By ShowMeStepByStepPublished
Based on a video by Ali Yassine.
Signing up to drive for DoorDash takes about fifteen minutes of form filling, then a few days of waiting on a background check. None of it is hard, but the flow hands you between three different systems and it is not obvious what is coming next.
This walks the whole application on a phone, screen by screen, from finding the right app through to the Dasher home screen loading.
The application itself is around fifteen minutes. The Checkr background check usually clears in a few days. You cannot accept deliveries until it does.
Already looking at other platforms? We also have a guide to becoming an Uber driver.
11 steps · about 8 minutes.Check off each step as you go and your progress saves automatically.
Search your app store for Dasher. The app you want is called DoorDash Dasher, and it is separate from the regular DoorDash app customers order food with.
Downloading the wrong one is the first place people get stuck. The customer app has no signup path for drivers.
Tip
The Dasher app is where you apply, get scheduled and accept orders. Keep both if you also order delivery.
Open the app and you land on a signup splash. Tap Become a Dasher rather than signing in, because there is no account yet.
It asks for the postal code of the area you want to deliver in. Use where you will actually drive, not necessarily where you live, though most people are the same for both.
Tip
Not every zone is open. If your postal code is waitlisted the app tells you here rather than after you finish the whole application.
Email address first, then your phone number. Both get verified, so use ones you can actually check right now.
The phone number matters more than it looks. It is what DoorDash uses to reach you about deliveries, and changing it later means re-verifying.
Tip
Use a phone you keep with you while driving. Support contacts you there mid-delivery when something goes wrong with an order.
First and last name, exactly as they appear on your government ID.
No nicknames and no shortened versions. This gets checked against your ID during the background check later, and a mismatch stalls the whole application. If you have no middle name there is a checkbox for it.
Tip
If your ID says Michael and everyone calls you Mike, enter Michael. The verification step is automated and does not know the difference.
Set a password and confirm it.
The length requirement is stricter than it first appears, and the app rejects short ones with a warning rather than telling you the rule up front. If it bounces, add characters until the warning clears.
Tip
Save it somewhere. You will be logging in on a phone while parked, which is a bad time to run a password reset.
Pick what you will deliver with. Car, scooter, bicycle, motorcycle or walking, depending on what your market allows.
This drives what else you get asked for. A car means insurance and licence details; a bicycle skips most of that. Some dense city zones allow bike and walking deliveries that suburban zones do not.
Tip
You can change vehicle type later in the app, but it triggers another round of document checks, so pick the one you will actually use.
A short screen asking for a few more details, date of birth being the main one.
You have to be 18 or over. This also feeds the background check, so it has to match your ID.
Tip
Same rule as your name: match the ID exactly, including the year.
DoorDash hands you off to Checkr, the third party that runs the background check. The screen tells you the redirect is happening.
This is expected and not a scam page. Checkr looks at driving record and criminal history. It typically clears in a few days, though it can take longer.
Tip
Do not close the browser mid-flow. Restarting the Checkr process from scratch is slower than finishing it.
Checkr asks for photos of what you are driving and the paperwork that goes with it.
Take the photos in decent light with the whole document flat in frame. Blurry or cropped uploads get rejected and you resubmit, which adds days.
Tip
Have your licence and, if you are driving a car, your insurance to hand before you start this screen.
Last real hurdle. Choose which ID document you are uploading, then follow the prompts to photograph it.
The screen warns you not to close the browser while it uploads. Take that seriously, it usually finishes in under a minute.
Tip
Glare is the usual cause of a failed scan. Move away from overhead lights and lay the ID on a dark surface.
The application is in and the Dasher home screen loads with whatever is left on your checklist, usually the background check clearing and adding a bank account.
Add the bank details now rather than later. You cannot be paid without them, and people forget until their first delivery is done.
Tip
Once the background check clears you can schedule a dash or go online in your zone and start accepting orders.
Keep going
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