An Ultimate Guide to WooCommerce Order Notes

WooCommerce order notes are a simple but powerful way to collect custom shopper requests, such as delivery instructions, gift messages, or special packaging details, directly from your checkout page.

Instead of relying on live chat or emails after the order is placed, this built-in WooCommerce feature creates a direct communication channel between your customers and your fulfillment team.

Using order notes properly can help you reduce shipping mistakes, manage backend instructions more easily, and improve customer satisfaction. In this guide, we will cover what WooCommerce order notes are, how to manage them from your dashboard, and how to pass these notes along when you create a packing slip and invoice in WooCommerce.

WooCommerce Order Notes at a Glance

Before we go into the details, here’s a quick answer-based overview of how WooCommerce order notes work, where they appear, and why they are useful for your store.

Question	Quick Answer
What are WooCommerce order notes?	WooCommerce order notes are messages connected to a specific order. Customers can add checkout notes, and store admins can add private or customer update notes.
Where is the WooCommerce order notes field?	The WooCommerce order notes field appears on the checkout page, usually under the additional information section.
What can customers use order notes for?	Customers can use order notes for delivery instructions, gift messages, special packaging requests, preferred delivery times, or other purchase-related details.
Who can see WooCommerce order notes?	Customer checkout notes are visible to store admins. Private admin notes are only visible to store managers, while customer update notes can be sent to customers.
Can WooCommerce order notes appear on invoices and packing slips?	Yes. You can display WooCommerce customer notes on invoices and packing slips using a plugin like Challan.
Can you remove the order notes field from checkout?	Yes. You can hide or remove the WooCommerce order notes field using custom code or a checkout field editor plugin.
Why are WooCommerce order notes important?	They help reduce delivery mistakes, improve team communication, manage special customer requests, and create a smoother order fulfillment process.

As you can see, WooCommerce order notes are useful for both customers and store admins because they keep important order instructions connected to the actual purchase.

What are WooCommerce order notes?

WooCommerce order notes are messages tied to a specific order that serve as a communication log for your store. They help store owners, internal teams, and customers keep track of delivery instructions, special requests, or status updates for that specific purchase.

These notes improve order management by keeping all relevant information in one place. They allow your team to leave internal reminders, while also providing a reliable way to send shipping updates or payment details directly to your customers.

Types of WooCommerce Order Notes

There are three main types of WooCommerce order notes you need to know about:

• Customer Checkout Notes (Added by the customer)
• Private Admin Notes (Added by your team, hidden from customers)
• Customer Update Notes (Added by your team, sent to customers)

Customer Checkout Notes

WooCommerce allows your shoppers to leave special order-related messages on the checkout page. There’s a dedicated WooCommerce order notes field on the checkout page, as you can see below.

Let’s check out how WooCommerce purchase notes work. For this purpose, we have added some products to the cart and proceeded to the checkout page.

Now in the WooCommerce order notes field, we have put the following information.

As you can see, a customer named Michelle is buying some products for her husband and requested that you attach a personal message inside the package wishing him a happy birthday.

Now, if you want to earn this customer’s satisfaction and loyalty, then you would definitely attach a custom-printed message or even a birthday card with the message to the package.

Additionally, she also instructed you to call the given number before delivering the package.

Right after Michelle completes the order, she’ll be able to see the WooCommerce order notes on the order-received page.

But, how you, as a WooCommerce store owner, can find this message?

You can find it on the order page. Go to your WordPress dashboard and jump to WooCommerce>>Orders, and click on the latest order.

Under the Shipping address section, you will find the Customer provided note section, where you will find the purchase note WooCommerce your customer added.

Private Admin Notes and Customer Update Notes

This is pretty different from the one we have covered above. WooCommerce customer note is dedicated for shoppers to add personal notes or messages related to the order.

As we have shown already, there’s a dedicated WooCommerce order notes field on the checkout page. You or your admins can then access it from the backend order page and take action accordingly.

On the other hand, WooCommerce custom order notes are backend tools that can serve both your team members and your customers.

Go back to that same order page, and you will find the Order Notes on the right-side panel.

In the Order Notes section, you can view and edit any notes associated with the order, as well as record event details like payment outcomes and inventory reductions.

Additionally, some payment gateways include notes for the purpose of debugging.

Possible types of WooCommerce change order notes label are as follows:

Purple: WooCommerce system notes, such as order status changes, payment updates, stock changes, or payment gateway messages.

Grey: Private admin notes. These are visible only to store admins and team members, not customers.

Blue: Customer notes. These are notes sent to customers from the Order Notes panel. Customers may receive them by email and can also view them from their My Account page.

Whether you’re trying to reach out to customers or coordinate with other store managers, a well-written note can be an effective tool. Are supplies taking longer than expected to arrive? Create a new customer note, and they will be notified immediately.

WooCommerce Order Notes Examples

Here are some simple order notes examples to understand how shoppers and store admins can use this feature.

A customer can write:

• “Please call me before delivery.”
• “Please deliver after 5 PM.”
• “Please add a birthday message inside the package.”
• “Please do not include the invoice inside the gift package.”

A store admin can write a private note like:

• “Packaging team: Add a birthday card before shipping.”
• “Call customer before dispatch.”
• “Customer requested delivery only on Friday.”

These order comments are small, but they can save your team from missing important delivery instructions.

How to Add WooCommerce Order Notes

You can manually add order notes from the Order Notes panel located on the right side of any individual order page. From this panel, you can choose to create either a private note for your team or a direct note to your customer.

Private notes

Private notes are meant strictly for you and your staff. Your customers will never see these messages. They are perfect for internal reminders or passing instructions between departments.

Using Michelle’s order as our example, you need to notify your packaging team about her special birthday card request.

1. Type your instruction into the text box (e.g., “Pack with a birthday card as requested”).
2. Leave the dropdown menu set to Private note.
3. Click the Add button.

Once added, the note will appear in the panel with a grey background.

(Note: WooCommerce private notes are strictly visible within the dashboard; the system does not automatically email these to your shipping department by default.)

Note to customers

You can use the Note to customer option to update shoppers on their order progress or reply to their special requests.

Let’s look back at Michelle’s order. Now that you have alerted your packaging team, you want to reassure Michelle that her request is being handled.

As we have discussed before, customer notes will be in grey color.

Let’s check from the front end, in the My Account >> Order updates section.

Once saved, this note will display with a purple background on your dashboard.

Why WooCommerce Order Notes Matter

WooCommerce order notes streamline store operations and improve the customer experience by centralizing essential communication.

Core Benefits of Order Notes:

• Captures Delivery Instructions: Logs gate codes, delivery preferences, and special handling requests directly from the buyer.
• Reduces Purchase Friction: Enables customers to leave custom requests at checkout without needing to contact support first.
• Centralizes Team Communication: Serves as an internal memo board for tracking payments, fulfillment updates, and team reminders.
• Simplifies Order Tracking: Updates buyers on shipping milestones or delays directly through the WooCommerce dashboard.
• Builds Customer Loyalty: Ensures special requests are accurately fulfilled, driving repeat business and trust.

Ultimately, leveraging this built-in feature bridges the gap between customer expectations and backend fulfillment. By serving as a single source of truth for every transaction, order notes reduce operational errors and ensure a seamless post-purchase experience.

How to Add WooCommerce Order Notes to Invoices and Packing Slips

We have already mentioned how important it is to display the customer note in the packing slips for your team. You also need to include the message in the invoice.

Luckily, with Challan PDF Invoice & Packing Slip for WooCommerce, you wouldn’t have to do much.

If you have the free version of Challan, go to Challan>>Settings from your WordPress admin panel and scroll down the Settings tab. Under the Order Total Settings, you will find the option Display Order Note.

Toggle to enable the option. This will enable displaying WooCommerce order notes in both packing slips and invoices.

If you have installed Challan Pro, you will find dedicated settings tabs for packing slips and invoices, along with the ability to create shipping labels.

First, go to the Invoice settings tab and scroll down to the Order Info section. There you will find the Display Order Note option.

For packing slips, go to the dedicated settings tab and scroll down to the Order Info section. You can enable the option to display WooCommerce order notes from there.

Let’s go back to the order page we created for this article.

As you can see, Challan has a dedicated panel for downloading the invoice documents. Click to download the invoice and packing slip for this order.

Here’s how the invoice looks with the customer note included.

And this is how your packing slip will include the WooCommerce order notes.

How to Hide or Remove the Order Notes Field on the Checkout Page

You may sometimes need to hide the Order notes field from your checkout page, especially when you are selling virtual products.

You can do this in two ways. One is by adding custom code, and another is by using a plugin.

Hide/remove with code

Go to Appearance>>Theme File Editor and click on functions.php.

Add any of the following codes.

/**
 * WebAppick guide - Remove the order field from checkout.
 */
function devpress_remove_checkout_phone_field( $fields ) {
            	unset( $fields['order']['order_comments'] );
            	return $fields;
}
add_filter( 'woocommerce_checkout_fields', 'devpress_remove_checkout_phone_field' );

/**
 * @snippet   	Remove/Hide Order Notes – WebAppick
 * @how-to    	WebAppick.com
 * @author    	Fadiyah Sameh
*/
add_filter( 'woocommerce_enable_order_notes_field', '__return_false', 9999 );

Let’s jump to the checkout page now.

As you can see, there’s no field for WooCommerce order notes.

Hide using a plugin

There’s a free plugin called the Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce that can do the task without the hassle/risk of playing with codes.

After you install the plugin, go to the plugin’s setting page. Then from the Checkout Fields settings, click on the Additional Fields tab.

Select the ‘order_comments’ field and click on ‘Remove’ and save changes. That’s it; your customers won’t see the order notes field on the checkout page anymore.

How to Edit WooCommerce Order Notes

What if you need to edit the customer note from the order pages?

Yes, you may need to edit the notes sometimes. For example, let’s go back to our demo order of Michelle.

Michelle wants to send some products with a custom note to her loved one. If they are in different places, Michelle will receive the invoice, and the birthday boy will receive the packing slip.

Therefore, Michelle probably will not like you to include the WooCommerce order note in the packing slip because she wouldn’t want the receiving person to see what personal instruction she gave to you.

So you need to edit or remove her message for the packing slip. In order to do that, go to her order page.

Click on the pointed pen icon to edit the shipping details. Scroll down, and you will find the Customer provided note field.

From there, you can edit or remove the message and update the page. Now you can download the packing slip, and it will display your edited message, or it will not show the customer note section if you have removed the customer note.

WooCommerce Order Notes Hooks and Filters

If you want to customize the checkout order notes field with code, WooCommerce also gives you hooks and filters.

For example, developers often use the woocommerce_enable_order_notes_field filter to hide or show the order notes field on the checkout page. You can also use the woocommerce_checkout_fields filter to unset the order_comments field.

Some developers also search for woocommerce_order_note_query_args when they want to customize how order notes are loaded or displayed.

If you only want to remove the checkout field, the code snippets above are enough. But if you want to change how order notes work in the admin order page or query specific order notes, it is better to work with a developer or use a dedicated plugin.

Best WooCommerce Order Notes Plugins

If you want more control over WooCommerce order notes, you can use a plugin to manage, organize, or display customer notes more easily. Here are a few useful options:

Plugin	Best for	Key benefit
Challan	Displaying order notes in invoices and packing slips	Lets you include WooCommerce order notes in invoices and packing slips easily.
WPC Order Notes for WooCommerce	Managing order notes from one place	Helps store owners quickly view and organize customer order notes.
Users Insights	Registered customer notes	Useful for adding and tracking notes for registered users or membership-based stores.
Plugin Notes Plus	Adding and managing extra notes	Allows store owners to add, edit, delete, and organize notes more flexibly.

For most WooCommerce stores, the default order notes feature is enough. However, if you handle many orders daily, need to display notes on invoices and packing slips, or want better note management, these plugins can help your team save time and avoid missing important customer instructions.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Now that we have answered the common questions, let’s quickly summarize why WooCommerce order notes are important for your store.

Final Thoughts on WooCommerce Order Notes

We hope and trust that you will find our guidelines on what WooCommerce order notes are and how to create/edit them straightforward and simple to implement. Also, hope now you can add customer notes to your invoices and packing slips.

WooCommerce order notes are useful for understanding customer instructions, adding private admin notes, sending customer update notes, and keeping your order fulfillment process more organized.

And don’t be afraid to add any customer notes to the order to let customers know something important. Furthermore, this is a great method to strengthen the bond between you and your customers.

Keep an eye on our blog for more great tips and tricks on WooCommerce online business.