If you have no permanent address, or you want a Post Office box and none is available, General Delivery lets a local Post Office hold your mail for pickup in person. The service is free where it's authorized, and there's no application. Each piece is held no more than 30 days unless you or the sender ask and the postmaster approves a longer hold.
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) sets out the main rules in two texts and one page of frequently asked questions (FAQ). Section 508.6 of the Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) covers who can use the service, which Post Office offers it and how long mail is held. Publication 28 (Pub 28), the USPS addressing standard, covers how the address is written. The FAQ article "What is General Delivery?" repeats those rules in plain words and adds the steps to take. We read all three on October 30, 2026, and the General Delivery rules quoted below come from them, except one line from a second USPS FAQ. Quotes from other USPS pages and from our own policy are named where they appear.
How does General Delivery work at the Post Office?
General Delivery is a pickup service. Instead of a carrier bringing mail to your door, the Post Office keeps it until you come for it. The USPS FAQ describes the service and the people it serves:
"General Delivery is a USPS service where mail for you is held at a local Post Office™ location to pick up in person. The service is often used to provide a temporary mailing address for those without a permanent address but is also intended to be used for:"
- "Post Office™ locations without city carrier delivery service."
- "Non-city delivery offices for those who prefer not to use Post Office Box service and for whom use of Post Office box, Caller Service, or delivery by letter carrier, would be an unreasonable inconvenience."
- "A participating Post Office to serve transients (people who travel extensively) and those without a permanent address."
- "Anyone who wants Post Office box service when Post Office boxes are unavailable."
The DMM says the same thing in fewer words. DMM 508.6.1, titled Purpose, reads:
"General delivery is intended primarily as a temporary means of delivery:"
- "For transients and customers not permanently located."
- "For customers who want Post Office box service when boxes are unavailable."
Two words in that text matter. "Temporary" tells you how USPS sees the service: a short-term way to get mail while you have no fixed address. "Transients" is the postal term for people who move around, and the FAQ explains it as "people who travel extensively." That can include people who travel in a recreational vehicle (RV) or a van, or people between homes during a move. The list also covers people who want a Post Office box (PO Box) when none is available, and people with no permanent address at all. USPS also has a separate FAQ page for people without housing, which we quote further down.
How do you get USPS General Delivery?
No form is needed. The FAQ says: "General Delivery is a free service when and where it is authorized. No application is required." The same page adds: "Persons interested in General Delivery should speak with the postmaster."
The step that matters is finding the right Post Office, because the service is normally offered at only one facility where a Post Office has several, and you may use only one. DMM 508.6.2 says:
"General delivery is normally available at only one facility under the administration of a Post Office with multiple facilities. A postmaster may authorize more than one facility to offer general delivery service in accordance with customer and operational needs. A customer may use only one such location. A postmaster may refuse or restrict general delivery:"
- "To a customer who is unable to present suitable identification."
- "To a customer whose mail volume or service level (e.g., mail accumulation) cannot reasonably be accommodated."
A common claim online is that General Delivery works at almost any Post Office. The rule says one authorized facility, and one per customer. The FAQ turns that rule into two steps to take before anyone mails to you:
"Prior to providing a delivery address for General Delivery, you should:"
- "Determine which local postal facility is authorized to accept General Delivery mail by using Find USPS Locations and filtering for "General Delivery"."
- "Contact that postal facility to confirm the service's availability and the delivery address ZIP Code and to ask any additional questions about General Delivery."
The DMM gives the same instruction in 508.6.3: "Prior to mailing, customers should contact the destination Post Office to determine the authorized facility or facilities and their applicable ZIP Code(s)." The ZIP Code you confirm in step 2 is the one that goes on the last line of the address. The postmaster can also refuse the service for the two reasons in 508.6.2: no suitable identification (ID), or more mail than the office can handle.
How do you write a General Delivery address?
The address has three lines. The FAQ shows them like this:
NAME
GENERAL DELIVERY
CITY STATE ZIP
The words GENERAL DELIVERY go where a street address would normally go. Pub 28, section 261, says:
"Use the words GENERAL DELIVERY, uppercase preferred, spelled out (no abbreviation), as the Delivery Address Line on the mailpiece. Each record will carry the –9999 add-on code."
Three details follow from that sentence. First, capitals are "preferred," so lowercase doesn't break the standard. Second, spell the two words out in full, with no short form. Third, the 9999 is the ZIP+4 add-on for General Delivery. If you use a ZIP+4, the add-on is 9999. The FAQ's own example shows a plain ZIP with no add-on.
Section 262 adds that the ZIP must be "correctly applied for the general delivery record as found in the ZIP+4 file." The ZIP+4 file rule is one more reason to confirm the ZIP with the facility before anyone mails to you.
How long will USPS hold General Delivery mail?
Thirty days is the limit, and it's counted per piece. DMM 508.6.4 says:
"Each general delivery mailpiece is held for no more than 30 days, although a shorter time period may be requested by the sender."
The FAQ repeats the limit and adds an extension:
"Each piece of General Delivery mail is held for no more than 30 days, unless the sender requests a shorter period."
"General Delivery mail may be held for longer periods if requested by sender or addressee and approved by postmaster."
Two points are easy to get wrong. First, the 30 days applies to each piece of mail. No text we read sets a 30-day limit on how long you may use the service. The FAQ says: "Limitations on the amount of time you are able to use General Delivery, if any, are determined by the postmaster." A different USPS FAQ page, for people without housing, says applicants who can't meet the PO Box conditions on that page "may be eligible to receive indefinite General Delivery service, if approved by the local Postmaster." Another claim you may see online says you get 30 days at one location and must then move to a new area. Nothing in the texts we read says that.
Second, the FAQ adds a line labeled "Note" that reads:
"Mail without a specific address or instructions from the sender is held for:"
- "10 days if for General Delivery at an office with letter-carrier service."
- "15 days if for General Delivery at an office without letter-carrier service."
The page doesn't define "without a specific address or instructions from the sender," so we quote the note without adding a reading of our own.
We counted the words in the General Delivery section of DMM 508, which runs 189 words. The phrase "30 days" appears once, in the sentence quoted above, and "identification" appears twice. The words "package," "parcel," "signature" and "fee" appear 0 times. Nor does the FAQ article use the word "package." So the texts don't tell you whether a facility takes a UPS or FedEx box, and we don't guess. Ask the facility before anyone ships one.
At pickup, you may be asked for ID. DMM 508.6.3 says: "A general delivery customer can be required to present suitable identification before mail is given to the customer." The rule says "can be required," so ask the facility what it accepts. DMM 608.10.3 lists the photo IDs USPS accepts for other services, such as a driver's license or a passport. Exhibits 10.2 and 10.3 in DMM 608 list ID rules service by service, and neither exhibit has a General Delivery row. For General Delivery, "suitable identification" is as far as the text goes. One more line from the FAQ: General Delivery mail "is not delivered on Sunday or Holidays."
What can't General Delivery do?
The table keeps to what the three texts say. Where the texts are silent, the row says so.
| What you may want | What the USPS text says | Where |
|---|---|---|
| An address that stays | General Delivery is "intended primarily as a temporary means of delivery" | DMM 508.6.1 |
| Mail held past 30 days | Each piece is held "for no more than 30 days"; longer only "if requested by sender or addressee and approved by postmaster" | DMM 508.6.4; USPS FAQ |
| Delivery to your door | Mail is held at the Post Office "to pick up in person" | USPS FAQ |
| Pickup at any Post Office | "normally available at only one facility" and "A customer may use only one such location" | DMM 508.6.2 |
| Pickup with no ID check | You "can be required to present suitable identification" | DMM 508.6.3 |
| Mail on a Sunday or holiday | General Delivery mail "is not delivered on Sunday or Holidays" | USPS FAQ |
| A street address line on a form | The words GENERAL DELIVERY take the place of the street line, "as the Delivery Address Line on the mailpiece" | Pub 28 section 261 |
| Packages, private carriers, signature items | The rule speaks of each "mailpiece" and doesn't mention packages, UPS, FedEx or signatures; the FAQ calls the service "a free service when and where it is authorized" | DMM 508.6; USPS FAQ |
The street address row matters for anyone who plans to put General Delivery on paperwork. The federal customer identification rule for banks asks an individual for a residential or business street address. For someone with no street address, the same rule allows an Army Post Office (APO) or Fleet Post Office (FPO) box number, or the street address of next of kin or another contact person. General Delivery has no street line, because Pub 28 puts the words GENERAL DELIVERY in that spot. Our post on using a virtual mailbox for personal mail quotes that banking rule in full. Each bank decides what it accepts. We didn't read IRS forms for this post, so we make no claim about tax paperwork.
General Delivery also needs you at a US counter. If you're leaving the country, our post on forwarding US mail overseas covers what USPS will and won't send abroad.
Which option fits when General Delivery is too short?
General Delivery suits a short stay in one town. Three other services cover the cases it doesn't.
Hold Mail is for an address you already have. USPS keeps all mail for that address at the Post Office "for not less than 3 days and not more than 30 days," with no fee (DMM 508.11.1.1). Hold Mail pauses delivery during a trip and doesn't give you an address. Our post on how long USPS holds mail covers the pickup window and the gap between two holds.
A PO Box gives you a box number at a Post Office. DMM 508.4.1.1 calls it "a premium service offered for a fee" and adds that it comes "for no fee to customers who are not eligible for carrier delivery." The General Delivery FAQ points there for anyone who wants mail waiting each morning: "If you wish to pick your mail up before regular delivery occurs, we suggest that you purchase a Post Office Box for a nominal fee (so that your mail is available for pickup every morning)." Since DMM 508.6.1 names people who want a PO Box when none is available, a PO Box is the first thing to check. The differences between a box and a street mailbox address are in virtual mailbox vs PO Box.
A mailbox at a commercial mail receiving agency (CMRA) gives you a street address that stays. The DMM defines a CMRA as "a business that, in whole or in part, accepts the delivery of U.S. Mail on behalf of another person or entity as a business service" (DMM 508.1.8.1). The agency "accepts delivery of the mail and holds it for pickup or remails it to the addressee, prepaid with new postage" (DMM 508.1.8.2). A virtual mailbox runs on that model, and how a virtual mailbox works explains it step by step.
The split between General Delivery and a mailbox is time. General Delivery is free and temporary by design. A mailbox costs money and keeps the same street address for as long as you keep the plan.
How Auteur handles mail when you need an address that stays
We sell virtual mailboxes, so this is the seller's view. Auteur is in pre-launch, and your exact street address is assigned the day your city opens. If you need mail for a few weeks in one town, General Delivery may be all you need, and it costs nothing. A mailbox makes sense when you need a street address that stays, or when you won't be near the Post Office to collect mail in person. We don't say every bank or agency will accept our address; each one applies its own rules.
The Virtual Business Address receives mail in a business or trade name. Choose it if mail comes to a limited liability company (LLC), a corporation or a DBA (doing business as) name. The Virtual Mailing Address is for personal mail, in individual names only.
Both plans photograph the envelope of every piece, and we open and scan only when you ask, for one flat fee per piece. Henry, our AI assistant, explains each letter you ask us to open. USPS Form 1583 is required before any provider can receive mail for you. Pricing comes by email with the next steps, and our fees and limits are in our fair use policy.
Storage is the one place the two services line up. Our fair use policy says: "Everything physical, letters and packages alike, is stored for 30 days after it arrives." The same policy says: "We email you before anything is shredded or discarded, and you can ask us to forward it instead." Forwarding costs the actual postage, with no handling fee.
If the mail is in your own name, get your Virtual Mailing Address. Ordering is free, there's no card, and nothing is charged today. If mail comes to a business or trade name, the Virtual Business Address is the plan to choose.
FAQ
Why would an address say General Delivery?
The words mean the Post Office holds that mail for pickup in person. Under Pub 28 section 261, GENERAL DELIVERY goes "as the Delivery Address Line on the mailpiece," in the spot where a street address would normally sit. Under DMM 508.6.1, the service is for "transients and customers not permanently located" and for people who want Post Office box service "when boxes are unavailable."
How long will the USPS hold a General Delivery package?
The texts set the limit per "mailpiece" and never use the word "package." DMM 508.6.4 says each general delivery mailpiece "is held for no more than 30 days," and the sender may ask for a shorter time. The FAQ adds that mail "may be held for longer periods if requested by sender or addressee and approved by postmaster." Ask the facility how it handles a package before anyone ships one.
Is General Delivery free, and do I need to apply?
The FAQ answers both questions: "General Delivery is a free service when and where it is authorized. No application is required." The same page says to "speak with the postmaster," and DMM 508.6.2 lets a postmaster refuse the service to someone without "suitable identification" or with more mail than the office can handle.
Can I use General Delivery as my address on a bank form?
The federal customer identification rule asks an individual for a residential or business street address, and General Delivery replaces the street line with the words GENERAL DELIVERY. For someone with no street address, the rule allows an APO or FPO box number, or the street address of next of kin or another contact person. Each bank decides what it accepts, so ask before you open the account. Our post on using a virtual mailbox for personal mail quotes that rule in full.
This post explains USPS mailing standards and our own published policy. The post isn't legal advice.
Bottom line
General Delivery is a free USPS pickup service for people with no permanent address, or no PO Box available, and USPS says it is "intended primarily as a temporary means of delivery." Address mail as NAME, GENERAL DELIVERY, CITY STATE ZIP, and confirm the one authorized facility and its ZIP Code before anyone mails to you. Each piece is held for no more than 30 days unless you or the sender ask and the postmaster approves longer, and you may be asked for suitable identification at the counter. For an address that stays, look at a PO Box or a mailbox address.
