Does probation show up on a background check?

In the USA...Yes it does since in order to be on court ordered probation you must have been convicted of a crime...There is in many states what is called PBJ (Probation Before Judgement) which means that if you complete the terms of the probation set by the judge that the conviction will not appear on your criminal record...done mostly for 1st time offenders of minor crimes...

Otherwise if you have been convicted of a crime and were given normal probation the conviction will still show up on your criminal record...

There is also the matter of what type of background check is done....Some places only check to see if you have ever been charged with or convicted of a crime by checking your criminal record kept by the criminal justice system...other places may include a check to see if you were ever arrested at anytime for any reason for charges that may have been dropped before even getting to court..by checking your arrest record....

An example would be if you were driving a friends a car and were stopped by police for a traffic violation and you couldn't find the vehicle registration or title certificate and you could not prove that you had permission to be in possesion of that vehicle,you could be arrested for suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle...then after say 10 hours your friend comes to the police station proves ownership of the vehicle and verifies you had permission to use it and then the police release you and you don't have to go to court...this of course would not show up on your criminal record but does show up on your arrest record...