Can You Change the Address of a USPS Delivery?

You can change the address of a USPS delivery, but which service you use depends on whether you’re rerouting a single package that’s already shipped or redirecting your mail after a move. For one package in transit, USPS Package Intercept can stop or reroute it for $19.45, and usually only the sender can file the request. For an actual move, a Change of Address forwards your mail to the new place for up to 12 months.

Rerouting a Package Already in the Mail

USPS Package Intercept is built for exactly this situation: a mailpiece is already on its way and you want it to end up somewhere else, or not delivered at all. It works for packages, letters, and flats that have a USPS Tracking or extra services barcode, across most domestic mail classes including Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage, and First-Class Mail. Standard Mail and Periodicals don’t qualify.¹

Timing matters. Once tracking shows the package as “Out for Delivery,” the window is closed. Some items are ineligible no matter when you ask: international shipments, anything with a customs form, perishables, hazardous materials, and oversized packages with a combined length and girth over 130 inches.²

Who Can File the Request

This is where most people run into trouble. USPS describes Package Intercept as available to the sender or an authorized representative.² The service is built around the sender’s tracking information and account, so if you bought something from an online seller and want it sent to a different address, you generally can’t file the intercept yourself. Contact the seller and ask them to do it.

What retail senders can request is also limited. If you shipped the package through a regular USPS.com account, your only Package Intercept options are having it sent back to the return address or held for pickup at a Post Office. You cannot redirect it to a brand-new address.²

Business customers who ship through the USPS Business Customer Gateway have the fuller menu: return to sender, hold for pickup, or redirect to a completely new domestic address. That new-address option is the main thing commercial senders can do that retail ones can’t.²

How to Submit the Request

Online is faster. Sign in to your USPS.com account, go to the Package Intercept page, and enter the tracking number. The system checks eligibility based on the item’s current status and class. If it qualifies, you’ll pick your action and see the cost before confirming.²

You can also walk into a Post Office and fill out PS Form 1509 at the counter. Requests made this way can only send the package back to the sender.¹

Cost, Extra Postage, and No Guarantee

The intercept fee is $19.45 per piece, charged only if USPS actually intercepts the item. If the package can’t be found or has already been delivered, you owe nothing.³ Once the fee is charged, it isn’t refundable.

Intercepted items are rerouted as Priority Mail, and you may owe additional postage for the upgrade. If the original mailing was already Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage, or First-Class Mail, no extra postage applies.²

Success is not guaranteed. USPS will try to pull the package out of the mail stream, but whether that works depends on where it currently sits.¹ Also worth knowing: once you submit a request, you can’t change it. If your plans shift again, you file a new request and pay again.

What to Do If You’re the Recipient

If you’re waiting for a delivery and can’t file the intercept yourself, your first move is to contact the shipper and ask them to reroute or reship it. Short of that, USPS gives recipients a few narrower tools that don’t change the address but can help you manage arrival. You can schedule a free Redelivery for another day if a carrier attempted delivery and left a PS Form 3849 notice.⁴ Through USPS Informed Delivery, you can leave standing instructions for your carrier about where to place packages. Neither of these redirects mail to a different address; they only affect how or when it lands at the address it’s already headed to.

Forwarding Mail After a Move

If you’ve moved and want everything sent to your new address, file a Change of Address. USPS forwards First-Class mail free for 12 months after the request takes effect.⁵

Two ways to file:

Online at usps.com/move. There’s a $1.25 identity verification fee charged to a credit card, and the billing address must match either your old or new address.
In person at a Post Office with a valid photo ID. Pick up the free Mover’s Guide packet, fill out PS Form 3575, and hand it to a retail associate. No verification fee applies.⁵

After the initial 12 months, you can pay to extend forwarding in blocks of 6, 12, or 18 months.⁵

Pausing Mail for Short Trips

If you’ll be away briefly and just want delivery paused, USPS Hold Mail keeps everything at your local Post Office until you return. Holds run a minimum of 3 days and a maximum of 30 days, and the service is free.⁶ Submit through your USPS.com account. The start date needs to be requested by 3 AM ET on the day you want delivery paused. When the hold ends, your accumulated mail resumes delivery.

Forwarding to a Temporary Address

Longer than a Hold Mail period but not a permanent move? Premium Forwarding Service Residential ships all your mail from your primary address to a temporary location once a week as a Priority Mail package. It runs a minimum of two weeks and a maximum of one year.

Costs:

Enrollment fee: $26.40 online or $28.70 at the Post Office, non-refundable.
Weekly shipping fee: $29.70 per week regardless of how you enroll.⁷

At roughly $30 a week, the cost adds up. For stays longer than a few months, filing a standard Change of Address at each end of the trip is usually the cheaper choice.

1
USPS.com. USPS Package Intercept FAQs
2
USPS. Package Intercept – Stop Delivery of Letter or Package
3
USPS. Notice 123 – Price List
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USPS. Redelivery – The Basics
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USPS. Standard Forward Mail and Change of Address
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USPS. Hold Mail – Pause Mail Delivery Online
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USPS. Premium Forwarding Services