Last updated: September 2026
Square Register comes with a 7" touchscreen customer display that itemises transactions, lets customers enter their PIN, choose how they'd like their receipt, and check in to your Loyalty programme — all while showing off your branding. Contactless and chip and PIN payments are built right into the customer display, so your customers can tap or insert without ever reaching across the counter.
Whether you've had your Register for years or you've just unboxed a 2nd generation, here are our pro tips for getting the most out of your customer display.
Know Your Register
There are two generations of Square Register, and both work with a customer display — but the displays aren't interchangeable.
- Square Register (1st generation) — customer display serial number starts with S078 or S133. Includes a built-in magstripe (swipe) reader on the display.
- Square Register (2nd generation) — customer display serial number starts with S251. The 2nd generation display does not include a built-in swipe reader, so you'll need a separate magstripe reader if you still take swiped payments.
Pro-tip: you can find your serial number in More → Settings → Hardware → General → About Square Register, or check out Identify Your Square Hardware if you're not sure which one you have.
Add Your Logo or an Image to your Customer Display
You can upload a high resolution image of your choosing (from your Square Dashboard) to the customer display to showcase your business. To add an image to your customer display:
-
- From your Square Dashboard, go to Settings → Account & Settings → My business → About → Branding.
- Create a new branding set (or edit an existing one) and upload your logo or image.
- Use the Point of Sale preview to check how it'll look on the customer display.
- Publish the branding set to the location(s) you'd like to update.
- On your Register, go to More → Settings → Hardware → Customer Display and turn on Show Business Name on Idle Screen and Show Profile Image on Idle Screen.
Pro-tip: for the sharpest result, upload a JPG or PNG at 2560 × 1600 px. Anything smaller can look soft or stretched on the display.
You can turn the image or your business name off at any time from the same Customer Display settings on your Register. If you don't have an image uploaded, your business name will show in white lettering over a black background.
Set Up the Customer Display
There are two ways to set up your Square Register customer display for use by everyone who walks through your door: Docked or Undocked.
Docked
Having your customer display docked directly on your Square Register works best for:
- Compact counters
- Counters with merchandise on display
Pro-tip: when docking, press firmly on the bottom edges of the customer display until you hear a click on both sides of the customer display to ensure it's properly connected.
To undock the customer display, press and hold the release latch located on the bottom of Square Register and lift the customer display out. Be sure that the latch is completely released before removing the display as it cannot be removed without the latch release.
Undocked
Connecting your customer display via USB cable works best for:
- Wide, low, or higher counters
- Split-level counters
- Counters where the customer does not stand in front of the Register
Pro-tip: you'll need your customer display cable to connect the display in the undocked configuration.
To power on the customer display in undocked configuration, plug one end of the customer display cable into the customer display and the other end into the bottom of Register.
Depending on how your counter is set up, you can change the position of your customer display. One thing to note, the customer display takes about a minute to reboot when you undock or disconnect the cable.
Learn more about how to set up your Square Register.
Tipping
If tipping is available and enabled in your market, your customer display is where the tip prompt appears. You've got a good amount of control over how it works.
Go to More → Settings → Checkout → Tipping on your Register to:
- Turn tipping on or off
- Use smart tip amounts (Square suggests amounts based on the sale total) or set your own custom percentages
- Choose whether tips are calculated before or after tax
- Turn on Ask for Tips Before Payment, so customers tip before they tap or insert rather than after
- Allow customers to enter a custom tip amount
Pro-tip: if you have tipping enabled and a customer wants to pay contactless, the display may show Insert, Swipe or Ask to Tap — just tap the Contactless button in the list of payment methods on your Register screen to enable NFC for that sale.
Learn more about how to set up and customise tipping.
Loyalty on the Customer Display
This is one of the most underused features of the customer display — your customers can check in to your Loyalty programme themselves, without you typing anything.
To set it up, go to More → Settings → Loyalty on your Register and turn on Loyalty sign-up and check-in. Turn on Show check-in screen at start of transaction if you'd like customers to check in before they pay.
Customers can check in by:
- Entering the phone number linked to their Loyalty account
- Tapping their Digital Loyalty Pass (saved to their mobile wallet) on the customer display
Pro-tip: if the Loyalty screen isn't appearing after payment, check that Skip Receipt Screen and Automatically Print Receipts are both turned off. If either is on, the customer display moves past the Loyalty prompt before your customer sees it.
Learn more about how to enrol customers in your Loyalty programme.
Accessibility
To accommodate the needs of any visually impaired customers, you can set up the tactile PIN guide or use the TalkBack feature on your Register. Learn more about how to enable these features in our Support Centre.
To enable Contactless payments, simply tap the Contactless button that appears in the list of payment methods on your Register screen.
Useful Resources
- Set Up Square Register (2nd generation)
- Accept Payments on Your Square Register
- Customise Digital Receipts and Invoices
- Set Up and Customise Tipping
- Enrol Customers in Square Loyalty
- Accept In-Person Payments with Afterpay and Square
- Set Up Accessibility Features
- Troubleshoot Square Register Customer Display
- Identify Your Square Hardware
Let me know if you have any questions about how to position or set up your customer display. For anyone using Square Register, show us your setup with pictures in the comments!
Not a member of the Community yet? Learn how to join the Seller Community.
