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Card Terminal Frozen, Stuck, or Not Showing the Sale

Steps for when the PAX terminal freezes, stays on the Welcome screen, gets stuck on Processing, or doesn't show the items you're ringing up.

Use this guide when the PAX terminal freezes, stays on the Welcome/logo screen, gets stuck on "Processing," or doesn't show the items you're ringing up.

First, a quick triage question: is this happening on one register or all of them? If it's all registers at once, it's likely a store-wide connection issue — message us right away. If it's one register, work through the steps below.

1. Restart the terminal

Hold the power button at the bottom right of the credit card terminal, then tap Restart. Wait for it to boot and log back in, then try a sale.

2. Force Stop the Santé app

If the terminal is on but stuck:

  1. Triple-tap "Powered by Santé" at the bottom of the terminal screen.

  2. Tap Device Settings.

  3. Select Apps & Notifications on the left.

  4. Select Santé on the right.

  5. Tap Force Stop, then OK.

  6. Tap Open to relaunch Santé.

(Full walkthrough: Force Stop Santé)

3. Check the terminal is logged into the right account

The terminal only "listens" to the register that's logged in with the same email. If the computer and terminal are on different accounts, the cart will never appear on the terminal.

  1. On the terminal, open Settings and tap the purple icon in the top right.

  2. Check the email shown. It must match the account your register computer is logged into — the register account (e.g., ending in "1"), not an admin or office account.

  3. If it's wrong, log out and log in with the correct register account.

4. Test the connection

Add any item to the cart on the computer. The total should appear on the terminal screen within a few seconds.

If it doesn't, the terminal is offline:

  • On the terminal: Device Settings > Network & Internet — reconnect to your Wi-Fi (guide) or check the Ethernet cable (guide).

  • If the terminal won't stay connected on Wi-Fi, plugging it into Ethernet is more reliable.

Terminal said "Approved" but the sale isn't in Santé?

Don't worry, and don't charge the customer again. Duplicate and orphaned charges are detected automatically and voided — the customer will not be double charged. Message us with the register number, approximate time, and amount, and we'll confirm the payment's status before you re-ring anything.

Still stuck? Message us

Contact support if:

  • The terminal shows "invalid credentials" even though the emails match.

  • The Settings screen shows the wrong store name.

  • Freezes keep happening on split payments.

  • You've restarted and force-stopped and the cart still won't show.

These need a fix on our side. Include the register number, what happened right before the freeze, and a photo of the terminal screen.

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