Short answer
Yes, a business can use Informed Delivery if its address qualifies. USPS says the service is “available to most residential and PO Box™ addresses, and many business addresses.” To enroll a business street or PO Box address, you need a USPS.com business account. USPS checks each address at sign-up, and a mailbox that is not “uniquely coded” cannot enroll.
Key takeaways
- USPS says Informed Delivery “is available to most residential and PO Box™ addresses, and many business addresses.” The sign-up page checks each address.
- USPS says “To enroll in Informed Delivery with a business street or PO Box address, you need a USPS.com business account.” The service is free.
- The mailbox must be “uniquely coded.” USPS says some apartment buildings or condos may not have uniquely coded addresses, and an address that is not uniquely coded cannot sign up.
- The USPS Informed Delivery pages quoted here do not name CMRA addresses, private mailboxes, or virtual addresses. Do not assume the service works at one, including an address from save office.
- The daily email shows the address side of up to 10 pieces of letter-size mail. You do not see what is inside, and some mail never appears, so a day with no images does not prove that nothing is coming.
Can a business use Informed Delivery?
Yes, a business can use Informed Delivery if its address qualifies. The USPS FAQ says the service “is available to most residential and PO Box™ addresses, and many business addresses.” USPS checks each address when you sign up, and the service is free.
USPS writes “many” business addresses, so it does not promise that every business address can enroll. Its Informed Delivery page says “If you have a residential, business, or PO Box™ address in an eligible ZIP Code™ (most ZIP Codes™ are), you may be eligible for Informed Delivery.” Your own address decides the answer, and the sign-up page gives you the result.
A business address also needs the right kind of account. The same page says “To enroll in Informed Delivery with a business street or PO Box address, you need a USPS.com business account.” The next section covers those steps.
Older guides may tell you the opposite. A USPS sign-up guide dated December 2019, with January 2020 in its file name, said “Informed Delivery notifications are not available to businesses (either physical or P.O. Box addresses).” The current USPS pages say something different, so rely on those.
A business that sends mail can also use Informed Delivery for marketing. The USPS FAQ says “Mailers and shippers can supplement their physical mailpiece or package with a custom image and call-to-action known as an interactive campaign.” The USPS page for business mailers covers that use.
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How a business signs up for Informed Delivery
Start from the USPS Informed Delivery page and select the sign-up link. The first screen asks for your email address. USPS lists the steps as checking the address, providing your account information, verifying your identity, and then receiving notifications. The steps below follow the USPS sign-up page and FAQ.
- 1Choose the account type. The Personal Account option reads “I would like to track and manage mail at my residential address.” The Business Account option reads “I would like to track and manage mail at a business address and/or engage my customers through an integrated mail or package digital marketing campaign.”
- 2Enter the address. The business flow can ask you to confirm the business, and that screen says “Now please help us verify your business.”
- 3Read the result. The page shows “Your address is eligible for Informed Delivery® notifications.” or “Your address is not eligible for Informed Delivery® notifications.”
- 4Verify your identity. USPS says “To register for Informed Delivery, USPS needs to verify your identity to ensure your security and privacy.”
- 5Watch for USPS mail. The FAQ says “A Welcome Letter is sent as a part of our mail-based verification of new Informed Delivery accounts.”
If your business already has a USPS.com business account, the FAQ describes a different path. You sign in, click Informed Delivery, opt in, and request a verification code. USPS says “Your code will be received by mail within 3-7 postal business days.” The FAQ says the code expires 30 days after the date of issue, after 1 successful use, or if the profile address is edited.
That request includes a statement you must accept: “By checking this box and accepting, I acknowledge that I warrant and represent that I am eligible to receive mail at this address indicated in my profile.” The code and the letter both travel by mail, so someone needs to be able to open mail at that address.
The FAQ says “If you are unable to verify your identity online, the system will provide options to Request a Code by Mail or Verify at a Post Office.”
After sign-up, USPS says “You should begin to receive notifications within three business days, but in rare instances it can take up to 7 days for activation to complete.”
A team can share an address. The FAQ says “Informed Delivery can only be sent to one email address per account. However, multiple accounts can have Informed Delivery for the same address.”
If your business mail comes to your home, the Personal Account wording describes that address. The FAQ says “Individuals who share a residence and mailbox (e.g., roommates, families, etc.) will receive the images for all mail delivered to that household and notifications for all incoming packages.”
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Which addresses cannot sign up for Informed Delivery?
One USPS rule is about coding. Its Informed Delivery page says “You must have a ‘uniquely coded’ mailbox, and some apartment buildings or condos may not have uniquely coded addresses.”
The USPS FAQ explains why. It says “this coding determines which images are provided to each Informed Delivery user and ensures that users can only view mail destined for their address.” It adds “While most addresses are uniquely coded, not all are, especially in high density areas (e.g., apartment buildings or condos). If your address is not uniquely coded, you will not be able to sign up for Informed Delivery.”
The FAQ names apartment buildings and condos as examples. A suite in a shared office building is one more address to run through the sign-up check. The table below sets out what USPS says for each address type.
| Address type | What USPS says | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Home address | Available to “most residential” addresses | Use a Personal Account and run the sign-up check |
| Business street address | Available to “many business addresses” | Use “a USPS.com business account” and run the sign-up check |
| PO Box used by a business | Open to “eligible PO Box™ consumers” | Use “a USPS.com business account” and run the sign-up check |
| Apartment or condo | “some apartment buildings or condos may not have uniquely coded addresses” | Run the sign-up check for your unit |
| CMRA or private mailbox | Not named on the Informed Delivery pages quoted in this guide | Read the next section and run the sign-up check |
Does Informed Delivery work with a virtual address or CMRA?
Do not assume that it does. The Informed Delivery FAQ, the USPS Informed Delivery page, and the terms of use for the service do not mention a commercial mail receiving agency (CMRA), a private mailbox, or a virtual address.
USPS does describe how CMRA mail is delivered. A CMRA is a private business that accepts mail for its customers. The USPS CMRA FAQ says “The United States Postal Service delivers all of a CMRA customer’s mail to the CMRA, but is not responsible for putting the mail in the individual boxes.”
The coding rule above exists so “users can only view mail destined for their address.” The pages quoted here do not say how that rule applies to a CMRA, which receives mail for its customers. The pages also do not say what images a CMRA customer would see. The USPS sign-up check gives a result only for the address you enter.
The same caution applies to CMRA addresses in general and to any virtual address, including the addresses save office offers. Our guide on how to check if an address is a CMRA explains how to look an address up. Informed Delivery also gives you no new address, because it shows mail coming to an address you already have. Our guide to USPS and virtual addresses explains what USPS does and does not offer.
What the Informed Delivery email shows
The Daily Digest email shows pictures of the outside of letter-size mail. USPS says its sorting machines “take a picture of the front (the side with the address).” The email holds images of the address side of “up to 10 pieces of incoming letter mail.” The online dashboard has no limit on the number of images and shows them for a seven-day period.
You do not see what is inside. USPS says the images show “only the exterior, address side of letter-sized mailpieces.” The list below covers the other limits a business should know.
- Packages have no pictures. USPS says “Package information will be presented as status updates, not images.”
- Some mail is left out. USPS says “Only mail processed on USPS automated equipment is included in the Informed Delivery Notification.” Its FAQ adds “Some mailpieces (e.g., catalogs or magazines) are not imaged by our automated equipment and will not appear in your Informed Delivery email or dashboard.” The USPS Informed Delivery page says you will see color images of “some things, like catalogs or magazines,” so the two pages differ. Do not count on seeing them.
- Mail can come later. USPS says “Not all mail seen in the Daily Digest will be received the same day.” It asks you to allow “several days, up to one week” before you report a piece as missing.
- The email has a schedule. USPS says emails are sent “once daily, typically before 9:00AM local time, Monday through Saturday.” None are sent on days with no mail, on Sundays, or on federal holidays.
- Profile changes stop the service. USPS says “If you update your name, email or address on your USPS.com residential or business account profile you will be opted out of Informed Delivery.” You then need to opt back in, and USPS may ask you to verify your identity again.
Do not use a day with no images as proof that nothing is coming. USPS says “Images are only provided for letter-sized mailpieces that are processed through USPS’s automated equipment.” A large envelope from a state agency or a bank may never show up in the email, so keep checking the physical mail.
What to do if your address is not eligible
Try the USPS options first. These steps start with the simplest fix.
- 1Check the account type. If you entered a business street address under a Personal Account, start again with a Business Account.
- 2Check back later. USPS says “If your address isn’t yet eligible, please check back later.”
- 3Ask your local Post Office. The FAQ does not describe a way to request new coding for a mailbox, so ask whether anything can be done for your unit.
- 4Consider a PO Box. The USPS FAQ includes PO Box addresses in the service, and the USPS business mail page describes PO Boxes for Business. Check the box address at sign-up too, because the FAQ says “eligible PO Box™ consumers.”
A PO Box gives your mail a new address, so your records need updating. Our guide to changing a business address with USPS covers that step.
A virtual mailbox is a private service and is separate from Informed Delivery. The table below compares the two. Our guide to mail options without a mailroom compares more choices for a small office.
| Question | USPS Informed Delivery | Virtual mailbox |
|---|---|---|
| Who makes the image | USPS sorting machines, before delivery | The provider, after the mail reaches its address |
| What you see | The address side of letter-size mail | Depends on the provider’s service terms |
| Where the mail goes | To the address you enrolled | To the provider’s address |
| Cost | Free from USPS | Set by the provider |
| USPS paperwork | USPS.com account and identity verification | PS Form 1583 if the provider is a CMRA |
Check the current USPS pages
This guide summarizes USPS pages as read on November 7, 2026. USPS can change who is eligible and how sign-up works, as the older guide quoted above shows. Check the current Informed Delivery page and FAQ before you rely on the service for your business mail.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sources & References
Primary sources this guide is based on.
- 1U.S. Postal Service · Informed Delivery: Mail and Package Notifications (accessed November 7, 2026)
- 2U.S. Postal Service · Informed Delivery: The Basics (FAQ) (accessed November 7, 2026)
- 3U.S. Postal Service · Commercial Mail Receiving Agency (CMRA) FAQ (accessed November 7, 2026)
- 4U.S. Postal Service · Manage Your Business Mail (accessed November 7, 2026)
- 5U.S. Postal Service · Informed Delivery for Business Mailers and Shippers (accessed November 7, 2026)
- 6U.S. Postal Service · How to Sign Up for Informed Delivery (guide dated December 2019) (accessed November 7, 2026)
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