Last updated: Dec 10, 2025, 10:15 AM
Toast Tables provides table management, waitlist, and reservation management capabilities, as well as online reservations and online waitlist functionality. In this article, we'll help you troubleshoot issues with your online waitlist and reservations.
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| Please be advised that users must have the 4.7 Configure Toast Tables (Waitlist & Reservations) permission in order to view and make changes to your restaurant’s waitlists and reservations settings. Learn more here: Permissions Reference Guide. |
Here are some of the possible reasons why guests are unable to book or why your restaurant's available reservation times are not showing on your online reservations page.
You must set up your restaurant's service periods (e.g., Dinner) with hours and specific settings in Toast Tables settings. Learn more here:
You must enable your Online reservation settings for availabilities to be displayed on your reservations page.
In Toast Web, navigate to Waitlist & Reservations > Settings > Reservations > Reservations controls and toggle the Enable Reservations Globally settings to the ON position to enable online reservations.
In Toast Web, navigate to Waitlist & Reservations > Schedules. From your list, select a reservation schedule. Then, select Online access. Finally, toggle the Online reservations setting to the ON position.
In Toast Web, navigate to Waitlist & Reservations > Schedules. From your list, select a reservation schedule. Once completed, select Schedule. From the Schedule details page, you can add or edit the dates and select the + Add Shift button to indicate the time and day of the week for when your schedule will be used. If you wish to set your chosen schedule as default, choose Set as default, and select the YES button to confirm your selection. Setting a schedule as "default" means your chosen schedule will be used whenever no other schedule is active. Default schedules do not use date-specific settings.
Even if service periods are selected, if a dining area's availability is set to 0% it will not appear in your online waitlist inventory for the given service period. To manage your Table availability setting, navigate to the Schedules tab and select a reservation from your list. Then, select Table availability. You can use the drop-down list underneath Max & reservable to adjust a dining area’s table availability.
Make sure you have tables and combo tables set up that can hold the party sizes for which you wish to reserve. Learn more here:
Your restaurant may have a special schedule set if you are closed or have special hours for holidays, renovations, or a private event in which you want to block reservations from being created in only a certain part of the restaurant. For more on special dates, see . You can also offer special reservations for experiences within your restaurant alongside your regular reservations. To learn more, see .
The Online access settings will allow you to set a timeframe for when and how long your guests can make a reservation in advance. Depending on the setting and your service periods this could be a reason for not being able to make a reservation. To configure this setting, navigate to Waitlist & Reservations > Schedules > select a schedule from your list and then select Online access.
Your Flow control setting controls how many guests are able to book in any 15-minute time slot within a service period for online reservations. If this is too strict (e.g., 2), then only two guests would be allowed to book at a given time so a party of four would see no availability. Try increasing this number until your desired availability appears. To adjust your Flow control settings, navigate to Waitlist & Reservations > Schedules > select a schedule from your list, and then select Flow Control.
To use the online waitlist, you must first set up your , including the hours you want customers to be able to join the online waitlist. You can also configure your wait time estimation, disable the online waitlist automatically after the wait time exceeds a certain amount, and choose specific service areas or tables that you want to be bookable online versus in-person only.
Once complete, you will need to toggle the Online Waitlist ON or OFF, as well as copy the Online Waitlist link we provide for you. This means you are activating your Online Waitlist. You may place this link on your website, within a QR code, or anywhere you want guests to be able to join your waitlist online.
Pro tip: Be sure to test the online waitlist within a service period that has been chosen for the online waitlist, as the will show as Closed outside of your active service periods.
For more help with Toast Tables, check out .