After an outage or service disruption, use this guide to reconnect your devices and confirm payments, open checks, and shifts are back to normal.
Do not select the Capture button in Close Out Day. Triggering this function manually may cause some authorizations still processing to be missed, resulting in deposit discrepancies. |
Quick recovery steps
Once your devices are back online, complete these steps in order to restore normal operations. Select any section below for detailed instructions.
Confirm all devices have fully reconnected. If any device still shows "Offline Mode," "No internet connection," or "Toast service disruption," see Device still showing offline or "Toast service disruption" below before continuing.
Check payment status. In Toast Web, navigate to Reports > Payments > Payments to confirm offline payments are processing or authorized. Note: Do not select Capture in Close Out Day.
Reconcile any open checks with denied or errored payments.
Verify employee shift reviews and time clock entries.
Approve any queued online orders in Orders Hub and adjust loyalty points as needed.
Subscribe to Toast status notifications at status.toasttab.com to receive alerts for future outages.
Device still showing offline or "Toast service disruption"
What "Toast service disruption" means
"Toast service disruption" is a message that appears on your POS when your device loses its connection to the Toast cloud — typically due to an internet outage, network disruption, or a local connectivity issue. It does not always mean Toast's systems are down.
If you see this message after your internet or power has been restored:
Check the Toast System Status page to confirm whether there is an active Toast outage.
If Toast systems are operating normally, see Outages and Disruptions: Troubleshoot Internet or Network Connection Issues to diagnose your local connection.
If your network is back but devices still show Offline Mode
Force stop the Toast App.
Log in and enter your POS access code. The Offline Mode notification bar should disappear.
Do not uninstall the Toast app while it is still in Offline Mode. Stored data and offline payments may be removed. |
If payments still show as Processing but the device is online
Log out of the Toast app on the affected device, then log back in.
Keep the device online at all times.
If payments have not resolved after three or five days, contact Customer Care.
Confirm payment status
How offline payments are processed
Credit and debit card authorizations taken during an outage are automatically captured as each device reconnects to the Toast cloud. You do not need to manually trigger this process.
Do not select Capture in Close Out Day while payments from an outage are still processing. Manually triggering capture may cause in-progress authorizations to be missed, resulting in deposit discrepancies. |
Keep merchant copies of receipts signed by guests as records for payments taken offline. These are useful if a payment is lost, a tip adjustment is needed, or a chargeback occurs.
View payment status in Toast Web
In Toast Web, navigate to Reports > Payments > Payments to check the status of payments taken during the outage.
Status | What it means |
Processing | The device is submitting the payment for authorization |
Authorized | Payment was approved and is pending final capture |
Denied | Payment was not authorized by the card network (also shown as "declined") |
Note: Payment authorizations can expire if too much time passes between the transaction and when connectivity is restored — in some cases as early as 24 hours after the transaction. Toast recommends resolving connectivity issues as quickly as possible to prevent authorization expiry and declined payments.
Reconcile open checks with denied payments
Denied payments on open checks cannot be retried through Toast. Choose one of the following options to close affected checks:
Recommended — Create an "other payment" option to close affected checks and track outage-related sales separately. This preserves accurate sales figures and retains tip and gratuity information. See Set Up Other Payment Options for instructions.
Void the check. This may cause discrepancies in sales figures if items were already prepared. See Void Items, Payments, and Checks for instructions.
Discount the check and close. Create a dedicated discount to track outage-related losses. This may also cause discrepancies in sales figures. See Discount Items and Checks for instructions.
Complete shift reviews after an outage
If shift reviews are required for your staff
A manager must create a time entry for each affected employee covering the outage time period. If a time entry already exists with an end time, edit it to remove the end time. See Reopen an Employee's Shift From Previous Days for instructions.
The employee logs in to the POS and navigates to the Shift Review page.
The employee deselects Filter to Today to view previous shifts.
The employee selects the outage day. All checks closed on that day for that server should appear.
The employee completes the shift review as normal.
If shift reviews are not required
Verify that all employee time clock entries are accurate for the offline time period. During Offline Mode, employees should clock in and out on the same device — discrepancies can occur if this did not happen. Check your Time Entry Management report and correct any inconsistencies. See Edit Employee Time Clock Entries for instructions.
Handle online orders and loyalty points
Online orders
When your devices come back online, any online orders that arrived during Offline Mode appear in Orders Hub with a pending status. You must manually approve each order before it can be processed or voided.
Without approval, orders remain queued and will not fire to the kitchen — even if auto-fire is enabled. This prevents a large influx of outdated orders from reaching your kitchen when you reconnect.
To handle queued orders:
Open Orders Hub. See Manage Off-Premise Orders with Orders Hub for navigation instructions.
Review each queued order and select Approve, or void it based on the order's timing and your current volume.
Loyalty points
Loyalty points cannot be accrued or redeemed during Offline Mode. After restoring connectivity, make manual adjustments to any affected guest loyalty accounts. See Manually Add and Adjust Rewards Balances for instructions.
Before you contact Customer Care
If the steps above do not resolve your issue, gather the following before contacting Customer Care:
Date and approximate time of the outage
Which devices were affected and what error messages appeared (for example, "Toast service disruption," "No internet connection," "No network connection")
Payment statuses from Reports > Payments > Payments
Steps you have already tried
Contact Customer Care through the blue Support button in Toast Web or Toast Payroll Web, or through the Support tab in the Toast Now app.
FAQ
What does "Toast service disruption" mean?
"Toast service disruption" appears on your POS when your device loses its connection to the Toast cloud. It does not necessarily mean Toast's systems are down — it often indicates a local network or internet issue. Check the Toast System Status page to confirm whether there is a known outage. If Toast systems are operating normally, see Outages and Disruptions: Troubleshoot Internet or Network Connection Issues to diagnose your connection.
What if my payments come back as declined after an outage?
Payments can be declined after an outage if the card authorization expired before connectivity was restored. Some card networks expire authorizations in as little as 24 hours. [Suggested approach – requires validation: confirm 24-hour expiry window] Declined payments cannot be retried through Toast. Close the affected checks using one of the methods in the Reconcile open checks section above, and keep merchant copies of signed receipts in case you need to collect payment through another method.
Can I select "Capture" in Close Out Day to speed up payment processing?
No. Do not select Capture in Close Out Day while outage payments are still processing. Manually triggering the capture function may cause in-progress authorizations to be missed, resulting in deposit discrepancies. Payments process automatically once your devices reconnect.
How long does it take for offline payments to process?
Payments begin processing automatically as soon as each device reconnects to the Toast cloud. If a payment still shows as Processing after three to five days, contact Customer Care.
Can I resync data while waiting for payments to process?
No. Do not resync data on any device that still has payments in a Processing status. Resyncing may remove stored payment data before it has been submitted for authorization.
My check shows as open on the POS, but the payment went through. What do I do?
If you’ve confirmed the payment was successfully processed and there are no missing payments, you can clear Toast POS App stored data to remove the incorrect check status. To do so:
Navigate to device Settings.
Select Apps or Apps & Notifications depending on your device.
Select Toast POS App.
Select Clear Storage or Clear Data depending on your device. Note:Clearing storage will sign you out of the app. Make sure you have your login email and password before proceeding.
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