
Ensure that your interface cable is properly connected to both your printer and cash drawer. If it looks properly connected, try unplugging and reconnecting both sides of the cable. If that doesn’t work, try switching which device each side of the interface cable is connected to.
Restart both the Square POS app and the device running the Square POS app.
Contact cash drawer support
Depending on the assistance you need with your cash drawer, you may need to contact Square, APG, or StarMicronics. Review the situations below to determine who you should contact.
- Contact APG or StarMicronics for additional troubleshooting
- Note: Warranty limits are set by the manufacturer. Specific warranty periods vary based on the model of the cash drawer. Both the Vasario series and the SOMA (Arlo) series are compatible with Square. However, only the Vasario series is available in the Square Shop at this time.