A cash drawer plugs into the receipt printer, not into the computer. The till opens the drawer by sending the printer a short "open drawer" signal. There are two ways to set this up. Use the first one wherever you can.
| Way | When to use it |
|---|---|
| Through Business Sensor Bridge (recommended) | The till prints receipts through the Bridge — the same setup as kitchen and bar printers. Works in any browser. |
| Paired in the browser by USB | A till without the Bridge, using Chrome or Edge, with the printer plugged in by USB. |
Before you start
- The drawer's cable (a phone-style plug) is in the DK or drawer port at the back of the receipt printer.
- For the Bridge way: the receipt printer is already added in Setup → Printers and its Test print works. See Set up printers.
Steps — through Business Sensor Bridge
- Open Setup → Printers and edit the till's receipt printer.
- Tick Cash drawer plugged into this printer and choose Save.
- On the printer's row, choose Open drawer. The drawer should spring open.
- On the till, make this printer the default for receipts: open any receipt preview, choose the arrow next to Print to…, tick Remember for receipts on this computer, and choose the printer.
- Ring up a small cash sale. The receipt prints and the drawer opens.
From now on the drawer opens by itself after each sale, after a table bill is paid, and when you use No Sale from the drawer menu. The Connect printer button disappears from the POS on this till, because it is no longer needed.
Steps — paired in the browser by USB
- Plug the printer into the till computer by USB.
- On the POS, choose Connect printer at the top, then Pair printer, and pick the printer from the browser's list.
- Choose Connect printer → Kick drawer to check the drawer opens.
The browser remembers the printer for next time.
Tips
- One computer, one drawer: the drawer that opens is the one on this computer's default receipt printer. Another till's drawer never opens.
- A drawer never opens on a backup printer, and a failed drawer is never retried later. If it does not open, use the key.
- Set the cash drawer only on receipt (roll) printers. A4 office printers have no drawer port.
Common problems
- The drawer doesn't open, and an alert says why → read the alert. "Can't be reached" means the Bridge is not running or the printer is off: start the Bridge on the till and check the printer. Open the drawer with the key for now.
- The drawer doesn't open, and there is no alert → this till has no default receipt printer, or its default printer is not ticked Cash drawer plugged into this printer. Repeat steps 1–4.
- Open drawer works in Setup but not after a sale → the till's default receipt printer is a different printer. Set the default again (step 4).
- The printer prints but the drawer never opens → check the drawer cable is in the printer's drawer port, not a phone or network socket, and the drawer is not locked with its key.
- Connect printer shows no printer to pick → a printer installed in Windows for the Bridge cannot also be paired in the browser. Use the Bridge way.