The five pages WooCommerce needs
WooCommerce needs five pages: Shop, Cart, Checkout, My Account and Terms. A fresh install creates them, and WooCommerce, then Settings, then Advanced, then Page setup assigns each one. If a page is missing, Status, then Tools, then Create pages rebuilds the set. It worked when /shop/ lists products and the cart holds an item.
Each page does one job, and each is a normal WordPress page with WooCommerce content inside it. That is why a theme change can hide them without deleting anything.
| Page | What it shows | Content |
|---|---|---|
| Shop | The product archive at /shop/ | No shortcode; assigned in settings and rendered by the theme |
| Cart | Items, quantities and totals | Cart block on new installs, [woocommerce_cart] on older ones |
| Checkout | Billing, shipping and payment | Checkout block, or [woocommerce_checkout] |
| My Account | Orders, addresses and login | [woocommerce_my_account] or the account block |
| Terms and conditions | The policy a buyer must accept | Plain text page, linked from checkout |
Confirm which pages exist
Open Pages, then All Pages in the WordPress admin. A working store shows Shop, Cart, Checkout and My Account, each with the WooCommerce logo in the page list. Open the Cart page and look at the editor: it should hold a Cart block or the cart shortcode, not a paragraph of text.
Then check the assignment. Go to WooCommerce, then Settings, then Advanced, then Page setup. Each dropdown should name a real page. A dropdown showing "Select a page" means orders will fail at checkout, even though the pages exist.
Recreate a missing page
Deleting the cart page by accident is common, and WooCommerce can rebuild it. The tool creates any of the core pages that are missing and leaves the ones that exist alone.
- Go to WooCommerce, then Status, then Tools.
- Find Create default WooCommerce pages and click Create pages.
- Return to Settings, then Advanced, then Page setup and confirm each dropdown now names a page.
- Open the new Cart page and check it contains the Cart block or [woocommerce_cart].
- Save, then visit /cart/ in a private window and add a product to test it.
If the tool reports that pages already exist but checkout is still empty, the page is assigned but its content was replaced. Paste the block or shortcode back in and save.
Add the store to menus and the footer
A shop nobody can reach sells nothing. Add Shop, Cart and My Account to the primary menu, and keep Cart visible on mobile.
- Open Appearance, then Menus, and select the menu your theme uses for the header.
- Under Add menu items, open the Pages panel and tick Shop, Cart and My Account.
- Add them, then drag Cart to the end so the order reads Shop, My Account, Cart.
- Save the menu and load the site on a phone to confirm the cart link is reachable without opening a hamburger submenu.
Also add Shop to the footer and to any homepage button. A customer who lands on a blog post should reach the catalogue in one click.
My Account endpoints and why the slugs matter
The My Account page is one page with sub-sections called endpoints: orders, downloads, edit-address, edit-account, customer-logout and lost-password. WooCommerce serves them as /my-account/orders/ and similar, using the page slug as the base.
Two consequences follow. If you rename the page slug from my-account to account, every existing order confirmation link breaks. And if another page already uses the slug orders, the endpoint collides and returns a 404. Check Settings, then Advanced, then Page setup for the My Account slug before you rename anything.
Checkout legal pages: terms, privacy, refund
Indian stores need a terms page, a privacy policy and a refund policy that a buyer can read before paying. WooCommerce shows the terms checkbox at checkout once you point it at a page.
Create the three pages, then set the terms page under Settings, then Advanced, then Terms and conditions. Set the privacy page under Settings, then Privacy. Keep the refund policy linked in the footer as well, because payment gateways check for it during merchant review.
Fixes for the usual page errors
Most broken stores trace to one of five causes. Match the symptom before you reinstall anything.
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Cart page prints [woocommerce_cart] as text | The page uses a block theme and the shortcode sits in a paragraph | Replace it with the Cart block, or use a shortcode block |
| /shop/ returns a 404 | Permalinks not refreshed, or no Shop page assigned | Save Settings, then Permalinks, then assign the page |
| Checkout says the cart is empty | Cart and Checkout point at the same page | Give each its own page in Page setup |
| My Account sub-pages 404 | Endpoint slug clashes with another page | Rename the conflicting page, then save permalinks |
| Pages vanish after a theme switch | The new theme hides WooCommerce templates | Re-save Page setup and check the theme's WooCommerce support |
Run the store on hosting built for it. An e-commerce hosting plan or our WooCommerce hosting covers the PHP memory, database and caching a catalogue needs, and both sit on the WordPress hosting stack. A store that times out at checkout loses the order, not just the page view.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which pages does WooCommerce create automatically?
A fresh install creates Shop, Cart, Checkout, My Account and a Terms and conditions page. Each is a normal WordPress page that WooCommerce assigns in Settings, then Advanced, then Page setup. If you delete one, the Create pages tool rebuilds it.
How do I set up the cart and checkout pages?
Let WooCommerce create them, then confirm both are assigned in Settings, then Advanced, then Page setup. The Cart page holds the Cart block or [woocommerce_cart], and Checkout holds the Checkout block or [woocommerce_checkout]. Test with one product in a private window.
My shop page is missing. How do I restore it?
Run WooCommerce, then Status, then Tools, then Create pages. Then open Settings, then Advanced, then Page setup and assign the new Shop page. If /shop/ still returns a 404, save Settings, then Permalinks to rebuild the rewrite rules.
What are WooCommerce endpoints?
Endpoints are the sub-sections of My Account, such as orders, downloads and edit-address. They work as /my-account/orders/ using the My Account page slug as the base. Renaming that slug breaks old links, and a page with a clashing slug causes a 404.
How do I add Shop to my navigation menu?
Open Appearance, then Menus, select the header menu, and add the Shop page from the Pages panel. Keep Cart at the end of the same menu so it stays visible on mobile. Save and check the site on a phone.
How do I add terms and conditions at checkout?
Create a Terms page, then open WooCommerce, then Settings, then Advanced, then Terms and conditions and select it. A checkbox appears at checkout. Payment gateways also expect a refund policy and a privacy page, so publish all three before going live.