A voucher code will not apply
Updated September 14, 2026
Look the code up first on Store Credit › Vouchers. Its status, remaining balance, assigned customer and expiry date will usually identify the problem immediately.
It belongs to somebody else
A voucher issued to a specific customer is restricted to their email address and nobody else can redeem it. That is the usual reason a code that works for one person is rejected for another. Unassigned vouchers – gifts, mostly – have no such restriction.
It is spent or expired
Check the Remaining column and the Expires date. A voucher spent down to zero shows as used, and an expired voucher cannot be applied even with a balance left on it.
A template coupon restriction is blocking it
If you have configured a voucher template coupon, its restrictions are copied onto every voucher. A minimum spend, a product or category limit, or an exclusion on sale items will all reject an otherwise valid voucher. Open the voucher under WooCommerce › Marketing › Coupons to see exactly which restrictions it carries.
Individual use only deserves particular attention: it prevents the voucher being combined with any other coupon, including another voucher, and WooCommerce will silently remove one when the other is applied.
Account credit is already applied
With Allow account balance and voucher credit to be combined on the same order switched off, a customer must choose one or the other. Removing the applied balance lets the voucher go on.
The cart is buying store credit
A voucher cannot pay for a top-up, gift card or credit gift, for the same reason the account balance cannot.
Too many attempts
Claiming a code is rate limited, as is the public balance-check form, so that neither can be used to guess at valid codes. A customer who has mistyped a code several times in quick succession may be briefly blocked; waiting a short while clears it.