Help with your letter
Find the next step for sending, payment, your account or a letter already on its way.
Not mailed? We refund the full letter price if we do not mail it. There is no refund after USPS accepts it. Cancellation and refunds.
When will it mail? Your approval page shows the expected mailing date. After payment, screening and normally a 30-minute cancellation hold come before submission to the printing partner. More in Send a letter.
Can I cancel? Yes, until we submit it to the printing partner, including during review. Send it now skips the hold, not the checks; after submission we cannot recall the letter.
Where is my proof? Your letter’s status page holds tracking and the USPS acceptance scan, when USPS records one. That scan dates the mailing, not your payment. Understand a letter’s status.
Send a letter
Write a letter or upload a PDF, enter the recipient and return addresses, and choose Certified Mail with or without electronic Return Receipt. PDFs must be 1 to 10 portrait US Letter pages and no more than 10 MB. For typed letters, start at the greeting; we add both addresses and the date.
Certified Mail alone gives USPS tracking and a mailing record; any USPS acceptance scan is saved as your proof of mailing. Add the electronic Return Receipt only if you need proof of delivery: who signed and when, in a USPS PDF once provided.
The recipient’s address check usually finishes in seconds. If it takes longer, the letter is saved. We retry every minute for up to a day. A busy queue or partner delay can slow the check. After a day, automatic checks stop and the letter’s page asks you to create the letter again. The letter’s page updates itself. Save its private link before leaving.
Review the exact letter, addresses and itemized price before you approve and pay. No account or monthly fee is needed. Our printing partner prints and mails the letter after payment and screening. A trusted auto-send API key can pay from your prepaid balance without per-letter approval.
We cannot accept Georgia return addresses or Georgia billing addresses yet. Recipients in Georgia are allowed. See the terms for service limits and the Certified Mail guide for USPS facts and sources.
Sign in and API keys
Open your account and enter your email address. We send a sign-in link that works once, for 15 minutes. If it does not arrive, check Spam or Junk. Request a new link if the old one has expired or was already used.
Your account holds your letters, API keys and balance. A letter paid with your account email can appear there. Anonymous unpaid drafts are opened with their complete private link; signing in later does not give a new key access to them.
Copy a new API key when it appears: we cannot show it again. Revoke a key if it leaks. Turn on auto-send only for a trusted assistant; it can spend your prepaid balance on letters without asking you to approve each one. Test keys and test letters never mail anything. Set up an AI assistant.
Balance and top-ups
Sign in to add $20 to $500 in whole dollars to a prepaid balance. The balance updates after Stripe confirms the payment. Live and test balances are separate; test balances are not money. A live top-up with a Georgia billing address is refunded instead of being added.
A letter paid from balance is charged to that balance. If a trusted auto-send key cannot pay or mail a letter, auto-send stops for that letter and it waits for your approval; check the reason on its page. A blocked account cannot top up or pay from balance. Unused balance does not expire and is refundable on request to support.
Cancellation and refunds
After payment, letters normally wait 30 minutes before submission to the printing partner. You can cancel until submission, including while a letter is held for review. Choosing Send it now skips the hold, but not payment or checks; there is then no guaranteed cancellation period. After submission, we cannot promise to stop the letter.
We refund in full if we do not mail the letter. There is no refund once USPS accepts it. Card refunds return to the card paid with and usually appear within 5 to 10 business days; your bank decides when. Balance payments return to your balance. Your letter page shows the refund amount, destination and processing state. Read the refund policy for the full conditions and exceptions.
Letter files and sharing
Keep your letter’s status link private. To show someone the letter, use Open letter on its page and share that PDF instead. The PDF-only link cannot pay for, change or cancel the letter.
When signed in, you can delete files for a delivered, receipt-ready, returned, canceled, refunded or failed letter. Confirm the deletion in your account. The letter’s files are deleted; tracking, the timeline and the account record stay. You cannot delete files while a letter is in flight. Files are also deleted automatically after two years. See the privacy policy for the retention schedule.
Understand a letter’s status
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Draft | Not paid. Review the preview, addresses and price; an address check may need to finish first. |
| Paid or checking | Payment is recorded. Screening and the cancellation hold run before submission. |
| Review | A person must review the letter. If unresolved within 24 hours, it is stopped and refunded in full. |
| Submitted or printed | The printing partner is handling the letter. Its handoff record is not a USPS acceptance scan. |
| Acceptance scan pending or late | The letter’s own USPS acceptance scan is not yet in tracking. The page gives its expected day and the next step if it is late. |
| Accepted by USPS | A USPS acceptance scan is present. The scan’s date is the proof-of-mailing date, not the payment date. |
| In transit | USPS scans show the letter moving or being processed. The proof box explains whether an acceptance scan is present. |
| Delivered | USPS reports delivery. If electronic Return Receipt was ordered, it appears once USPS provides it. |
| Receipt ready | The electronic Return Receipt is available from the letter page, unless the files have been deleted. |
| Returned | USPS is returning the letter to the sender. Check the tracking history. |
| Canceled, refunded or failed | The letter was stopped or refused. Read its refund details and timeline for what happened to the payment. |
A delivered letter can have no recorded acceptance scan. Its proof box explains what USPS’s first scan does show and how to ask for help with the mailing date. The rules for your notice decide what counts toward a deadline.
Delivery problems
The latest USPS scan can report a delivery problem even after acceptance. A later scan can change that update; follow the tracking history on the letter’s page or at USPS Tracking. A delivery problem does not change the mailing date on an existing proof of mailing. Some rules count mailing and others count receipt. Ask whoever requires the notice, or a qualified adviser, which apply.
Once USPS accepts a letter, we don’t refund it, even if USPS can’t deliver it. See the Refund Policy.
If USPS returns the letter and we have your email address for it, we email you. Keep the returned envelope unopened with your records. To try again, confirm the address and send a new letter, which is a new charge.
Notice left, delivery attempted, available for pickup or held
USPS has not completed delivery. Contact the recipient so they can follow the USPS notice or ask their Post Office about pickup or redelivery. Pickup and redelivery options depend on the scan; USPS Tracking gives the next step. USPS’s rule for Certified Mail is to return the letter to its return address 15 days after the first delivery attempt if no one picks it up or asks for redelivery. No return or delivery date is promised.
Addressee unknown, vacant, no such number, insufficient address or moved
USPS could not deliver the letter as addressed. Confirm the recipient’s name and complete address with them before sending another letter. USPS tries to return the undelivered letter to the return address on it, which is yours. Check tracking for the next update; no return or delivery date is promised.
Refused or unclaimed
USPS reports that the letter was refused or not claimed. Contact the recipient to confirm what happened and follow tracking for the next update. USPS has not reported delivery. USPS tries to return the letter to the return address on it, which is yours. No return or delivery date is promised.
Forwarded
USPS reports the letter is being forwarded to a different address. Follow tracking; confirm the recipient’s current address if this is unexpected.
For help, email support@certifiedmailsender.com with the letter id and tracking number. USPS explains these scans in its Tracking Status Help.
Errors and support
Correct the fields named in an error, then retry. Keep the whole private link, including its token, when returning to a letter. For a sign-in problem, request a new sign-in link. For a payment or mailing problem, include the letter id and any deadline when contacting support.
Email support@certifiedmailsender.com. For threats, harassment, impersonation or another misuse, report abuse or email abuse@certifiedmailsender.com.
See a fictional sample letter and its tracking record, or send a letter.