How to track with Royal Mail
UK letters and parcels, including Special Delivery and international tracked post.
Reading the tracker
Royal Mail writes its own status words on its tracker. This page does not translate those words into a private glossary, because a guessed meaning would be worse than the carrier’s own line. Open the tracker and read the latest scan there.
TODO: a sourced list of Royal Mail status phrases was not copied here. Use the carrier’s page.
How to track
- Use the reference on the Post Office receipt, the label, or the retailer’s dispatch email.
- Signed For and some ordinary 1st and 2nd class services are not tracked throughout the journey. Royal Mail says they only give the sender a delivery confirmation.
- Royal Mail says it cannot track an item from a name or address.
Royal Mail’s linking page publishes this direct link. They have asked sites to use it while their usual tracking links are having technical issues. The link name they ask for on the general tracker is “Royal Mail Track Delivery”.
Number formats
- The direct-link format Royal Mail documents is 13 characters: two letters, nine digits, then GB. Example pattern: AB123456789GB.
- Royal Mail’s own linking page says the prefixes EA, EB, EC, ED, EE and CP are not Royal Mail. Those are Parcelforce.
- Royal Mail also says a reference number can be anywhere from 9 to 27 characters. If yours is not the 13-character GB form, open Royal Mail’s tracker and paste it.
Getting in touch
Royal Mail’s help page says a loss, damage, delay or part-loss claim needs proof of postage, and proof of value where you are claiming for the contents. Damage claims need photos of the item and the original packaging. You also need the service used, the date and place of posting, and both addresses.
How do I submit a claim for loss, damage or delay?The same page points people who paid with stamps, franking or online postage, including Post Office items, to Royal Mail’s online claim form. Other ways of posting are covered from the claims centre.
Royal Mail claims centre
Time limits they publish
Royal Mail’s retail compensation policy for loss says a loss claim must be made within 80 calendar days of posting. It also says compensation for loss is not considered until 10 working days after the due date, or 5 working days for Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pm (not posted on account), unless there is evidence the item is already lost.
Retail compensation policy for lossRoyal Mail’s retail compensation policy for damage and part loss says those claims must be made within 80 calendar days of posting.
Retail compensation policy for damageRoyal Mail’s retail compensation policy for delay says a delay claim must be made within 3 months of posting or one month of receipt. A Special Delivery Guaranteed fee refund must be claimed within 14 days of posting.
Retail compensation policy for delay
Contact details we could confirm
Check with the courier. No phone number or postal address is printed here.
- A current public phone number was not copied onto this page. Use the claim links above.
- These time limits are Royal Mail’s published retail policies. Account and business products can differ. Check the policy that matches how the item was posted.
Common questions
- How do I track a Royal Mail parcel?
- Use the tracking number from your dispatch email, receipt or label on Royal Mail's official tracking page: https://www.royalmail.com/trackyouritem. Royal Mail’s linking page publishes this direct link. They have asked sites to use it while their usual tracking links are having technical issues. The link name they ask for on the general tracker is “Royal Mail Track Delivery”.
- What does a Royal Mail tracking number look like?
- The direct-link format Royal Mail documents is 13 characters: two letters, nine digits, then GB. Example pattern: AB123456789GB. Royal Mail’s own linking page says the prefixes EA, EB, EC, ED, EE and CP are not Royal Mail. Those are Parcelforce. Royal Mail also says a reference number can be anywhere from 9 to 27 characters. If yours is not the 13-character GB form, open Royal Mail’s tracker and paste it.
- How long do I have to complain to Royal Mail?
- Royal Mail’s retail compensation policy for loss says a loss claim must be made within 80 calendar days of posting. It also says compensation for loss is not considered until 10 working days after the due date, or 5 working days for Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pm (not posted on account), unless there is evidence the item is already lost. Royal Mail’s retail compensation policy for damage and part loss says those claims must be made within 80 calendar days of posting. Royal Mail’s retail compensation policy for delay says a delay claim must be made within 3 months of posting or one month of receipt. A Special Delivery Guaranteed fee refund must be claimed within 14 days of posting.
Keep going
Sources checked in November 2026. Courier pages change. Use the links, and tell us if a page is out of date.