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Connect PayPal

Connect your PayPal account to Data Curator so your transactions and subscriptions flow into your dashboards. Unlike Stripe and HighLevel (which connect by user authentication), PayPal connects using two credentials — a Client ID and a Secret — that you create in the PayPal Developer Dashboard. This guide walks you through both sides.

Before you start

• You'll need a Data Curator account with owner/admin access to your organization.
• Have your PayPal business account sign-in ready. You'll create a small "app" inside PayPal's Developer Dashboard to generate the credentials — this doesn't change anything about your PayPal account, it just lets Data Curator read your transaction history.

Start the connection in Data Curator

1. In Data Curator, open Settings → Platform Accounts (the gear icon in the top-right, then Platform Accounts).
2. Click Connect platform account, then choose PayPal.
3. Give the account a display name — a friendly label so you can tell it apart later (for example "PayPal account", or the specific business name if you use more than one).
4. Leave this screen open — you'll come back to paste in the Client ID and Secret from PayPal.

Get your credentials from PayPal

1. Sign in to your PayPal account and open the Developer Dashboard: click the developer icon (a code-style </> icon) in the top-right of PayPal, or go straight to developer.paypal.com.
2. Make sure you're in Live mode. PayPal sometimes drops you into Sandbox by default. If you see "Sandbox" highlighted, switch the toggle to Live — otherwise, the credentials won't work against your real data.
3. Go to Apps & Credentials and click Create App. Name it Data Curator, then create it.
4. Grant the right permissions. On the app's settings, find the Features / App feature options and check:
   • Transaction Search — this is what lets Data Curator read your transaction history.
   • Subscriptions — usually already checked; if not, check it so we can pull your subscription plans and details.
5. Click Save Changes and confirm you see the green "saved" confirmation.
6. Copy your Client ID and your Secret (you'll copy them one at a time).

Finish in Data Curator

1. Back in Data Curator, paste the Client ID and the Secret into the connect screen.
2. Click to test the credentials, then save and connect.
3. Your import starts automatically. On the Business plan, Data Curator imports the current year plus the two prior years of transactions and subscriptions, so it may take a little while to fill in.

"Invalid credentials" right after connecting?

This is the most common hiccup, and it's almost always timing, not a mistake on your end. After you add the Transaction Search permission, PayPal can take up to an hour to actually apply it to your app. If the test says your credentials are invalid:

• Double-check you're in Live mode and that Transaction Search is checked and saved (green bar).
• Then give it a little time and retest — that usually resolves it.

Need to grab your credentials again?

If you get signed out or need them later: go back to developer.paypal.com, sign in, open the developer (</>) icon, switch to Live, open Apps & Credentials, and click your Data Curator app. Your Client ID and Secret are right there to copy again.

Need a hand?

Click the Ask Data Curator button inside Data Curator for instant answers, or reach our support team at support@datacurator.co and we'll get you running.