Why Is the Order Notes Field Missing From WooCommerce?

Why WooCommerce Hides the Order Notes Field

WooCommerce has trimmed several optional fields from the default checkout experience over time in the interest of reducing friction, and the order notes field is one of them — it still exists in the underlying code and can be restored, but isn't shown out of the box the way it once was in older versions many store owners may remember.

How to Restore the Order Notes Field

• Block checkout: check the checkout block's own editor settings for an order notes / additional information field option, since newer WooCommerce versions expose this as a toggle rather than requiring code.
• Classic shortcode checkout: a small filter re-enabling the field is the standard approach, since the underlying field definition remains in WooCommerce core even when hidden by default.
• A theme or checkout customization plugin may have separately hidden this field regardless of the WooCommerce version, which is worth ruling out if it's still missing after checking the above.

add_filter( 'woocommerce_enable_order_notes_field', '__return_true' );

Setting It Up for Block Checkout

1. Check the block checkout editor first if that's the active checkout type, for a built-in toggle.
2. Use the woocommerce_enable_order_notes_field filter if on classic checkout, or if the block checkout doesn't expose this directly.
3. Test that notes entered at checkout actually appear correctly on the admin order screen afterward.

Need checkout customized to fit your specific fulfillment process? See custom WooCommerce development.