Choose where the reCAPTCHA appears on checkout
Updated September 13, 2026
The Widget Location on Checkout dropdown at Settings › reCAPTCHA WooCommerce controls where the reCAPTCHA box sits inside the checkout form. It applies to both the classic shortcode checkout and the Checkout block, though the exact position differs slightly between the two.
The five positions
- Before Payment — the default. The box appears above the payment methods, directly under the order review table.
- After Payment — the box appears below the payment methods, just above the Place Order button.
- Before Billing — the box appears at the very top of the form, above the billing address fields.
- After Billing — the box appears below the billing address fields.
- Before Submit Button — the box appears immediately above the Place Order button, after everything else in the form.
Whichever position you choose, verification behaviour is identical. The setting only changes where the widget is rendered, not when or how the token is checked.
How the positions map to the Checkout block
The block checkout has a different structure to the classic one, so the plugin anchors to the nearest equivalent block:
- Before Payment and After Payment attach to the Payment block, rendering above or below it.
- Before Billing attaches above the Contact Information block.
- After Billing attaches above the Shipping Methods block.
- Before Submit Button attaches above the Actions block, which holds the Place Order button.
If your checkout page has a customised block layout with some of these blocks removed, the widget may not appear in the position you expect. Switching to Before Payment is the most reliable option, because almost every checkout retains the Payment block.
Which position to pick
Before Payment works well for most stores because the customer meets the challenge while they are already scanning the order summary, before they commit to pressing the button.
After Payment puts the box immediately above the Place Order button, which some stores prefer because it is hard to miss. The trade-off is that on narrow mobile screens the widget can push the button below the fold.
Before Billing and After Billing suit multi-column checkout layouts where the payment column is short and the widget would otherwise look stranded.
Changing the position safely
After changing the dropdown and saving, load the checkout page in a private browsing window with an item in the cart and check the widget renders once and only once. If you see two boxes, another plugin or a theme customisation is also adding reCAPTCHA to the checkout.