How to Use PayPal to Receive Money: Mobile App or Website

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Start getting paid online using this popular payment platform

Written by Hannah Dillon

Last Updated: January 18, 2026 Fact Checked

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Requesting Money (Mobile)

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Requesting Money (Desktop)

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Adding a PayPal Button

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Video

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Tips

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Warnings

PayPal is one of the easiest and safest ways to both send and receive money wirelessly. To receive a payment on PayPal, request money from a recipient using either the mobile app or the PayPal website. Then, you can either use the money through PayPal or transfer it to your bank account. You can also use PayPal to make payment links and buttons for your business. It couldn't be simpler—our how-to guide will walk you through the steps!

Getting Paid on PayPal

To get paid through PayPal, you can request money from someone by opening the app or website and clicking Send/Request (mobile) or Send and Request (website). Choose the person who needs to pay you, enter the amount they should pay, and click or tap Request to send the request.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Requesting Money via the App

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If you aren't already logged in, do so with your PayPal email address and password.
It's in the menu along the bottom of the screen. It's the large blue button in the middle of this menu.

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3
Choose the person you want to request money from. You can either type their name, username, email address, or mobile number in the search bar at the top, or you can choose them from the list suggested by PayPal.
- If you're requesting money from someone you've never requested money from before, make sure you're requesting from the correct person.
- You can also tap Send and request money with a link if you'd rather send a link to someone directly, instead of sending the request via the PayPal app.^{[1]
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4
Type the amount you want to request. If you're requesting money from someone internationally, you can see how much you're requesting in their currency by tapping the drop-down menu next to the amount you entered.
- For example, if you're in the US, the drop-down will say USD (for US dollars) by default. If you're requesting money from someone in a region that uses a different currency, such as Australia, changing the drop-down to AUD (for Australian dollar) will show you how much money they will be paying you in AUD to equal what you've requested in USD.
Tap the "Add a note" field to type a short note. You can write what this request is for to help the other person know what you're requesting money for.
This will pull up a confirmation at the bottom of the screen, showing how much money you're requesting. Tap the x button if you need to change the request at all.
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Tap Request Now or Create PayPal Link. The button you see depends on what type of request you're making:
- If you chose someone's name, username, phone number, or email in Step 3, you'll see a Request Now button, and the payment request will go to them through the PayPal app or website.
- If you chose "Send and request money with a link," you'll see a Create PayPal Link button. This will copy a PayPal link you can send to the person you're requesting money from via text message or email.^{[2]
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Wait to get your money. The person you've requested money from has 30 days to pay your request; otherwise, it will be automatically cancelled.
- Once you get paid, the money will be in your PayPal account. You can then transfer it to your bank account to use the money, or use it to pay for online or in-person transactions with PayPal (where accepted).

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Requesting Money via the Website

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Open the PayPal website. If you haven't done so already, log in to PayPal with your user email address and password.
It's in the menu within the blue ribbon at the top of the PayPal page.
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Choose the person you want to request money from. You can either type their name, username, email address, or mobile number in the search bar at the top, or you can choose them from the list suggested by PayPal.
- If you're requesting money from someone you've never requested money from before, make sure you're requesting from the correct person.
4
Type the amount you want to request. If you're requesting money from someone internationally, you can see how much you're requesting in their currency by clicking the drop-down next to the amount you entered.
- For example, if you're in the US, the drop-down will say USD (for US dollars) by default. If you're requesting money from someone in Australia, changing the drop-down to AUD (for Australian dollar) will show you how much money they will be paying you in AUD to equal what you've requested in USD.
Click the "Add a note" field to type a short note. You can write what this request is for to help the other person know what you're requesting money for.
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Click Request. This will move you to a new screen, showing you how much you're requesting as confirmation. To change your request, simply click the amount you want to request and type a new number.
- Typing a new number will push you back to the previous page abruptly. Once you've changed the amount, click Request again.
Your request will be immediately sent to the other person to pay.
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Wait to get your money. The person you've requested money from has 30 days to pay your request; otherwise, it will be automatically cancelled.
- Once you get paid, the money will be in your PayPal account. You can then transfer it to your bank account to use the money, or use it to pay for online or in-person transactions with PayPal (where accepted).

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Adding a PayPal Payment Button

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1
Go to the PayPal buttons page. PayPal has a page where you can choose from a number of buttons you can add to your website, or you can get links to send to buyers via email, text message, social media, and more.
- The buttons page can be found at paypal.com/buttons.
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Choose the type of button you want to use. The two main button types are Payment Links and Buttons and Shopping Cart Buttons. You can also choose to add a Donate button (which means people will send you money without getting any product in return) or a Smart Subscribe button (which will allow people to set up a subscription plan to get a product sent to them regularly).
- Note that you must have a business account to create a button.
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Enter the required information. Depending on the type of button you want to make, you'll be asked to provide some information, such as the item, price, inventory information, currency, shipping, tax information, and more.^{[3]
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- All of the required information will be requested when you create the button with PayPal, so follow the on-screen instructions to create your button.
If you're creating a payment button, add that to your site's code to use it. Otherwise, if you created a payment link, you can send that to your client in a direct message (like text, email, or social media message).^{[4]
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Tips

Venmo is another easy-to-use payment service.

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If you don't want to use the "Request" feature, you can also get paid on PayPal by sending your PayPal email address to somebody; they can then use it to look you up from the "Send Money" section of PayPal.

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Warnings

Never send money to or accept money from people you don't know.

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Make sure your internet connection is secure when sending or receiving money on PayPal.

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