Certified mail return receipt: what it proves and how to get it

Certified Mail already gives you a mailing receipt and a delivery record. A Return Receipt adds detail about the delivery. It shows who received the piece, the date, and the actual delivery address. The details come from USPS records of the delivery, which include the recipient's signature.

The address detail is useful because a piece can be delivered somewhere other than the address on the envelope. The receipt shows where it actually went. Our guide on what certified mail is explains the two records that every Certified Mail piece already carries.

You must buy a Return Receipt at the time of mailing, together with the mail class. You cannot add one afterwards.

A postal employee can help you fill in the card at the counter. Check the article number against your mailing receipt before you hand the piece over. A wrong number makes the card hard to match later.

After you mail the piece, you enter the article number in USPS Tracking together with an email address. USPS then sends the receipt to that address. Use an address you check, and save the email once it arrives.

Both forms are bought at the time of mailing. For the full price picture, including postage and the Certified Mail fee, see the guide to what certified mail costs.

The emailed receipt suits most letters. It costs less, it arrives by email, and you can save it the moment it lands. It also needs no endorsement on the piece and no return address on the envelope for the card to find its way back.

The mailed card suits you if you prefer a paper record, or if the receipt must go to a recipient address that email cannot reach. The emailed version is not available for APO, FPO or DPO addresses, or for certain territories, so those addresses need the card.

• File the card or the email with your mailing receipt and a signed copy of the letter.
• Photograph the card the day it arrives, and save the email as a PDF.
• Write the article number on every page of the set so the pieces stay together.
• Keep everything until the matter is closed and no further charges have appeared.

A mailed card can go astray, and it can take a while to come back. If you paid for a Form 3811 and it never arrives, you do not have to start over. Under section 6.3 of the Domestic Mail Manual, you can request delivery information with Form 3811-A. You must do it within 90 days of the purchase.

1. 1

   Find your mailing receipt

   It shows the date of purchase and the article number. The 90 days start from the purchase.

2. 2

   Check USPS Tracking first

   Look up the article number at usps.com, or call 1-800-222-1811. The delivery record may already answer your question.

3. 3

   File Form 3811-A before day 90

   Do not wait to see whether the card turns up late. Count the days from the purchase and file with time to spare.

A Return Receipt matters most when someone denies receiving your mail. Suppose you mailed a cancellation request, and the company later says it never arrived. The delivery record shows a date. The Return Receipt goes further, because it shows who received the piece and where.

Keep the receipt with a signed copy of the letter and your mailing receipt. Together they show what you sent, when you sent it, and who received it. If charges continue after the delivery date, our guide on what to do when a company keeps charging you covers the next steps.

A Return Receipt does not show what was inside the envelope. For that, you need your copy of the letter. Our guide to Certified Mail for cancellations explains how to keep the records so that they still count months later.

Certified Mail Restricted Delivery limits delivery to the addressee or an authorized agent. It is a separate option from the Return Receipt, and you can buy both. A Return Receipt tells you who signed. Restricted Delivery limits who can. You do not need either to use Certified Mail.

If you would rather not mail the letter yourself, see how to send certified mail online.