Reservation statuses and how to change them
Every reservation has a status that tells the team where the guest is in their visit. This article lists the statuses and the quickest ways to move a booking from one to the next during service.
Where to find it
- The status button at the top of the reservation details pane (tap any reservation).
- Quick buttons on list rows, timeline blocks and the table panel (Seat, No-Show, Complete).
What it does
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pending | A request waiting for your approval (see "Approve or decline pending reservations"). |
| Awaiting payment | A payment link was sent; the guest has not paid yet. |
| Payment received | The guest paid. Acts like Confirmed for seating. |
| Confirmed | The booking stands. |
| Reconfirmation requested | A reconfirmation email was sent asking the guest to confirm. |
| Reconfirmed | The guest confirmed again. |
| Seated | The party is at the table. |
| Late | Set by staff when the guest is running late. (Cards also show "Late … min" automatically once the booked time has passed.) |
| Completed | The party has left; the table is free. Shown as Completed (via POS) when Lightspeed closes the check. |
| Cancelled | The booking is cancelled (see "Cancel a reservation in the Host App"). |
| No-show | The guest did not come. |
| In queue | A digital-queue entry. Managed from the Queue page, not from this menu. |
How to seat, complete or mark a no-show
- Seat: tap Seat on the reservation (or drag it onto a table in Split view). The tables become occupied and the seated time is recorded. In Split view a Reservation Seated card appears for 15 seconds with Undo Seating and Quick Table Change.
- Complete: for a seated party tap Complete (details pane), Complete and clear tables (list) or Mark Finished (table panel). The tables are freed and the real duration is saved.
- No-show: tap the red No-Show button (appears 15 minutes after the booked time by default) or choose No-show in the status menu. Confirm "Mark as no-show?". The booking's table assignments are cleared.
- Any other status: open the reservation, tap the status button and pick the new status.
Good to know
- When you seat a party that has a next booking on the same table, the stay may be shortened so it ends in time. A message shows "Duration adjusted from … to … min (ends …)".
- Auto-complete: by default, seated reservations are marked Completed automatically once their expected end time passes. This can be turned off in Backoffice › Settings › Location Settings › Auto-complete reservations. With Lightspeed POS connected, completion follows the POS check instead.
- No-show email: if the location's no-show email automation is on and the guest has an email address, marking a no-show asks "Send no-show email?" with an optional personal message, Send email or Don't send email.
- The Reconfirm button (details pane) sends a reconfirmation email for Confirmed or Pending bookings with a guest email; the status becomes Reconfirmation requested.
- When to show the No-Show shortcut, and after how many minutes, is set per device in Settings › Tables.
- Every change is listed under Status history and Activity in the details pane.
Troubleshooting
"Could not update status" The change was not saved, usually a connection problem. Check the connection banner and try again.
I can't complete a seated party ("Completion is managed from the POS") Lightspeed POS is connected and the check is still open. Close the check in Lightspeed; the reservation then completes automatically. Use Do it anyway only if the check is already closed or was merged.
Tables were freed by themselves while guests were still eating Auto-complete finished the reservation when its expected end time passed. Seat them again or extend the duration, and consider turning off Auto-complete reservations in Location Settings.
I seated the wrong reservation Tap Undo Seating on the confirmation card within 15 seconds, or open the reservation and set the status back to Confirmed.
The No-Show button does not appear It only appears on today's bookings that are not seated, once the grace time after the booked time has passed, and only if Show No-Show shortcut is on in Settings › Tables. You can always use the status menu instead.