A USPS mail hold stops all mail (including letters and packages) for all individuals at a specified address. This free service is a great way to manage your mail delivery if you’re away from home for a few days or weeks.
Still, plans change, and you may need to cancel a USPS mail hold. But, if you don’t know how to cancel a USPS mail hold, this article will show you exactly how to do it, so keep reading!
How To Cancel a USPS Mail Hold
USPS customers can cancel mail holds online, over the phone, or at their local post office. To cancel online or by phone, provide your phone number or email address plus the confirmation number you received with your initial mail hold request. Without a confirmation number, you can’t cancel online, nor can USPS cancel it.
If you want to find out exactly how to cancel your mail hold request, then make sure to read the rest of my research!
What Is a USPS Mail Hold?
Before getting into the details about how to cancel a mail hold, it might be helpful to remember what it is and why you may need to set one up.
That said, a USPS mail hold tells your local post office to stop mail delivery when you’re away from home or just need to suspend delivery for a few days.
So, it’s a great way to avoid coming home to an overstuffed mailbox or missing a vital package delivery.
Also, mail holds cover all the mail sent to an address, regardless of who it’s addressed to and who set up the hold.
With a mail hold, USPS keeps all of the letters, packages, and periodicals for your address safe at your local post office until the end date you specify.
After the end date, you can request that USPS deliver all of your held mail to your home, or you can pick it up at the post office.
Can You Cancel a USPS Mail Hold?
Yes, you can absolutely cancel a USPS mail hold.
Because USPS is dedicated to providing you with quality mail services, it gives customers a lot of flexibility when modifying or canceling services.
With that, you can cancel a USPS mail hold online, over the phone, or in person at your local post office.
How Do I Cancel a USPS Mail Hold?
You can cancel a USPS mail hold using the confirmation number you received when you initially created the hold.
Further, this number should have been emailed to you after you submitted your mail hold request online or called the Customer Care Center to set up the hold.
So, to cancel your mail hold request online, follow these steps:
- Visit the official USPS Hold Mail service page.
- Click the “Edit/Cancel Your Hold Mail Request” option on the right side of the page.
- Enter your phone number or email address and the confirmation number on the pop-up menu that appears.
- After entering your details, cancel the mail-hold request.
- Click the “Continue” button at the bottom of the page.
- Double-check the details of your request and click “Verify Your Cancellation.”
- View the “Cancellation Confirmation” page.
Also, you can cancel a mail hold request by calling the USPS Customer Care Center at 1-800-ASK-USPS (1-800-275-8777).
On this line, agents are available to take your call Monday to Friday 8:00 AM – 8:30 PM ET and Saturday 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM ET.
But they will need your email address or phone number plus your confirmation number to complete your request.
Can I Cancel a USPS Mail Hold Without a Confirmation Number?
Without a confirmation number, you can’t edit, change, or cancel your mail hold request online.
Similarly, a USPS representative at the Customer Care Center won’t cancel your request without the confirmation number.
Without this number, all they can do is extend a mail-hold request.
If you can’t find your confirmation number, you can visit your local post office, present an acceptable form of identification, and have the clerk cancel your request.
In addition, here is a list of acceptable forms of ID:
- Identification card issued by a federally or state-recognized tribal nation (tribal identification card)
- S. certificate of citizenship or naturalization
- S. permanent resident or other identification card issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
- Uniformed Service ID card
- S. Armed Forces card
- Non-driver’s identification card
- State-issued driver’s license
- Passport
- Matricula Consular (Mexico)
- NEXUS (Canada)
- Corporate Identification
- S. University Identification
Moreover, if you cannot visit your local post office because you’re still out of town or on vacation, you can cancel your request by calling your local post office.
To learn more about USPS services, you can also see our posts on what proof of delivery in USPS is, what hold mail end date means in USPS, and what is certified mail USPS.
