Help centre

Getting started

1. Get a Windows 10 or 11 PC that can stay on during service. It serves the menu to guests' phones, so the tables need nothing but a QR card.
2. Download and run the installer from the download page. If Windows says Windows protected your PC, click More info, then Run anyway. Leave the Windows Firewall option ticked.
3. Open TouchMenu and enter your restaurant's name, the number of tables, the menu languages and an owner PIN. Add the sample menu to try things first.
4. Try it for 14 days with every feature. To keep using it, buy a plan and enter the license key under Settings → License.

Wi-Fi and network

• The PC and the guests' Wi-Fi must be on the same network. The PC can be connected to the router with a cable.
• In the router, turn off client isolation, also called AP isolation or wireless isolation. It is often on for guest networks, and phones can't reach the PC while it is on.
• Give the PC a fixed address in the router (a DHCP reservation). The address is printed on every QR card; if it changes, the cards stop working.
• The menu works without internet. Some phones warn that the Wi-Fi has no internet; guests should stay connected.
• Don't share folders from this PC: guests' phones are on the same network.

QR cards for the tables

1. Open QR codes and enter the Wi-Fi name and password guests use.
2. Check Address of this computer: it should be the fixed address from the router.
3. Press Print all cards to print them on the receipt printer, or Save all as pictures for a print shop, and put each card on its table.

Table codes never expire. If a card is lost, or someone orders from outside the restaurant, press New QR code for that table and print its card again. The old card stops working.

Receipt printers

• Use network thermal receipt printers (ESC/POS, 58 or 80 mm, port 9100), for example Epson, Xprinter or Rongta. Give each one a fixed address in the router too.
• Open Settings → Printers, add each printer by its address, choose which menu categories it prints (kitchen, bar) and whether it prints bills, then press Test print.
• If a ticket can't be printed, TouchMenu shows an alert with the printer's name, and staff can print the order again.
• Basic includes one printer, Standard three and Pro as many as you need.

Kitchen screen

Show new orders on a tablet or TV in the kitchen or bar, instead of or as well as paper tickets. Open Settings → Kitchen screen and scan its QR code with the tablet, or type its link. Cooks mark dishes as started and ready, and waiters see it at once. The kitchen screen is part of the Standard and Pro plans.

Ordering over mobile data

On the Pro plan, guests can also order with their own mobile internet. Turn it on under Settings → Ordering over mobile data and print new QR cards: they open the menu through touchmenu.app on any connection. The PC needs internet for this. Orders over mobile data are marked for staff, and you can choose to take them only from tables where guests are seated.

Staff, PINs and roles

• Add staff under Settings → Staff, each with their own PIN. Owners and managers can change the menu and settings; waiters take orders, requests and payments.
• Staff clock in and out at the bottom of the side bar, and their hours appear in the reports.
• Every order, payment and change is written to the Activity log, with who did it.

Updates and backups

• TouchMenu looks for new versions by itself. When one is ready, Settings shows a badge: open Settings → Updates and press Update now when no guests are ordering. The app closes for about a minute and opens again, and your menu, orders and settings stay.
• Your data is kept on this PC and backed up every day. Under Settings → Backups you can make a backup now or put an earlier one back.

Plans and license

• Enter your license key under Settings → License. A key works on one computer at a time: to move to a new PC, press Move to another computer on the old one, then enter the key on the new one.
• TouchMenu checks the license once a day. Without internet it keeps working for 14 days.
• If the trial or the subscription ends, TouchMenu asks for a key. Your menu, orders and settings are kept.
• See what each plan includes under pricing.

Troubleshooting

• Phones can't open the menu. Check that the phone is on the restaurant's Wi-Fi, that client isolation is off in the router, that the PC is on with TouchMenu open, and that the address on the card matches QR codes.
• Nothing prints. Check that the printer is on and on the same network, and that its address is right, then press Test print under Settings → Printers.
• Phones are blocked by the firewall. Run the installer again and leave the Windows Firewall option ticked.
• TouchMenu doesn't start with Windows. Run the installer again and leave Start TouchMenu when Windows starts ticked.
• Something else went wrong. Open Settings → Problems log, press Copy and send it to support@touchmenu.app.