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For security reasons, all new Authorize.Net accounts are in Test Mode. 

When an account is in Test Mode, transactions may be submitted that will not be authorized or charged to the account numbers provided in the transactions. 


When your account is in Test Mode, each page in the Merchant Interface will display an orange banner stating:

Your account is in TEST MODE - To update click here


Email receipts generated by Authorize.Net will also indicate whether they were submitted in Test Mode, by having this text at the top of the receipt:


************* TEST MODE *************


Placing the account in Test Mode can allow you or your developer to test your website/software implementation without submitting live transactions. While in Test Mode, transactions will not be saved to the database or be viewable in search results or reports.

To take your account out of Test Mode:

  1. Log into the Merchant Interface.
  2. Click Account from the main toolbar.
  3. Click Settings in the main menu on the left.
  4. Click Test Mode under the Security Settings section.
  5. Drag the toggle to Live. The interface will confirm that the Test Mode settings have been successfully applied and the account is now in Live Mode.


Note: You may also turn Test Mode on by following the above steps, and moving the toggle to Test.

It is also possible to be in Test Mode through your website/software integration, which will override the Authorize.Net Merchant Interface settings described above. To disable Test Mode through your website, you will need to modify your script. If the script includes the field x_test_request, then you would want to make sure it is set to "FALSE." Alternately, if your account is no longer in Test Mode, you may instead remove all references to x_test_request in your script.


You will incur applicable transaction fee charges when Test Mode is turned off, even if you use test credit card numbers. Test credit card transactions should only be processed in Test Mode. When Test Mode is turned off, we will attempt to process all transactions we receive.