If you want to postpone mail delivery while you’re away, USPS gives you two free-or-cheap options depending on how long you’ll be gone: a Hold Mail request pauses delivery at your address for 3 to 30 days at no cost, and a temporary change of address forwards your mail to where you’re staying for anywhere from 15 days up to a year. For trips somewhere in between, Premium Forwarding Service Residential bundles your mail and ships it to you once a week.
Hold Mail for Trips of 3 to 30 Days
Hold Mail is the right choice for a vacation, a work trip, or any absence between three days and a month. Your local post office keeps everything addressed to your location until you’re back, and there’s no charge. You can schedule the hold as far as 30 days in advance or as late as the next delivery day, so a last-minute departure still works.
To set it up online, sign in to your USPS.com account, open the Hold Mail page, verify your identity, enter your address, and pick start and end dates. It takes a few minutes. If you’d rather do it in person, bring a valid government-issued photo ID to your local post office and a clerk will fill out the hold form with you. Either way, the request covers every piece of mail for the address, not just yours.
Anyone at the address or an authorized agent can submit the request. If you want a friend or family member to pick up accumulated mail before the hold expires, authorize them in writing at the post office. They’ll need to show acceptable photo ID when they come to collect it.
Hold Mail works for residential and business addresses. Businesses with 10 or more locations can file a bulk hold through a USPS field account representative or the business service network instead of doing each site separately.
When to Forward Instead of Hold
If you’ll be gone longer than 30 days, or you want your mail with you rather than piled up at home, a temporary change of address is the better tool. It reroutes mail from your regular address to where you’re staying for a minimum of 15 days and a maximum of one year. When the period ends, delivery automatically resumes at your original address. This fits seasonal stays, a semester at school, a long assignment, or an extended visit with family.
Online requests go through the Official USPS Change of Address website. Choose whether the move is for an individual, a family sharing a last name, or a business, then enter your old address, your temporary address, and a start date. You’ll pay a $1.25 identity verification fee by credit card, and the billing address on that card must match either the old or the new address. About five business days before your start date, a Customer Notification Letter arrives at your temporary address with a confirmation code. Keep that code; you’ll need it to change or cancel the request later.
For an in-person request, visit your local post office with photo ID, ask for a Mover’s Guide packet, and fill out PS Form 3575. A retail associate verifies your identity and processes the request, and there’s no verification fee in person.
Forwarding can begin within three business days of your request, but USPS recommends giving it up to two weeks of lead time so there’s no gap in delivery.
If You’re Leaving the Country
To forward mail to an address outside the United States, you have to go to a post office in person to verify your identity and submit the change of address before you leave. Once you’re abroad, USPS can’t verify your identity and won’t process the request. Handle it before your departure date.
Premium Forwarding for Longer Temporary Stays
Standard forwarding sends pieces of mail individually as they arrive. Premium Forwarding Service Residential does something different: your local post office collects everything addressed to you and ships it in one Priority Mail package every Wednesday. You get a USPS tracking number by email each week.
The pricing has two parts. Enrollment is $26.40 online or $28.70 at the post office, and it’s non-refundable. Each weekly shipment is $29.70, charged whether the bundle is thick or thin. A six-week absence runs roughly $205 in total. The online enrollment shows you the full estimate up front, but the weekly charge only hits your card as each shipment goes out.
This service is for residential customers and personal PO Box holders. If your primary delivery address is a business, you’re not eligible for PFS Residential.
What Arrives and What Doesn’t
Not every class of mail follows a forwarding order. Knowing the split keeps you from wondering why certain items stopped showing up.
- Forwarded at no extra charge: First-Class Mail, Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express, USPS Ground Advantage, and periodicals such as magazines and newsletters.
- Forwarded, but you pay the postage from your old post office to the new address: Media Mail.
- Not forwarded: USPS Marketing Mail, the bulk advertising and coupon category. It stops.
One boundary worth knowing: a Hold Mail request covers letters and flats, but it won’t intercept packages that were already in transit when the hold started. For packages arriving during a short trip, consider a USPS locker, a trusted neighbor, or USPS Package Intercept to reroute them before delivery.
One more restriction: mail can be forwarded to a Commercial Mail Receiving Agency such as a private mailbox store, but not from one. USPS won’t process a change of address that starts at a CMRA.
Changing or Canceling Your Request
Both hold and forwarding requests can be modified after you submit them. If you set it up online, log back into your USPS.com account to adjust dates or cancel. For a forwarding change, you’ll need the confirmation code from the Customer Notification Letter delivered to your new address.
If you filed in person or can’t get into the online portal, call USPS or visit your local post office. Adjusting a hold, whether stretching it a few days or ending it early, is usually quick since the mail is sitting right there at your local facility.
For Premium Forwarding Service Residential, canceling through the online application stops the weekly credit card charges. The enrollment fee is non-refundable, so there’s no partial refund for stopping early; you simply stop paying the weekly shipment fee from that point forward.
What Happens When the Service Ends
When a mail hold ends, your carrier resumes normal delivery and brings everything that piled up in one go. Expect a large bundle that first day. If you’re back sooner than planned, cancel the hold and delivery restarts.
For a temporary change of address, mail automatically starts going to your original address again once the temporary period runs out. Nothing more to file.
Trips Shorter Than Three Days
Three days is the minimum for a Hold Mail request, so a long weekend falls just under the line. USPS recommends retrieving mail as soon after delivery as possible and asking a trusted neighbor or friend to collect it daily if you’ll be gone briefly. An overflowing mailbox is a visible signal, and mail sitting unattended can contain bank statements, credit card offers, tax documents, and medical records, which is enough for someone to open accounts in your name or file fraudulent tax returns.