WooCommerce automatically generates purchase order numbers whenever a customer places an order. However, these numbers aren’t always in sequential order, making bookkeeping and tracking unnecessarily complex. Fortunately, you can reset WooCommerce order numbers into sequential order using the right plugin.
You might have noticed that the WooCommerce auto-generated purchased order numbers are not in sequential order. Well, you’re not alone.
WooCommerce doesn’t create order numbers separately. Instead, it uses the same numbering system that WordPress uses for everything, including blog posts and pages. As a result, when these posts are created in between, it disrupts the purchase number order.
So how can you set order numbers to follow a sequential pattern? WooCommerce doesn’t offer this feature out of the box – but that’s where our Sequential Order Numbers for WooCommerce plugin comes in. It gives you the option of using incremental purchase order numbers rather than random ones.
Key Takeaways
- WooCommerce order numbers are not in sequential order by default.
- The WooCommerce Sequential Order Numbers plugin helps you organize your order numbers in sequential order.
- You can reset WooCommerce order numbers daily, monthly, or yearly to track sales more effectively.
- Create custom order number sequences using prefixes, suffixes, and a starting number with the plugin.
- You can also set up separate order numbers for free orders and reset past WooCommerce orders.
You might expect WooCommerce to assign each new order in a chronological order like 101, 102, 103. However, that’s rarely the case.
This is because WordPress generates a unique post ID for every element created on your website, including orders, products, pages, categories, and more. As a result, if you create a post, a page, a category, and an order, the post IDs will be assigned in that sequence.
When orders are placed between the creation of different post types, this leads to irregular purchase number order in your WooCommerce store.
Here’s how it happens:
- Let’s say two orders come in – WooCommerce assigns them IDs 100 and 101.
- Then, you publish a blog post. WordPress assigns ID 102 to that post.
- After that, two more orders are placed. They get IDs 103 and 104.
Now, your WooCommerce order list shows:
100, 101, 103, 104 — but 102 is missing because it was used for the blog post.
The result? Gaps in WooCommerce purchase order numbers that can be confusing, especially when you’re managing bulk orders or trying to track sales volume.
What is Sequential Order Number?
While purchase order number is a unique number WooCommerce assigns each time someone places an order, sequential order number let your order numbers go in order, like 001, 002, 003, and so on. It makes things easier to track and manage.
The free Sequential Order Number for WooCommerce plugin allows you to create custom WooCommerce order numbers and make them in sequential order. However, in order to reset WooCommerce order numbers on a recurring basis, you will need the WooCommerce Sequential Order Numbers Pro plugin.
After installing the sequential order plugin on your WordPress website, follow the below steps to reset order numbers on your WooCommerce store.
1. Create New Order Number Sequence
- From the WordPress dashboard, navigate to WooCommerce > Settings > Sequential Order Number Pro.
- Choose a format for the order number. You can combine prefixes, dates, and numbers to create unique order numbers.
- Choose a custom prefix for the order numbers.
- Then, choose the order date format.
- Select the length for the order number and choose the starting number.

2. Reset Order Numbers of Old Orders
- If you want to generate past WooCommerce order numbers in sequential order, enable the Apply for all orders checkbox.
- Then, keep the Track orders, and Search orders checkboxes enabled to search and track the orders using the new order numbers.

- Click on Save changes to save the settings.

All WooCommerce order numbers, including those from past orders, will be reset to the new sequential order.
3. Track Orders Using Shortcode
To keep track of the sequential order number, enable the track order option. Enter the shortcode provided below for tracking orders.

WooCommerce provides this shortcode to link orders based on the order ID. To track orders, add this shortcode in a custom post.
The screenshot below shows the order tracking page on a website using the shortcode.

You can view all the order details by entering the order ID and billing email associated with a particular order.
The WooCommerce Sequential Order Pro plugin allows you to reset the order numbers for both old and new orders at specified time intervals.
For example, if you want the first order of each month to start with order number 1, with subsequent orders following sequentially, resetting order numbers monthly is the answer.
After installing the premium plugin, follow these steps:
- Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Sequential Order Number Pro.
- Scroll down to the General settings.
- Choose Increment counter as 1. This will create order numbers with the increment of 1.
- Select Monthly interval from the Reset sequential order number to auto-reset the order number sequence every month.
- Then, choose the starting number for the order numbers.
- Click on Save changes to save the settings.

If your WooCommerce store offers free orders through giveaway campaigns or coupon promotions, these orders will be included in the same order number sequence as your regular orders. This can make it difficult and time-consuming to distinguish free orders from paid ones.
To efficiently manage this issue, you can use the sequential order number plugin to create a separate order number sequence for free orders. This allows you to easily differentiate between free and regular orders.
To organize WooCommerce free orders by number sequentially:
- Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Sequential Order Number Pro.
- Enable the Separate sequence for free orders checkbox.
- Then, choose a start number for free orders.
- Enter the prefix for the free order numbers.
- Click on Save changes.

This will create a separate order number sequence for free orders in your store.
If at any point you want to revert your customized order numbers back to WooCommerce’s default post IDs, the Sequential Order Number plugin makes it easy to do so.
- Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Sequential Order Number Pro > Troubleshooting tools
- Next, scroll down to Reset order number to default option and click “Reset to default.” This step will restore WooCommerce default order numbers.

Why Use Sequential Order Numbers in WooCommerce?
- Quick tracking: Easily locate orders using simple, sequential numbers, ideal for high-volume stores.
- Accurate reporting: Instantly gauge total sales and maintain clean records.
- Audit-friendly: Essential for tax reporting and legal documentation in certain regions.
- Efficient support: Reference order numbers during customer inquiries to resolve issues faster.

The WooCommerce sequential order number plugin helps you simplify bookkeeping and order management on your WooCommerce store. By putting the messed-up WooCommerce order numbers in sequential order, you can manage your WooCommerce orders efficiently and error-free.
This WebToffee plugin allows you to generate custom order number sequences with prefixes, suffixes, dates, and numbers. You can choose the length of the order number, your preferred starting number, and your incrementation value.
This sequential order numbers plugin will automatically reset the order numbers at specific intervals. You can also choose to maintain a separate order number sequence for free orders to not mix free orders with standard orders.
In simple words, this plugin can save you from the hassles of random order number sequences and simplify your bookkeeping process.
Key features of this plugin:
- Able to generate custom sequence of order numbers
- Create custom order numbers for free WooCommerce orders
- Customize the prefix, starting number, and length of the order number
- Add a prefix to the order date
- Customize order numbers for all orders or only for new orders
- Tracking orders by custom order numbers
- Shortcode support for order tracking
- Restore WooCommerce default order numbers
- Update order numbers manually
- You can optionally enable admin order searches by custom order numbers
Frequently Asked Questions
No, the WooCommerce order numbers are not in sequential order because they are assigned from the WordPress post ID. If a new post or product is published on your website between two new orders, the order numbers won’t be in sequential order.
WooCommerce doesn’t let you change the starting order number by default. To do this, you’ll need a plugin like the Sequential Order Numbers for WooCommerce by WebToffee.
After installing, Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Sequential Order Number and set your preferred starting number in the “Start number” field. Click on Save changes.
Use the WebToffee Sequential Order Numbers plugin to create a custom sequence of order numbers in WooCommerce. After installing the free WebToffee sequential order numbers plugin, go to WooCommerce > Settings > Sequential Order Number. Then, choose the prefixes for your order numbers and click on Save Changes to save the settings.
Using the WebToffee Sequential Order Numbers for WooCommerce plugin, you can generate separate order numbers for your free orders.
After installing the plugin, go to WooCommerce > Settings > Sequential Order Number (Pro). Then, enable the Separate sequence for free orders checkbox. Choose the preferred number sequence for the free orders and click on Save changes.
To export orders from your WooCommerce store, you can use the free WooCommerce order import export plugin. With this plugin, you can easily export WooCommerce orders to a CSV file.
Refer to this article for more information: How to Export WooCommerce Orders and Products?
Keeping your WooCommerce order numbers in sequential order isn’t just about neatness, it’s about improving your store’s efficiency, accuracy, and customer service.
By default, WooCommerce generates order numbers based on WordPress post IDs, which can cause confusing gaps. But with the Sequential Order Numbers for WooCommerce plugin, you get full control over your WooCommerce order numbers.
- Set custom starting numbers and prefixes
- Reset order numbers daily, monthly, or yearly
- Create separate sequences for free orders
- Improve tracking, auditing, and stock management
That’s it, folks! We’ve reached the end of this guide on how to reset WooCommerce order numbers in sequential order. We hope this article has helped you reset order numbers on your WooCommerce store. If you have any queries, drop them in the comments section. We’d be happy to help you.
Thank you for reading!
Comments (6)
ANDREW ALLEN
November 12, 2024
Hi
We have one site where they have gaps in their order numbers – other sites are fine. Is there a reason for having gaps?
Many thanks,
Andrew
Sanjai Valsan
November 14, 2024
Hi Andrew,
Thank you for reaching out!
The gaps in the order numbers appear to be a site-specific issue. To investigate and resolve this, we recommend contacting our customer support team. They will be able to assist you further.
Timothy
October 14, 2024
Hello,
Is it possible to set the pickup-date in the order number?
Best regards,
Timothy
Sanjai Valsan
October 28, 2024
Hi Timothy,
Thank you for reaching out!
With the Sequential Order Numbers for WooCommerce plugin, store owners can customize their order numbers. However, currently, adding the pickup date directly to the order number isn’t supported.
Sunaina
October 5, 2023
Hi, I am wondering if we enable this feature “Apply for all orders – Enable to apply the above format for all existing orders” in Sequential Order Number for WooCommerce, will it trigger sending emails to all the customers associated with the previous orders when the order numbers are changed (we don’t want this to happen)?
Hema
October 17, 2023
Hello Sunaina,
Thanks for reaching out. If you enable the ‘apply for all orders’ option it won’t affect the already generated orders. So no emails will be sent to the customer’s. But if you place a new order, the post id of that email will be replaced by the sequential number (unless the website uses another email customizer plugins).