My terminal says it's not connected

A terminal that shows as offline, drops off part-way through the day, or declines before the card is even tapped.

First — has this terminal ever worked?

If it has never connected since it arrived, this isn’t the right article. Go to A new terminal won’t connect — that’s a setup problem and it’s fixed a different way.

If it worked yesterday and doesn’t today, carry on below.

Work through these in order

Stop as soon as it takes a card.

1. Close and reopen the DealerWorks app.
   This is the most common fix, and the quickest — you don’t have to unplug anything.
2. Restart the terminal.
   See Restart a terminal.
3. If it connects and then drops again — switch it off for five full minutes before plugging it back in.
   Five minutes. A quick off-and-on tends to land it in the same state.
4. Check whether other terminals at your store are working right now.
   If several are down at once, tell us that when you call — it changes what we look at.

If you can take payments on another computer

If the real problem is “I can’t take a payment”, have the same person sign in on a different computer and try again.

If it works there, the terminal isn’t the problem — tell us and we’ll start with the computer instead.

If it still won’t connect

Contact DealerWorks Support with:

• The terminal’s name — see Find your terminal’s name
• A diagnostic report — see Send a diagnostic report
• Whether any other terminal at the store is affected

Related: Terminal trouble — start here · Close and reopen the DealerWorks app · Restart a terminal · A new terminal won’t connect