How to Add WooCommerce Custom Checkout Fields (Fast, Easy & No Code)

Why Customize Your WooCommerce Checkout Fields?

Let’s be honest – the default WooCommerce checkout page isn’t always perfect for every business. I mean, it works, sure, but does it really work for your specific needs? Probably not entirely.

Think about it. Maybe you’re selling digital products and don’t need those shipping address fields cluttering up your checkout. Or perhaps you’re running a B2B store and desperately need a VAT number field. Sometimes you want to collect a delivery preference, ask how customers heard about you, or even gather their birthday for future marketing campaigns.

To be honest, WooCommerce custom checkout fields can make or break your conversion rates. Studies show that 63.23% of shopping carts are abandoned, and a complicated checkout process is often to blame. When customers hit unnecessary fields or can’t find the information they want to provide, they bounce. It’s that simple.

But here’s where it gets interesting – customizing your checkout doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t need to be a coding wizard or hire expensive developers. With the right approach, adding custom checkout fields WooCommerce can be done in minutes, not hours.

Related Read: How to Set Up WooCommerce One Page Checkout

Methods to Add Custom checkout fields WooCommerce

There are essentially three ways to tackle this challenge, each having its own set of pros and cons. Let us break it down for you:

🚀 Quick Overview of Methods

🛒 Plugin-Based Solutions (No Code Knowledge Required)

• Free plugin: Flexible Checkout Fields.
• Premium plugin: WooCommerce Checkout Field Editor and Checkout Field Manager.
• Time investment: 15-30 minutes.
• Technical skill: Beginner-friendly without too much technical knowledge.

🛒 Custom Code Solutions

• Direct functions.php editing.
• Hook-based customization.
• Time investment: 1-3 hours and more depending on your experience.
• Technical skill: Developer-level skills and knowledge required

Honestly? Unless you’re a developer who enjoys getting into the weeds with code, we would recommend the plugin route every time. It’s faster, safer, and you won’t accidentally break your WooCommerce website.

🚀 Method 1: Using Flexible Checkout Fields Plugin (Recommended Way)

This is where you should always start, and for good reason. The Flexible Checkout Fields plugin by WP Desk is free, well-maintained, and currently used by over 90,000 stores worldwide. It’s currently got a 4.6-star rating, which tells you something about its reliability.

Source – WordPress.Org

👉 Step 1: Install Flexible Checkout Fields 

First things first – you need to get the plugin installed. Head over to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to Plugins → Add New. Search for “Flexible Checkout Fields” and look for the one by WP Desk. Click install, then activate.

Source – WordPress.Org

Alternatively, you can download it directly from WordPress.Org plugin directory and upload the zip file through your dashboard.

👉 Step 2: Access the Plugin Settings

Once activated, you’ll find the plugin settings under WooCommerce → Checkout Fields. The interface is pretty straightforward – you’ll see tabs for different sections like Billing, Shipping, and Order fields.

The menu structure is simple. You’ve got two main areas:

• Settings: Where you can enable additional sections.
• Checkout Sections: Where the actual checkout field management happens.

👉 Step 3: Customize Existing Fields

Here’s where things get interesting. You can modify the default WooCommerce fields without touching a single line of code. Want to hide the company name field? Just uncheck the “Enable” box. Need to make the phone field optional instead of required? Toggle that setting.

Each field comes with several customization options:

• Label: Change what customers see
• Placeholder: Add helpful text inside the field
• Required/Optional: Control whether it’s mandatory
• Validation: Set up email, phone, or postcode validation
• CSS Classes: Add custom styling if needed

Source – WordPress.Org

👉 Step 4: Add New WooCommerce custom checkout fields

This is where the plugin really shines. Click “Add New Field” and you’ll see a dropdown with various field types:

The free version of the plugin offers all basic fields that you need for your WooCommerce store such as “Text fields”, “Text areas”, “Number fields”, “Email fields”, “Phone fields”, “URL fields”, “Checkboxes”, “Color pickers”, and so on.

Source – WordPress.Org

Let’s say you want to add a “Preferred Delivery Time” field. You’d select “Text” as the field type, set the label to “Preferred Delivery Time”.

Source – WordPress.Org

Add a placeholder like “Morning, Afternoon, or Evening,” and decide whether it should be required.

Source – WordPress.Org

👉 Step 5: Reorder Fields with Drag & Drop

One of my favorite features is drag-and-drop reordering. You can literally click and drag fields to arrange them however it makes sense for your checkout flow. Put most important information first, group related fields together – it’s completely up to you.

👉 Step 6: Configure Display Options

Each field has display settings that control where it appears on the webpage. You can display information at 4 different locations other than checkout page:

• Thank You Page
• My Account – Address section
• My Account – Order section
• Email notifications

Source – WordPress.Org

This is particularly useful when you want order information to appear in confirmation emails or customer account pages.

👉 Step 7: Save and Test

After making all your changes, don’t forget to hit “Save Changes”. Then – and this is crucial – test your checkout process on website and mobile phone. Add a product to your cart, go through the entire checkout, and make sure everything works as you want for your customers.

🚀 Method 2: Using Premium Checkout Plugins

While the free Flexible Checkout Fields plugin is excellent, premium options offer additional features worth investment for larger stores or business having more complex requirements.

👉 Checkout Field Editor by WooCommerce ($49/year)

The official WooCommerce extension provides professional-grade WooCommerce custom checkout fields features without requirement of coding knowledge. This plugin by Woo is ideal for all users – whether you’re a beginner store owner or a seasoned developer, the intuitive UI makes checkout customization fast and easy.

Source – WooCommerce.com

Key features of the plugin that makes worth the money spent:

• Offers 15 different field types, perfect for tailoring your checkout form to suit your business needs.
• Conditional logic (show/hide fields based on other selections).
• Field pricing (charge extra for certain options).
• Compatible with WPML, Polylang, and Loco Translate, allowing complete translation of field labels, placeholders, descriptions, and error messages.
• Allows user role restrictions.
• Product/category-specific fields.
• Effortlessly add, edit, remove, and rearrange fields across billing, shipping, and additional sections.
• Multi-step checkout compatibility.

👉 Checkout Field Editor for WooCommerce by ThemeHigh($49 per year – $199 per year)

Checkout Field Editor, more popularly called Checkout Manager, offers 24 custom field types and advanced conditional logic. This powerful WooCommerce extension by ThemeHigh allows you to add, edit, delete, or reorder checkout form fields without coding. 

Source – WordPress.Org

This plugin includes capabilities like custom sections, conditional display, validation, styling, and more, all designed to enhance user experience and data collection during checkout. 

Notable features of this plugin are:

• Add & Edit Fields: Easily create, modify, delete, or reorder checkout fields without coding.
• Multiple Field Types: Supports 17+ types in free and 24+ in Pro, including features such as time picker, file upload and date.
• Condition Based Logic: Based on cart, user, product, shipping, or payment criteria, you can show or hide specific fields on the checkout page.
• Price-Linked Fields: Add extra charges or discounts based on field selections.
• Default Field Control: Edit, disable, or reorder built-in checkout fields.
• Email & Order Integration: Display custom fields in emails and order detail pages.
• Custom Address Formats: Modify country-based address layouts to include your custom fields.
• Styling Options: Assign CSS classes for custom designs and layouts.
• Plugin Compatibility: Works with multi-step checkout, PDF invoices, CSV exports, and translation plugins.

Source – WordPress.Org

🤔 When Buying Premium Plugin Makes Sense 

You might consider investing money in premium plugins if you need:

• Complex conditional logic.
• File uploads from customers.
• Different fields for different user roles.
• Advanced pricing based on field selections.
• Priority support.

But honestly? For most WooCommerce stores, the free options are more than sufficient.

Want a custom plugin designed specific to your business needs? Reach out to Wisdmlabs Team today.

Method 3: Adding WooCommerce Custom Checkout Fields with Code (For Developers or Tech-Savy People)

If you’re comfortable with PHP and want complete control, you can add custom checkout fields WooCommerce using hooks and filters. We will walk you through the process, but fair warning – this requires editing your theme’s functions.php file for WooCommerce developers.

👉 Step 1: Add the Field to Checkout

Below is a basic example that allows you to add a custom text field after the order notes:

👉 Step 2: Add Validation

If the field is required, you need to validate it:

👉 Step 3: Save Field Data

Save the field value to the order:

👉 Step 4: Display in Admin

Show the field value in the order admin screen:

🤔 Considerations for Code Method 

While the coding approach gives you complete control over the WooCommerce checkout process, there are some visible downsides to it:

• You will need PHP knowledge.
• In case the coding is wrong, it may result in breakdown of entire WooCommerce store.
• Making updates to your theme can overwrite the changes.
• No user interface is available for managing fields.
• Time-intensive when you want to customize multiple fields.

That’s why we usually recommend the plugin approach unless you have specific technical requirements that plugins won’t be able to meet.

Also Read: Speed Up WooCommerce Checkout in 2025

Best Practices for WooCommerce Checkout Custom Fields

Over the years, we have seen plenty of checkout pages done right and… well, plenty done wrong. Here are some guidelines for you to follow and be on the right side of things:

👉 Keep It Simple

Less is definitely more when it comes to checkout fields. Every additional field increases the chance of cart abandonment. Ask yourself: “Do I really need this information right now?” If it’s not essential for order fulfillment, consider collecting it from the customer later.

👉 Logical Field Ordering

Group all the related fields together on the website and arrange them in a logical flow. See below:

• Contact information (name, email and phone)
• Billing address
• Shipping address (if different)
• Additional preferences or notes
• Payment information

Source – Barn2.com

👉 Use Appropriate Field Types

Match the field type to the data you’re collecting:

• Text fields: Names, addresses and general text.
• Email fields: Email addresses (with built-in validation for correct email).
• Phone fields: Only phone numbers.
• Select dropdowns: Multiple choice options for users.
• Checkboxes: Yes/no questions or multiple selections.
• Date pickers: Probable delivery dates or birthdates etc.

👉 Smart Field Labels and Placeholders

Your labels should be clear and concise. Avoid jargon or internal terminology. Good examples:

• “Preferred Delivery Date” instead of “Del. Date”
• “Special Instructions” instead of “Notes”
• “How did you hear about us?” instead of “Referral Source”

Placeholders can provide helpful examples:

• “e.g., Morning (9-12 PM)” for delivery time preferences
• “Optional: Any special requests?” for instruction fields

👉 Consider Mobile Users

Today, more than half of all eCommerce traffic comes from mobile devices. Your WooCommerce checkout custom fields need to work well on small screens:

• Use full-width fields when possible on your website.
• Avoid too many checkout fields on one row.
• Test the checkout page of your website on various mobile devices.
• Consider using mobile-friendly input types such as Email for email addresses and Tel for phone numbers.

Source – Dribble.com

👉 Field Validation Strategy

Set up appropriate validation for different field types:

• Email validation for email fields
• Phone number validation for phone fields
• Required field validation where necessary
• Custom validation for specific formats (like VAT numbers)

Common Use Cases and Examples

To give you practical insights for your business, let us share some real-world scenarios where custom checkout fields WooCommerce make a huge difference:

🛒 B2B Stores 

Business-to-business stores often need the following fields:

• VAT Number: For tax purposes and invoicing.
• Company Registration Number: Legal requirement in some regions.
• Purchase Order Number: Internal tracking.
• Department / Cost Center: For client billing.

Source – Dribble.com

🛒 Food & Restaurant Delivery

Food businesses typically add following fields on their checkout page:

• Delivery Instructions: Gate codes, apartment numbers
• Preferred Delivery Time: ASAP, specific time ranges
• Phone Number: For delivery coordination
• Allergy Information: Critical for food safety

Source – Dribble.com

🛒 Subscription Services

Subscription-based businesses might include:

• Start Date: When service should begin
• Frequency Preferences: Weekly, monthly, quarterly
• Special Instructions: Dietary restrictions, preferences
• Emergency Contact: For service-related issues

Source – Recurly.com

🛒 Digital Products

When selling digital goods, you might want:

• License Type: Personal, commercial, extended
• Intended Use: Marketing material, personal project
• Company Information: For corporate licensing
• Download Preferences: Immediate or scheduled delivery.

Source – Dribble.com

🛒 Event Ticketing

Event-related sales often require:

• Attendee Names: For name badges or registration
• Dietary Restrictions: For catering purposes
• T-Shirt Sizes: For conference swag
• Emergency Contact: Safety requirements

Source – Dribble.com

🛒 Gift Services

Gift-related businesses commonly add:

• Gift Message: Personal note to recipient
• Delivery Date: For timed delivery
• Gift Wrapping Options: Different styles or themes
• Recipient Information: Separate from billing address

Source – WooCommerce.com

Troubleshooting Tips

Even with the usage of the best plugins available in the market, sometimes things don’t go according to plan. To give you a head start, we have listed down some common issues faced by users and their solutions:

Issue	Causes / Problems	Solutions / Fixes
Fields Not Displaying	Plugin conflicts with theme or other pluginsCaching issues preventing updates from showingIncorrect field positioningTheme compatibility problems	Clear all caches (browser, plugin, hosting)Deactivate other plugins temporarily to identify conflictsTry different field positionsCheck if your theme is WooCommerce compatible
Fields Not Saving Data	Validation errors preventing form submissionDatabase permissions problemsPlugin conflicts affecting form processingIncorrect field naming	Check browser console for JavaScript errorsEnable WordPress debugging to see PHP errorsTest with default WordPress themeVerify field names don’t conflict with existing fields
Styling Issues	Fields don’t match site designMobile responsive issuesSpacing and alignment problemsInconsistent font sizes	Add custom CSS through the plugin settingsUse your theme’s Additional CSS sectionCheck field wrapper classesTest on multiple devices and browsers

🚀 Performance Concerns 

Some plugins can slow down your checkout page:

• Monitor page load times before and after adding fields
• Use only necessary field types
• Avoid excessive use of conditional logic
• Consider lazy loading for complex fields

Parting Words

Adding WooCommerce custom checkout fields doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. By following the right approach, you can have a fully customized checkout page running in under 30 minutes and that too, without any coding knowledge.

The secret is to choose a method that fits your technical comfort level and business needs. For most store owners, we would recommend starting with the free Flexible Checkout Fields plugin. However, if your business demands advanced features like conditional logic, file uploads, or complex pricing rules, you may consider investing in a premium plugin. The cost is usually justified by the time savings and additional functionality it offers.

Source – Dribble.com

And remember – the best checkout page is one that collects the information you need while making it easy for customers to complete their purchase. Don’t add fields just because you can. Every additional field should serve a clear business purpose and improve customer experience.

Whether you’re collecting VAT numbers for B2B sales, delivery preferences for food orders, or gift messages for special occasions, custom checkout fields WooCommerce can help you gather the right information at the right time. Just keep it simple, test thoroughly, and always prioritize the user experience.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I add custom checkout fields without any coding knowledge?

✅ Absolutely! Plugins like Flexible Checkout Fields and various checkout field editors allow you to add, modify, and manage WooCommerce custom checkout fields through user-friendly interfaces. No coding experience required.

❓ Will adding more fields slow down my checkout page?

✅ Generally, no. A few additional fields won’t significantly impact page speed. However, avoid adding too many fields at once, as this can affect user experience more than performance. Always test your checkout page after making changes.

❓ Can I show different fields to different types of customers?

✅ Yes, many premium plugins offer user role-based field display. You can show specific WooCommerce checkout custom fields only to wholesale customers, VIP members, or other user groups.

❓ How do I make sure my custom fields appear in order emails?

✅ Most checkout field plugins include settings to display custom fields in various locations, including order confirmation emails, admin notifications, and customer account pages. Look for “Display On” or similar options in your plugin settings.

❓ Can I add fields that affect the order total?

✅ Yes, premium plugins often allow you to add pricing to specific fields. For example, you could charge extra for gift wrapping, expedited shipping, or premium support options.

❓ What happens to my custom fields if I deactivate the plugin?

✅ The field data typically remains in your database, but the fields won’t display on your checkout page. If you reactivate the plugin, the fields should return. However, always backup your site before making significant changes.

❓ Can I add conditional fields that show/hide based on other selections?

✅ This feature is available in premium versions of most checkout field plugins. You can create rules like “Show delivery date field only if customer selects express shipping” or “Display VAT field only for business customers”.

❓ How do I ensure my custom checkout fields WooCommerce are mobile-friendly?

✅ Most modern plugins take care of mobile responsiveness automatically. However, it is essential to test your checkout process on mobile devices and consider using full-width fields for a better user experience when possible. Avoid cramming too many fields in one row on smaller screens.

❓ Can I export or backup my custom field configurations?

✅ Many premium plugins include import/export functionality, allowing you to backup your field configurations or transfer them to another site. Free plugins may not include this feature.

❓ What’s the best practice for field validation?

✅ Use appropriate validation types for each field (email validation for email fields, phone validation for phone numbers, etc.). Only mark fields as required if they’re absolutely necessary for order processing. Provide clear error messages when validation fails.