Home>Hardware

Troubleshoot Square Stand connection and power failures

When Square Stand is properly connected, you’ll see the charging icon appear in the top-right corner of your iPad screen. If your Square Stand (1st or 2nd generation) is not charging your iPad, taking payments, or connecting to hardware accessories as expected, you may be experiencing connection or power failures.

This article provides troubleshooting for your Square Stand to address connection and power failures.

Before you begin

When to troubleshoot

Connection and power failure troubleshooting involves steps that may involve physically moving around your space and rebooting your hardware. If possible, try to troubleshoot your Square Stand outside of business hours. If you must troubleshoot during the workday, try to avoid peak busy hours so your customers will experience few delays.

Required components

You need to use the charging accessories that were included with your Square Stand or a different charging adapter that can supply a minimum of 45W of power. The wattage information is usually listed on the adapter.

If you have pending offline payments, do not restart or factory reset your Square Stand or delete the Square POS app. Pending offline payments will be permanently lost, and the funds won’t be captured. Learn how to Process offline payments.

Step 1: Check your Square Stand setup

Verify Square Stand cables are plugged in

Check that Square Stand is plugged into the USB hardware hub and that the power adapter is plugged into a grounded AC outlet.

  1. Gently unplug and firmly replug the power adapter into the wall.
  2. Try plugging the power adapter into a different socket.

Confirm iOS software is up to date

  1. Using your iPad, go to Settings > General > Software Update.
  2. The screen shows the currently installed version of iOS and whether an update is available.
  3. If applicable, tap Download and Install.

Confirm the Square POS app is up to date

  1. Using your iPad, open the App Store and tap your profile icon.
  2. Scroll down to see pending updates.
  3. Tap Update All to update all apps on your device, or locate the Square POS app(s) and tap Update.

Enable required permissions

The geo-location or GPS on your iPad must be turned on at all times when using Square. Square needs to know where transactions take place to reduce the risks associated with those transactions and to minimize payment disputes. Location services is a setting controlled from your iPad’s general settings, not within the Square app.

  1. Close out of the Square POS app.
  2. Open the Settings app on your iPad.
  3. Tap Privacy & Security > Location Services.
  4. Toggle Location Services ON.
  5. From here, you can also control which individual applications have access to location data. Learn more on Apple’s support site.

Step 2: Force quit the Square POS app

  1. Swipe up from the bottom edge of the iPad and pause halfway up the display.

  2. Lift your finger from the display after the pause.

  3. Locate the Square POS app and swipe up on it.

  4. Return to the Home screen and re-open the Square POS app.

Step 3: Check Square Stand connections

  1. Make sure the Square POS app recognizes Square Stand. To do so, tap ≡ More > Settings > Hardware > Square Stand to check the connection status.

    • If Square Stand is listed as connected and you’re still experiencing issues, restart it by pressing the Restart Stand button at the bottom of the page.

  2. Confirm that your iPad recognizes Square Stand. To do so, go to the home page on your iPad > tap Settings > General > About. Square Stand will be listed if it’s recognized.

  3. If you are on a newer version of iOS, you may need to adjust your iOS settings to ensure that your iPad maintains a constant connection to Square Stand. Follow these Apple steps to allow access to USB accessories on your iPad.

  4. If you have another compatible iPad available, try installing the Square POS app on it and plugging it into Square Stand. If the new iPad successfully connects to Square Stand, follow these Apple troubleshooting steps for your original iPad or contact Apple support directly.

Step 4: Check that Square Stand is receiving power

  1. Remove iPad > disconnect Square Stand from power > wait 10 seconds > reconnect Square Stand to power.

  2. If power is being provided to Square Stand, you will see payment LEDs illuminate.

  3. If payment LEDs do not illuminate, plug the power adapter cable into a different outlet.

  4. Reinsert iPad into Square Stand. You’ll know it’s locked in place when you hear the security latch click.

  5. Open your Square POS app and tap ≡ More > Settings > Hardware > Square Stand. If your Square Stand is receiving power you should see the following:

    • Your iPad is now charging (as indicated by lightning bolt in the battery icon shown in the top right of the iPad).

    • The Power Source now shows as “Power Source: Power Adapter”.

If you are not using the charging accessories that came with your Square Stand or a different power adapter that can supply 45W or more, you may see a red Insufficient Power banner at the top of your Square POS app.

Step 5: Reboot your iPad and Square Stand

  1. Push down on Square Stand’s raised security latch and slide your iPad out carefully towards the left. Take care not to pull the iPad up from the Stand prior to disconnecting as this can damage the iPad connector.

  2. Restart your iPad. Visit Apple Support for instructions on restarting your iPad.

  3. Reinsert your iPad into Square Stand. You’ll know it’s locked in place when you hear the security latch click.

  4. Disconnect your Square Stand from the power outlet and wait 10 seconds, then reconnect.

Step 6: Delete and reinstall Square POS app

  1. Uninstall the Square POS app from your iPad. Before uninstalling, make sure you’ve uploaded any offline payments, or you’ll lose those uncompleted payments.

  2. Touch and hold the app on the Home Screen, tap Remove App, then tap Delete App.

  3. Reinstall the Square POS app in the App Store.

  4. When you reopen the app, make sure you grant each requested permission, or the Square Stand will not function properly.

Related articles