USPS Tracking Number

Here we will provide detail about tracking USPS numbers in an easy way. You can track very easily your USPS number through the official website USPS.COM. This is not an official website for USPS tracking, here we will tell you in detail how you can track your USPS Tracking number.

How To Track USPS Number

How to track a USPS package

close-up of where to track a USPS package on the USPS website

It’s easy to track your package once you have your tracking number. You simply enter the tracking number into the USPS Tracking page

You’ll get the current status of an item along with other tracking information:

  • delivery and/or attempted delivery information 
  • date and time of delivery
  • delivery location of the item 

Or, for the easiest way to track your USPS package, download the Circuit Package Tracker app (available for Android or iOs).

Circuit Package Tracker has a handy map view that shows you exactly where your package is, or you can follow the trail of the package from start to finish. Use it to do a simple search to track packages from anywhere in the world. 

USPS ships mail to more than 190 countries worldwide, so the Circuit Package Tracker will find your package anywhere in the world, including the USA, UK, Europe, Australia, Canada and South America. 

Notifications make it easy to get updates on your package. Circuit Package Tracker lets you customize your alerts. Receive a notification instantly when there are any changes to your delivery. You can set it to get notifications for all updates, or choose to get only important changes.

Circuit Package Tracker will give you instant USPS tracking reports. It also gives you real-time information on your package, such as confirmation that it’s moving on its route. It works for more than USPS too, including UPS, FedEx, DHL, Royal Mail, and Canada Post. It can even auto-detect your shipping provider if necessary.

How to make a USPS lost package claim

UFO beaming up several packages

It’s important to note that just because you can track your package, it doesn’t mean it will be delivered faster. It also doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to arrive. If it doesn’t reach its destination, you may have to make a USPS lost package claim.

Here are some steps to take if you think your package has been lost:

  • Visit  Find Missing Mail on USPS.com.
  • Submit a Missing Mail search request at MissingMail.USPS.com
  • File a claim if you have insured the parcel.
  • Visit your local Post Office for assistance in filling out a Missing Mail request.

USPS tracking FAQs

Can you track a USPS package by address?

A USPS package has to be tracked using the tracking number, not the address to which it was sent. However, with the Informed Delivery service added to your USPS account, you can track packages you send as well as those sent to your address.

Can you track a package by name?

By setting up an Informed Delivery service with your USPS account, you can track your packages. Another option is to use the USPS Tracking Number included when you mail a parcel. You can’t track a package with a name.

Conclusion: How to Track a USPS Package

When you send a package in the mail, it’s a bonus to have the ability to follow its trail and find out when it’s delivered. USPS Tracking Service allows you to do that.

But if you don’t have a tracking number, it can be tricky. With our helpful tips like setting up an Informed Delivery Account, you can follow your package even without a tracking number.

And if you use the Circuit Package Tracker app, you’ll find it even simpler to keep an eye on your valuable mail, anywhere in the world.

How to find your USPS tracking number

To track your package, you’ll need the USPS tracking number. There are several places you can find your number, depending on how you paid for or sent the mail:

  • The shipping or sales receipt you received at the post office when you sent the item, or from an online retailer.
  • The sales receipt or e-receipt from a USPS self-serve kiosk.
  • The online label record if you purchased the item through Click-N-Ship.
  • The receipt for insurance, if you chose to purchase some.
  • An email confirmation if you shipped using USPS.com.
  • The bottom portion of the USPS tracking label, which peels off.

Postcards, and items sent by First-Class mail or USPS Marketing Mail may not have a tracking number. In those instances, if you want to track the package, you have to add the extra service of tracking, or mail it with a different service. 

The important thing to remember is that you need the tracking number, so save your information. If you don’t have a receipt, you should have an electronic copy of the number on your USPS account. USPS online service agents and those at the Post Offices can’t recover lost tracking numbers.

What does your USPS tracking number look like

Although international tracking numbers are different, most of the numbers look like this:

9400 1000 0000 0000 0000 00

If you’ve forgotten how you sent the item, or want to see the expected delivery, you can enter the USPS Tracking number and look up “Product Information.” This gives you the type of mail class you chose, and the progress of your package. If your item has a status of “Alert,” a delay could have occurred because of weather or other natural disaster or event. 

What if you lost your USPS tracking number? You won’t have much success tracking your package without a number, unless you set up an Informed Delivery account.

Let’s look at how to do that.

How to track a USPS package without tracking number 

Since you need a number to track a package, and USPS agents can’t help you recover a tracking number, you’re out of luck if you lose it. If the package doesn’t arrive, you can file a Missing Mail search request. To do that, you need the mailer’s address and the recipient’s address, the date of mailing, and a description of the package. 

The best way to track a package without tracking number is by setting up a USPS Informed Delivery Account. It allows you to digitally preview your mail, manage package deliveries, and track your packages. Best of all, it doesn’t cost anything.

Here’s how to do it:

  1. Set up a USPS account.
  2. Go to the Sign Up for Free section of Informed Delivery at USPS.
  3. Enter your address to determine if it is eligible for Informed Delivery.
    If your address is eligible, login to your usps.com account and select “Informed Delivery” in the top right of your profile page.
  4. Select “Enroll” and scroll down to the Informed Delivery box under “Account Management.” 
  5. Select the appropriate boxes to agree to the terms and conditions and certify your address, then select “Enroll in Informed Delivery” to continue.
  6. Complete the identity verification questions, if you didn’t when setting up your account.

Then you’ll be able to:

  • Track packages. Use informed delivery to check the delivery status of packages, including when they’re scheduled to arrive.
  • Check on incoming mail and packages on the secure, online dashboard.
  • View grayscale images of the exterior, address side of letter-sized mail that is scheduled to arrive.
  • Leave delivery instructions if you won’t be home to accept a package.
  • Schedule a package to be redelivered if you missed a delivery.
  • Set up email and/or text notifications to track the delivery status of your packages.

If you’re the person waiting for the mail, and you don’t have a tracking number, then ask the person who sent the mail to provide you with the number. That will allow you to track the package until it arrives at your home.

How to send a package from USPS

By now you know that the United States Postal Service ( USPS ) is a fantastic way to ship your packages. Here are some tips on how they work:

  1. Choose the box, making sure your item will fit safely. A standard size helps avoid fees due to packages that can’t run through the USPS machines. 
  2. Tape the box closed and ensure it is flat on all sides. Reinforce the closed flaps with packing tape.
  3. Print the shipping label or write the addresses with a permanent marker. The delivery address is written in the center of the package and your (return) address goes in the top left corner. 
  4. If you’re uncertain about shipping, visit a post office where you can choose which service you want. Be sure to check that you get USPS tracking with your parcel. You can also use a self-serve kiosk.
  5. Postage will be calculated and applied and your package will be sent.

It’s even easier with an online account with USPS. Then you purchase printing services online and print the label for your package as well as the tracking label. 

This FAQ explains the different ways you as a sender or recipient can find the tracking number of a mailpiece. Lost tracking numbers cannot be recovered.Feb 15, 2022•Knowledge

Article Number

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Customer Information

We apologize in advance that Care Center agents and local Post Offices™ are not able to provide help or assistance recovering lost tracking numbers.

When an item does have a tracking number, it is generated and provided to the sender. If you are the recipient expecting an item, you can ask the sender for that number.

Please keep in mind that not everything has a tracking number. Postcards and First-Class Mail® letters without extra services fall into this category. If you’re unsure what a tracking number looks like, examples can be found in the USPS Tracking page, section “What does my Tracking number look like?”

We invite all customers to sign up for Informed Delivery® notifications by USPS®. Most USPS® domestic packages tied to the address associated with your USPS.com® account will be automatically available on your Informed Delivery® emails and dashboard.

If you are concerned that an item is delayed or lost, whether or not it has a tracking number or you have its tracking number, see the following articles:

ABOUT USPS

United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as U.S. Mail and the Post Office, independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government charged with processing and delivering mail and with protecting the mail from loss, theft, or abuse in accordance with U.S. postal laws. Besides providing mail processing and delivery services, it oversees the application of postal rates and fees as determined by its board of governors and the independent Postal Regulatory Commission. Created by the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, the United States Postal Service went into operation on July 1, 1971, replacing the Post Office Department, which was one of the few government agencies explicitly authorized by the United States Constitution. The United States maintains the largest postal system in the world.

Origins in the colonial period


The first postal system in the British North American colonies was started by the Massachusetts General Court in 1639. Mail brought by ship to Boston was deposited at Fairbanks’ Tavern, whose owner, Richard Fairbanks, sent it to its destination and was paid for each piece of mail he delivered. An intercolonial mail service was established in 1672, when Gov. Francis Lovelace of New York organized a delivery system between New York City and Boston. A postal route from Maine to Georgia was laid out in 1683, the same year in which William Penn opened a post office in Philadelphia. With the appointment of New Jersey Gov. Andrew Hamilton as deputy postmaster general for North America in 1692, an attempt was made to establish a postal service for all the colonies, but little real progress toward that end was achieved until 1753, when Benjamin Franklin, formerly postmaster at Philadelphia, was named joint postmaster general for the colonies along with William Hunter, who was postmaster of Williamsburg, Virginia. Remaining in that post until 1774—when the crown dismissed him for actions that were viewed as disloyal—Franklin oversaw the development of speedier, more frequent, and more extensive mail service to England and within the colonies. Having built a sound foundation for the postal service in the United States, Franklin, fittingly, served as its first postmaster general when it became an independent country.