Deactivate Your Square Business

One of the great things about Square is that we only charge per transaction, so there’s no cost to keep your account open if you’re a seasonal business, using our subscription products or switching to a new processor.

Note: If you choose to deactivate your Square account, you will not be able to access any of your payment history or account information (including 1099-K tax forms, if eligible), and any team members will be removed from your account. In addition to deactivating your account, you must cancel any active subscriptions linked to your account.

Before You Deactivate

There are a few things we recommend doing before you deactivate your Square account. Learn more details below.

Export your payment history

Download your payment history for your records. You may need this information for tax purposes, future reference or when applying for a bank loan or credit card terminal. To start:

1. Navigate to Balance in your online Square Dashboard.

2. Use the date selector to refine a date range. Click This Year or Last Year, then use the arrows to navigate between years. Note: Click the middle of the date selector to see a full calendar view.

3. Select All Locations, or manually choose locations to review.

4. Click Export to download a CSV file to your computer, which you can open using Microsoft Excel or another common spreadsheet software.

Export your Item Library

Exporting your Item Library is a good idea if you plan on creating a new inventory list with another point-of-sale system. It’s also great to keep for your records. You can export your item library from your online Square Dashboard into an Excel (.xlsx) or CSV file. Here’s how:

1. Visit Items in your Square Dashboard.

2. Click Actions > Export Library at the top-right of the page.

Select whether you’d like to export the file as Excel or CSV. A spreadsheet will download to your computer, which you can open using Microsoft Excel or another common spreadsheet software.

Export your Customer Directory

You can export your entire customer list directly from your online Square Dashboard. This may come in handy if you’ve been collecting customer information you want to reference in the future. To start:

1. Go to Customers > Directory on your online Square Dashboard.

2. Click Export Customers.

3. Select the groups you’d like to export customers from. If a customer exists in multiple groups, they will only be exported once.

4. Click Export.

A CSV file will download to your computer, which you can open using Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets or other common spreadsheet software.

Cancel your Square Online subscriptions and services

If your Square account uses Square Online, please cancel all of the subscriptions and services in your Square Online account from the Square Online Overview page first before deactivating your Square account. This will ensure you do not continue getting charged for Square Online services you are no longer using.

Learn how to Manage Square Online services and subscriptions for more information on cancelling Square Online services.

Note: Your Square Online account is an extension of your primary Square account with separate billing management. Deactivating your Square account will not deactivate your Square Online services and subscriptions, so be sure to manually cancel those first before proceeding with deactivation.

Download any Forms 1099-K issued to your account

If your account qualified for a 1099-K for a previous year, the form is available to download from the Tax Forms section of your online Square Dashboard.

Note: Your account may qualify for and be issued a Form 1099-K in January of next year for sales processed this calendar year. If you deactivate your account before the end of the current year and qualify for a 1099-K, it will be mailed to the address on file for your account. Confirm or edit your business address and corresponding tax ID in the Tax Forms section of your online Square Dashboard. Learn more about tax reporting with Square.

What to do with Your Square Hardware

Square readers and third-party hardware are universal, so they don’t store any personal or account information and can be used with any Square account.

Readers are not linked to any specific account holder or bank account, nor do they need to be activated. Your personal information will not be compromised if you sell, recycle or share your reader between Square accounts.

Data Policy

For more information on Square’s data retention policies, please visit the following pages:

• Privacy Notice

• Terms of Service

Deactivate Your Account

There is no cost associated with keeping your Square account open. However, if you are still interested in deactivating your Square Point of Sale account, you can do so right from your online Square Dashboard.

Note: Once deactivated, you will not be able to reactivate your existing account. You will need to create a new Square account should you decide to begin using Square again.

Please make sure you’ve exported all the necessary data prior to deactivation. Once ready to start:

1. Go to Account & Settings on your online Square Dashboard.

2. Click Business information > About my business.

3. Under “Deactivate your business,” click Deactivate your business.

4. Select your reason for deactivation, add any additional comments (optional) and then click Continue.

5. Enter the password, then click Confirm.

   • If you have 2-Step Verification on your account, your verification code will either be texted to you or you can use your authenticator app.

   • If you do not have 2-Step Verification on your account, your verification code will be emailed to the email address associated with your Square account.

Confirm deactivation by selecting Deactivate.

Keep in mind that Square accounts can be created for free, and you’re welcome to create a new one at any time. We’re sad to see you go, but are happy to have been a part of your growing business. We wish you the very best and hope to work with you again in the future.