Does WooCommerce email my customer when I add tracking?
Not for the tracking itself. Saving tracking details on an order sends no email, because the customer email fires when the status changes to Completed. A note to customer is the other route: over the REST API, a note with customer_note set to true is shown to customers and notifies them, while a private note stays internal.
Two kinds of order note
The REST API says the same thing in one line: on the order notes endpoint, customer_note true means the note will be shown to customers and they will be notified, and false means the note is for admin reference only. The notes list can be filtered by any, customer or internal.
| Note type | Who can see it | |
|---|---|---|
| Private note | WP admin only | None. It is for admin reference |
| Note to customer | The buyer and WP admin | Sent to the customer, if the customer note email is enabled |
Add a note the customer will get
Open the order at WooCommerce > Orders.
Find the Order notes panel.
Type the note, for example the carrier and tracking number.
Change the note type from Private note to Note to customer.
Select Add.
Check the customer note email is enabled at WooCommerce > Settings > Emails first. With it disabled, the note still appears to the customer on the order, and no email goes out.
Which emails carry tracking
With WooCommerce's Shipment Tracking extension installed, the provider, tracking number, shipping date and a link to the provider appear on the My Account order page and in the customer order emails generated after the details are saved. The trigger is still the status change: saving tracking details does not send an email, and Completed does.
What this means for your shipping routine
Treat the email as a consequence of the status, not of the tracking field. If you write tracking at noon and set completed at five, the buyer hears nothing until five. Writing both in the same action is the only way to guarantee the email the buyer receives contains the number you just bought.
When not to notify
Some notes are for you: a packer's remark, a weight correction, a note about a substituted item. Those stay private, because every note to customer is another email in a buyer's inbox and another chance to contradict the shipping email that follows it.
Key takeaways
- Saving tracking details sends no email. The Completed status change does.
- A private note emails nobody; a note to customer notifies the buyer.
- Over REST, customer_note true means shown to customers and notified.
- Enable the customer note email at WooCommerce > Settings > Emails if you rely on it.
One write back, one notification
I'd Ship That for WooCommerce is in early access. When you buy a label the order is set to completed, the tracking number and provider are written to the order meta, and a customer-visible order note carries the tracking. Because the status change and the note land together, the buyer's email arrives with the number in it rather than ahead of it.
Related questions
The note type is what decides. A note to customer is meant to reach the buyer and, with the customer note email enabled, sends one. If you want a record with no email, use a private note, which WooCommerce treats as admin reference only.
Check WooCommerce > Settings > Emails. Each customer email has its own enable toggle and recipient settings, and a disabled Completed order email means the status change fires with nothing going out.
Notes to customer are shown to the customer, which is the difference between the two types. Private notes stay in WP admin. The tracking fields added by Shipment Tracking appear separately on the My Account order page.
Yes, through the order notes endpoint on the WooCommerce REST API, with customer_note set to true for a note the buyer sees. That is how our WooCommerce write-back delivers the tracking number alongside the status change.