Configure the customer check-in form

Open the settings

• Queue screen: open Set up and select the Check-in form card. Settings opens on the Check-in form tab, starting with What your customer sees — your real public form in a phone frame. It refreshes after you save. If your location has rooms, switch between 1 · When they scan (the "line or a room" choice) and 2 · The check-in form; Open it on its own ↗ opens whichever you're looking at.
• Classic menus: select Settings in the sidebar.

Then expand Check-in options.

The options

• Online check-in enabled — turning this off stops all QR-code and link check-ins for the location; customers see a closed page. (For a temporary stop, see Pausing check-in below.)
• Max check-ins per day — leave blank to use your plan's default, or set a lower number to cap this location's daily volume; the queue then shows a "Check-ins today: N of max" counter.
• Auto-close forgotten check-ins — off by default, so overnight and weekend drop-offs stay open as long as you need. Turn it on to close any ticket nobody has moved for your chosen time (1–168 hours; 12 is a good start): still waiting → No-show; already in service → Closed. Your team can always reopen an auto-closed ticket.
• Favourites claim window (minutes) — staff can ♥ tickets (saved only on their own device) and filter the board to just theirs. New check-ins stay visible to everyone under that filter for this many minutes (blank = 5; 0 = no window) so fresh walk-ins can be claimed.
• Statuses shown to customers — how many live counts (1–4, default 2) appear on your check-in and location pages, e.g. "Waitlisted 3 · Arrived 1". (A visitor's own status page shows their place in line instead.)
• Require phone number on check-in — on by default, and we recommend keeping it on. The phone number is how repeat visitors are recognized, how double check-ins are caught, and how your team calls someone who steps away. If you turn it off, a customer can check in without one — but a phone they do give must still be real. If phone is off, keep Require email on check-in on so duplicate protection and repeat-visitor history keep working (they fall back to the email address). With both off, the only way to reach a customer is their own ticket page.
• Require email on check-in — on by default, and recommended. Email delivers the customer's ticket number and live tracking link, so they can reopen their status if they close the page.
• Offer "Get email updates" on the customer status page — on by default. A customer who skipped email can add one from their ticket page for that visit's "your turn" updates. Email only (no texts); it never replaces an address already on file.
• Ask for an address — Don't ask, Optional (behind "Add your address") — the default, which keeps the form short — or Required.
• Hint in the notes box — the grey example text in the Additional info box (default "Anything we should know?"), e.g. "Which table area do you prefer?". Up to 80 characters; blank uses the default.
• Require customers to sign in before checking in — off by default. When on, customers need a SiteCheckin account. Use it only for member-style audiences — it adds real friction.
• Require email for resource reservations — on by default (recommended); email is how people are told it's their turn for a room or item.
• Require an age confirmation on check-in & reservations — off by default; see Privacy, consent & age confirmation.
• Public notice to customers — a short banner on your check-in pages (e.g. "Closing early at 3pm today"). Leave blank to hide it.

A location with only one service attaches it automatically — customers never see a one-choice dropdown. Resource reservations (rooms, equipment) always ask for a phone number, so one person can't hold two rooms.

Select Save profile & check-in settings to apply. (On the Queue screen this button stays in a bar at the bottom of the page while you scroll.)

To collect one reusable detail (vehicle, student, truck…) that attaches to every ticket automatically, see Saved Check-in Information.

Pausing check-in

To stop new check-ins for a moment (rush, emergency):

• Queue screen: select ⏸ Pause check-ins on any Live tab (on phones it's under More ⋯), then ▶ Resume check-ins to reopen.
• Classic menus: select ⏸ Pause on the Dashboard (you're asked to confirm), then Resume check-ins in the banner that appears.

While paused, new customers see "Check-ins are paused right now — please check back shortly" and your live queue keeps working. To turn online check-in off entirely, untick Online check-in enabled instead. Existing tickets are unaffected either way.

Test it

Open your check-in page in a private window (or use the preview) and confirm the form asks for exactly what you chose, then run a test check-in.

Menu or order-ahead link

Show visitors a link to your menu or your existing online ordering page (Square Online, Toast, your website…). Open Settings → Your business (classic menus: Settings → Basics), paste the link into Menu or order-ahead link, choose what the button says — See our menu, Order ahead or Menu & order ahead — and save.

• Visitors see it on your location page, on the check-in form, and on their status page under While you wait (until it's their turn). It opens in a new tab.
• It must be a secure link (https://). If you paste just squareup.com/…, https:// is added for you. Links that aren't secure web addresses are refused, with the reason shown, and nothing in that save changes.
• Leave it blank to hide it. Ordering itself happens on that page — SiteCheckin only shows the link.