Error Message: "Checkout is not available whilst your cart is empty."

See if your site has server side caching such as varnish and contact the host. It’s may be configured wrongly so carts are not stored.

Dear Mike, thanks a lot for your swift reply.

The host says: “There is no active caching on our servers. Does the software maybe need specific settings in the PHP.INI?”

There is also no WordPress caching plugin installed.
Would you have any other solution?

Thanks so much

I’m having an identical issue with the same WordPress and Woocommerce versions listed by the OP. I have verified that there is no caching on my server and that the log directory is writable.

Do you have a URL to look at? Can you post your status report here (Found under WooCommerce > System Status)?

Thank you for your offer Riaan.

The URL is: https://www.alphatiernahrung.de
The System Status:

### WordPress Environment ###

Home URL: https://alphatiernahrung.de
Site URL: https://alphatiernahrung.de
WC Version: 2.6.4
Log Directory Writable: ?
WP Version: 4.6
WP Multisite: –
WP Memory Limit: 256 MB
WP Debug Mode: –
WP Cron: ?
Language: de_DE

### Server Environment ###

Server Info: Apache/2.4.20
PHP Version: 5.6.12
PHP Post Max Size: 8 MB
PHP Time Limit: 0
PHP Max Input Vars: 1000
cURL Version: 7.37.1
OpenSSL/1.0.1t

SUHOSIN Installed: –
MySQL Version: 5.6.19
Max Upload Size: 8 MB
Default Timezone is UTC: ?
fsockopen/cURL: ?
SoapClient: ?
DOMDocument: ?
GZip: ?
Multibyte String: ?
Remote Post: ?
Remote Get: ?

### Database ###

WC Database Version: 2.6.4
:
woocommerce_sessions: ?
woocommerce_api_keys: ?
woocommerce_attribute_taxonomies: ?
woocommerce_downloadable_product_permissions: ?
woocommerce_order_items: ?
woocommerce_order_itemmeta: ?
woocommerce_tax_rates: ?
woocommerce_tax_rate_locations: ?
woocommerce_shipping_zones: ?
woocommerce_shipping_zone_locations: ?
woocommerce_shipping_zone_methods: ?
woocommerce_payment_tokens: ?
woocommerce_payment_tokenmeta: ?
MaxMind GeoIP Database: ? Die MaxMind GeoIP Datenbank existiert nicht - Die Ortung (Geolokalisierung) wird nicht funktionieren. Du kannst sie manuell installieren von https://dev.maxmind.com/geoip/legacy/geolite/ in den Pfad: . Scrolle einfach nach unten bis zu \"Downloads\" und lade die Datei \"Binary / gzip\" vom Typ \"GeoLite Country\" herunter.

### Active Plugins (10) ###

BackUpWordPress: von Human Made Limited – 3.6.2
Breadcrumb NavXT: von John Havlik – 5.5.1
Contact Form 7: von Takayuki Miyoshi – 4.5
Heartbeat Control: von Jeff Matson – 1.0.3
Resize Image After Upload: von iamphilrae – 1.7.2
Revolution Slider: von ThemePunch – 5.1
Swift Framework: von Swift Ideas – 2.4.15
WooCommerce Germanized: von Vendidero – 1.6.8
WooCommerce: von WooThemes – 2.6.4
WP-DBManager: von Lester 'GaMerZ' Chan – 2.78

### Settings ###

Force SSL: –
Currency: EUR (€)
Currency Position: right_space
Thousand Separator: .
Decimal Separator: ,
Number of Decimals: 2

### API ###

API Enabled: ?

### WC Pages ###

Shop-Basis: #4 - /shop/
Warenkorb: #5 - /cart/
Kasse: ? Die Sichtbarkeits-Einstellung der Seite muss "ver?ffentlicht" sein
Mein Konto: #7 - /my-account/

### Taxonomies ###

Product Types: external (external)
grouped (grouped)
simple (simple)
variable (variable)

### Theme ###

Name: Atelier
Version: 2.3.0
Author URL: https://www.swiftideas.com
Child Theme: ? – Wenn du WooCommerce mit einem Theme
das du nicht selbst entwickelt hast
an eigene Bedürfnisse anpasst
dann empfehlen wir die Verwendung eines Child Themes. Siehe Wie du ein Child Theme erstellst (engl.)

WooCommerce Support: ?

### Templates ###

Overrides: atelier/woocommerce/archive-product.php
atelier/woocommerce/cart/cart-totals.php
atelier/woocommerce/cart/cart.php
atelier/woocommerce/checkout/form-checkout.php
atelier/woocommerce/checkout/thankyou.php
atelier/woocommerce/content-product.php
atelier/woocommerce/content-product_cat.php
atelier/woocommerce/content-single-product.php
atelier/woocommerce/global/quantity-input.php
atelier/woocommerce/loop/add-to-cart.php
atelier/woocommerce/loop/loop-end.php
atelier/woocommerce/loop/loop-start.php
atelier/woocommerce/loop/pagination.php
atelier/woocommerce/loop/result-count.php
atelier/woocommerce/myaccount/form-login.php
atelier/woocommerce/single-product/add-to-cart/external.php
atelier/woocommerce/single-product/add-to-cart/grouped.php
atelier/woocommerce/single-product/add-to-cart/simple.php
atelier/woocommerce/single-product/add-to-cart/variable.php
atelier/woocommerce/single-product/product-image.php
atelier/woocommerce/single-product/product-thumbnails.php
atelier/woocommerce/single-product/related.php
atelier/woocommerce/single-product/review.php
atelier/woocommerce/single-product/tabs/additional-information.php
atelier/woocommerce/single-product/tabs/description.php
atelier/woocommerce/single-product/tabs/tabs.php
atelier/woocommerce/single-product/up-sells.php
atelier/woocommerce/single-product-reviews.php
atelier/woocommerce/single-product.php

Mine could be related to being on a Windows server and I can not upgrade my PHP or MySQL to the recommended version but doubtful, this was working when it was setup 2 weeks ago.

The URL is: https://www.uncleskeeters.com/pay-your-bill-online/start/

System Status:
### WordPress Environment ###

Home URL: https://www.uncleskeeters.com
Site URL: https://www.uncleskeeters.com
WC Version: 2.6.4
Log Directory Writable: ?
WP Version: 4.6
WP Multisite: –
WP Memory Limit: 256 MB
WP Debug Mode: –
WP Cron: ?
Language: en_US

### Server Environment ###

Server Info: Microsoft-IIS/7.0
PHP Version: ? 5.4.16 – We recommend a minimum PHP version of 5.6. See: How to update your PHP version
PHP Post Max Size: 8 MB
PHP Time Limit: 300
PHP Max Input Vars: 1000
cURL Version: 7.30.0
OpenSSL/0.9.8y

SUHOSIN Installed: –
MySQL Version: ? 5.0.96 – We recommend a minimum MySQL version of 5.6. See: WordPress Requirements
Max Upload Size: 8 MB
Default Timezone is UTC: ?
fsockopen/cURL: ?
SoapClient: ?
DOMDocument: ?
GZip: ?
Multibyte String: ?
Remote Post: ?
Remote Get: ?

### Database ###

WC Database Version: 2.6.4
:
woocommerce_sessions: ?
woocommerce_api_keys: ?
woocommerce_attribute_taxonomies: ?
woocommerce_downloadable_product_permissions: ?
woocommerce_order_items: ?
woocommerce_order_itemmeta: ?
woocommerce_tax_rates: ?
woocommerce_tax_rate_locations: ?
woocommerce_shipping_zones: ?
woocommerce_shipping_zone_locations: ?
woocommerce_shipping_zone_methods: ?
woocommerce_payment_tokens: ?
woocommerce_payment_tokenmeta: ?
MaxMind GeoIP Database: ? The MaxMind GeoIP Database does not exist – Geolocation will not function. You can download and install it manually from https://dev.maxmind.com/geoip/legacy/geolite/ to the path: . Scroll down to \”Downloads\” and download the \”Binary / gzip\” file next to \”GeoLite Country\”

### Active Plugins (13) ###

Any Mobile Theme Switcher Pro: by Dinesh Karki – 2.0
Collapse-O-Matic: by twinpictures
baden03 – 1.7.3

Lightbox Plus Colorbox: by Dan Zappone – 2.7
Search Regex: by John Godley – 1.4.16
Simple 301 Redirects: by Scott Nellé – 1.07
Toolset Types: by OnTheGoSystems – 2.1
WooCommerce Checkout Add-Ons: by WooThemes / SkyVerge – 1.8.2
WooCommerce Intuit QBMS Gateway: by WooThemes / SkyVerge – 1.10.1
WooCommerce Name Your Price: by Kathy Darling – 2.4.1
WooCommerce: by WooThemes – 2.6.4
WooCommerce Helper: by WooCommerce – 1.7.0
Yoast SEO: by Team Yoast – 3.4.2
WP-Optimize: by Ruhani Rabin – 1.9.1

### Settings ###

Force SSL: –
Currency: USD ($)
Currency Position: left
Thousand Separator: ,
Decimal Separator: .
Number of Decimals: 2

### API ###

API Enabled: ?

### WC Pages ###

Shop Base: #1048 – /shop/
Cart: #1049 – /cart/
Checkout: #1050 – /checkout/
My Account: #1051 – /my-account/

### Taxonomies ###

Product Types: external (external)
grouped (grouped)
simple (simple)
variable (variable)

### Theme ###

Name: Uncle Skeeter
Version: 1.4
Author URL:
Child Theme: ? – If you’re modifying WooCommerce on a parent theme you didn’t build personally
then we recommend using a child theme. See: How to create a child theme

WooCommerce Support: ? Not Declared

### Templates ###

Overrides: –

### Intuit QBMS ###

Environment: Production
Tokenization Enabled: –
`

Hey alphaunite,

Try temporarily switching back to the WordPress Twenty Sixteen Theme, or Storefront, and disable all plugins except for WooCommerce. If that resolves the issue, then slowly re-enable features until you find the one that’s causing the conflict.

@jdubindustries,

Could you open up your own thread for this issue please? It’s against the forum rules to jump into another’s, as the solution to your problem could be different and things can get confusing with too many posting at once ??

Thanks for your advice. I switched back to twenty sixteen and deactivated all plugins.
Alas, no change. The problem persists.

Hmm, guess that leaves the server as the last straw then. If they aren’t caching, then perhaps something is wrong with how PHP sessions are used.

Is your host a WordPress specific host? Maybe have them give this a read: https://mikejolley.com/2013/12/20/problems-with-cart-sessions-and-woocommerce/

Thank you again. I changed PHP versions, but no effect. I do not have a WordPress specifc host. Also, on another of my sites, hosted on the same server, everything works fine.

In the above mentioned mikeholley article I couldn’t find anything to change.

The problem still persists. How could the reason be found?

Still trying all kinds of tweaks but haven’t found the solution yet.
Could anyone advise on how to solve this – or where to ask for more advice?
I would appreciate any ideas.

I have the same problem with this version of WC but on wordpress 4.6.1 with host wpengine on a staging server that does not have caching.

This person had the same problem and solved it with a change to wp_config but this is not my problem.
https://community.theme.co/forums/topic/woocommerce-cart-always-empty-with-anonymous-user-with-chrome-and-safari/

I’m running a multisite by the way.

I just downgraded to the latest version of 2.5 from the developer tab by following instructions here:
https://docs.woocommerce.com/document/installing-uninstalling-woocommerce/
by deleting the plugin files by FTP and reinstalling an older version.

And it solved my problem! Maybe it will work for you.

Quick question – have a similar issue if you add an order manually on the back end but don’t include a product rather only a fee to the order. If you then put it as “order pending” and the user tries to pay for it using their user account you receive this error.