PrestaShop guest checkout: how to enable it, what a guest order creates and how to turn it into an account

Asking a first-time customer to create an account before they can pay is one more step between the cart and the order. PrestaShop lets you skip it with guest checkout. This article explains where the option is, what PrestaShop stores for a guest, and how guest checkout behaves in a one page checkout.

How to enable guest checkout

In the back office, go to Shop Parameters > Order Settings, tab General, and set Enable guest checkout to Yes. The PrestaShop user guide describes it as an option that “allows non-registered visitors to place an order, without having to create an account”.

In the standard checkout, the guest then fills in the personal information form without a password, and goes on to addresses, shipping and payment.

What a guest order creates

A guest order is not anonymous. PrestaShop’s test scenario for guest customers shows what happens behind the scenes:

• A customer record is created and assigned to the Guest group.
• Under Customers > Customers you can filter the Group column on Guest to see only guests.
• The guest receives the usual order confirmation email.

So the order, the address and the customer’s email are all in your back office, as with any other customer.

How to turn a guest into a registered customer

If a guest later wants an account, an employee can convert it:

1. Go to Customers > Customers.
2. Filter the Group column on Guest and click Search.
3. On the customer’s row, open the menu and click View.
4. Click Transform to a customer account.

According to the same test scenario, PrestaShop shows “Successful creation”, moves the customer out of the Guest group and sends an email confirming that the guest account has been turned into a customer account.

Guest checkout in a one page checkout

In a one page checkout the guest fills in their details on the same page as delivery and payment, so the order of the fields matters.

PrestaShop 9.2 native one page checkout. According to the PrestaShop team, a guest starts with only an email address and the other sections unlock as they are filled in. Login and account creation move to separate PrestaShop pages. In our test, delivery and payment stayed hidden until the email was entered.

Prime OPC. In Prime OPC ordering as a guest is the default. A customer who wants an account ticks I want to create an account in the same step and sets a password; returning customers log in from that step without leaving the page.

When to switch guest checkout off

Guest checkout is on in most shops that sell to consumers. There are two common reasons to switch it off:

• Prices per customer group. If trade customers see their own prices only after logging in, a guest would see the public price. Those shops usually ask customers to log in first.
• Approved accounts only. Some wholesale shops accept orders only from customers they have approved. That needs a module, because the customer settings described in PrestaShop’s user guide include no approval step for new accounts.

For everyone else, guest checkout is one of the simplest ways to remove a step from the checkout. We cover the rest of the checkout options in PrestaShop one page checkout in 2026.