To stop mail at the Post Office, the right service depends on why you want it stopped. A free USPS Hold Mail request pauses delivery for 3 to 30 days. A change of address redirects mail when you move. Premium Forwarding Service Residential bundles mail and ships it weekly to a temporary address for up to a year. And returning mail marked “Not at This Address” or “Deceased” handles items for people who no longer live at your address.
Pausing Mail for a Vacation or Short Trip
USPS Hold Mail is the free option for short absences. It stops delivery of all mail for everyone at your address for 3 to 30 days, with everything held at your local Post Office until the hold ends.1USPS. USPS Hold Mail – The Basics
You can schedule a hold up to 30 days in advance, or as late as the next delivery day if you submit the request by 3 AM Eastern on your chosen start date.2USPS. Hold Mail – Pause Mail Delivery Online Request one online through a USPS.com account after identity verification, or walk into any Post Office and set it up in person. If online verification fails, USPS will mail a verification code to your address.1USPS. USPS Hold Mail – The Basics
When the hold ends, choose whether to pick up the accumulated mail at the Post Office or have it delivered to your door. Pay attention to the deadline that trips people up: if you don’t collect the held mail within 10 days after the hold expires, USPS returns it all to the senders.1USPS. USPS Hold Mail – The Basics Bills, checks, and documents can disappear that way.
Holds also can’t be stacked back-to-back. At least three days must pass between the end of one hold and the start of another.1USPS. USPS Hold Mail – The Basics If you need more than 30 days of coverage, look at forwarding options instead.
Stopping Mail Because You’re Moving
A change of address (COA) tells USPS to redirect your mail from the old address to a new one. It comes in two flavors. A permanent COA is for a true relocation. A temporary COA forwards mail for a set window and then reverts delivery to the original address, which fits seasonal moves and travel beyond 30 days.3USPS. Mail Forwarding Options Both use the same form.
You can file online at the USPS Change of Address site or in person at any Post Office. The online filing charges a $1.25 identity verification fee to a credit or debit card, and the card’s billing address must match either your old or new address. Filing in person with a current photo ID on PS Form 3575 is free.4USPS. Change of Address – The Basics
First-Class Mail, Priority Mail, and USPS Ground Advantage forward for 12 months under a permanent COA. Periodicals forward for 60 days. USPS Marketing Mail generally doesn’t forward at all unless the sender has paid for it.4USPS. Change of Address – The Basics Because that clock runs whether or not you’ve updated your address with every sender, tell banks, insurers, and subscription services directly rather than relying on forwarding for the long haul.
If a year isn’t enough, USPS sells Extended Mail Forwarding in blocks of 6, 12, or 18 months on top of the initial year, starting at $24.50 for six months.5USPS. Extended Mail Forwarding Once purchased, Extended Mail Forwarding can’t be canceled or refunded.6USPS. Standard Forward Mail and Change of Address
Long Temporary Absences: Premium Forwarding
If Hold Mail is too short and a temporary COA feels like too much piece-by-piece redirection, USPS Premium Forwarding Service Residential collects all your mail and ships it once a week via Priority Mail to a temporary address. Service runs from two weeks to one year.7USPS. Premium Forwarding Services
It’s the priciest option. Enrollment is $26.40 online or $28.70 at a Post Office, and each weekly shipment costs $29.70 regardless of how full the box is.7USPS. Premium Forwarding Services For anyone with light mail volume, a temporary COA is usually the cheaper fit.
Stopping Mail for Someone Who Moved Out
If mail keeps arriving for a former resident, the fix is manual but effective. Write “Return to Sender — Not at This Address” on each envelope and put it back in your mailbox or drop it at the Post Office. Most senders update their records after a few returned pieces. Don’t open or throw away someone else’s mail. Federal law treats that seriously.
Talking to your mail carrier speeds things up, especially with heavy volume. Tell them the person no longer lives there, and put your own name on or inside the mailbox so the carrier can distinguish your mail. Once USPS confirms someone has moved without leaving a forwarding address, carriers mark those items “Moved, Left No Address” and send them back.8USPS. I Received a Vacant Notice
Stopping Mail for a Deceased Person
A death certificate alone won’t get the Post Office to redirect or stop the mail. USPS requires documented proof that you’ve been appointed executor or administrator of the estate, typically the court order making that appointment.9USPS. How to Stop or Forward Mail for the Deceased Until you have that paperwork, the Post Office won’t redirect the deceased person’s mail to you.
With the court order in hand, go to a Post Office in person and file a change of address redirecting the mail to yourself or another authorized party. When the estate closes, bring the closing order to the Post Office with a written request to stop all mail to the deceased. For individual pieces that keep arriving, write “Deceased — Return to Sender” on the envelope and put it back in the mail so senders remove the name from their lists.
To reduce marketing mail sent to the deceased, register their name on the Deceased Do Not Contact List, managed by the Association of National Advertisers. Registration costs $6 and requires the person’s name, address, and approximate month and year of death, with an email verification step.10ANA. Deceased Do Not Contact Registration It won’t stop government mail or items already in the postal pipeline.
Cutting Down on Junk Mail
USPS itself doesn’t filter or block specific types of mail. If a sender pays the postage, it gets delivered. Reducing junk mail means going to the sources.
Pre-approved credit card and insurance offers are the easiest to stop. Visit OptOutPrescreen.com or call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688) to remove your name from the lists credit bureaus share with lenders. You can opt out for five years online or by phone; making it permanent requires requesting and mailing back a signed Permanent Opt-Out Election form.11Federal Trade Commission (FTC). What To Know About Prescreened Offers for Credit and Insurance
For catalogs and charity solicitations, register at DMAchoice.org. Online registration costs $8 and covers 10 years, and you can select which categories of mail to stop from participating companies.12ANA. Registration Information – DMAchoice Neither service catches everything. Local businesses, political mailers, and companies that don’t participate in industry opt-out programs will keep sending mail unless you contact them directly.
Watching for Fraudulent Address Changes
Someone filing a change of address in your name to steal your mail is a real risk when the same tools that stop and redirect mail can be misused. USPS mails a Move Validation Letter to the old address every time a COA is submitted. If you get one and you’re not moving, dispute it right away at managemymove.usps.com to flag the order for investigation.4USPS. Change of Address – The Basics
Online COA requests go through multi-factor identity verification, including the credit or debit card check where the billing address must match the old or new address, and in some cases a one-time passcode sent to a mobile phone. USPS no longer accepts COA submissions from third-party businesses. If online verification fails, you’re sent to a Post Office to complete the process in person with a photo ID.4USPS. Change of Address – The Basics
Signing up for USPS Informed Delivery is one of the best early-warning tools. The free service emails grayscale preview images of letter-sized mail headed to your address each morning.13USPS. Informed Delivery – Mail and Package Notifications If the daily digest suddenly goes quiet, that can be a signal your mail has been rerouted without your knowledge.