How to find your tracking number, or track without one
You'll usually find your tracking number in the shop's shipping email or text, or in your order on its website or app, one click past the order number. If you sent the parcel yourself, it's on your post office receipt. No carrier will track a package by your name or address, but a missed-delivery card, some carriers' free accounts for incoming parcels, or the sender can still get you tracking.
Where do I find my tracking number?
USPS puts it plainly: the number "is generated and provided to the sender". It usually reaches you through them, so look in this order:
- Your inbox and textsSearch for "shipped", "dispatched", "tracking" or the shop's name, and check spam.
- The shop's order pageOne click past the order number (table below).
- A missed-delivery cardMany carry a number the carrier's tracking accepts.
- The carrier's accountSome carriers list parcels heading to your address.
- The sender"Only the sender can provide the tracking number," says Canada Post.
Found the email but can't tell which number is which? Paste the whole thing into Peek: it picks out the tracking number and the carrier.
In your order on Amazon, eBay, Temu and other shops
| Shop | Where the tracking number is |
|---|---|
| Amazon (US, UK, Canada, Australia) | Your Orders → the order → Track package → All updates |
| eBay | Purchase history, as a link next to the item. As a guest: the "Order Confirmed" email → View order details → Show delivery details (US: Show shipping details) |
| Etsy | Your account → Purchases and reviews (app: You → Purchases). No tracking button? Look under View Receipt |
| Temu | Your orders → Track, next to the order |
| Shein | My orders → the order → Track |
| Vinted | The order's conversation → Track parcel, where you can copy the number |
No number there? There may be none yet, or none at all. Temu asks you to allow "1-3 business days for warehouse processing" first. Amazon warns that "standard international deliveries" might not be trackable, and eBay shows a number only if the seller used a tracked service and uploaded it.
Ordered from AliExpress or another shop in China? See tracking a parcel from China.
On a missed-delivery card
- USPS PS Form 3849: search its barcode number on USPS.com "as you would use a tracking number".
- UPS Delivery Notice, left on the first delivery attempt in select countries: its 12-digit reference number works in UPS tracking.
- FedEx door tag: its number goes straight into FedEx tracking.
- Canada Post Delivery Notice Card: 15 digits that serve "the same purpose as a tracking number".
- Evri calling card: its 8-digit number works on Evri's tracking page.
How to track a package without a tracking number
Three routes work, none of them by name or address.
Ask the sender
Every carrier that writes about missing numbers sends you back to the sender. Ask for:
- The carrier's name. The wrong carrier's site won't find the number.
- The number exactly as printed.
- Whether it was tracked at all. USPS First-Class letters and flats without an extra service have no number, nor do some Marketing Mail parcels.
Bought on a marketplace? Ask through it. On Amazon, use Your Orders → Problem with Order → Contact Seller, then "allow two days for the seller to respond". On eBay, ask the seller to upload the tracking number.
Let the carrier list parcels coming to you
Several carriers list parcels heading your way once you prove the address, email or phone number is yours. Each shows only its own parcels, and only when the sender's details match yours.
| Where | Service | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| US | USPS Informed Delivery, free | USPS parcels to your address, by daily email and dashboard. Starts "within three business days", rarely up to 7. Some apartment addresses can't join; the email won't always list every parcel |
| US, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia | UPS My Choice, free to join | UPS parcels to and from you, coming up or from the past four months. In the US and Canada, a code may come by post in about 7 to 14 days |
| US | FedEx Delivery Manager, free | Deliveries to your home, address checked by a texted code. FedEx doesn't say parcels without a number will appear |
| UK | DPD app | DPD and DPD Local parcels, matched to "your mobile phone number or email address and your delivery address" |
| Canada | Canada Post automatic tracking, free | Personal accounts only, no business or PO box addresses, ID checked. No guarantee every parcel is added |
| Australia | MyPost account, free | Australia Post adds parcels "if we have the information required" |
We found nothing like this for Royal Mail, Evri or An Post: with them, you need the number. To follow parcels from every carrier in one list, see universal parcel tracking.
Track by the sender's reference
If the sender tells you their own reference (a purchase order or invoice number), couriers can search by it: UPS Track by Reference Number, FedEx Track by reference and DHL Express Track By Reference. Canada Post's Track takes the reference with the shipping date. UPS warns the details will be "mostly masked".
Can you track a parcel with just a name or address?
No, not on a carrier's tracking page, and not by phone either. The carriers say so:
- Royal Mail: "We can't use any other information like a name or address to track items."
- Canada Post: "For privacy reasons, we don't keep records of shipments by address or name."
- Australia Post: name or address "can't be used to locate items".
- USPS: Post Offices and Care Center agents "do not have a way to find an item's tracking number".
The nearest thing is a carrier account like those above, once you've proved the address is yours. Parcel trackers can't either, Peek included: it needs a number to ask the carrier about.
What if I lost my tracking number?
Waiting for a parcel? Search your inbox again or reopen the order; failing that, ask the sender to resend it.
Sent the parcel yourself? The number is on what the counter gave you. Keep that slip until the parcel arrives: USPS says its Post Offices and Care Center "do not have a way to recover lost tracking numbers", Royal Mail can't help without it either, and Australia Post says a name or address "can't be used to locate items".
| Carrier | Where to look |
|---|---|
| USPS | Your sales or mailing receipt, your online label record (Click-N-Ship, eBay), or under the barcode on the parcel |
| Royal Mail | The label, or your Post Office receipt, where it "may be called a barcode or a reference" |
| An Post | The "Track ID number" on your receipt; the "trans ref ID" is "not a tracking number" |
| Canada Post | The bottom of your tracking receipt; for US and international items, your copy of the label and receipt |
| Australia Post | Your counter receipt "in many cases"; on a prepaid satchel, the barcode and/or the removable sticker |
Can I track a parcel I sent without a tracking number?
No: "without a reference number, you won't be able to track your item," says Royal Mail. If you paid for a tracked service, though, the number is on your receipt or label (table above).
Is the order number the same as the tracking number?
No. DHL spells it out: an order number is assigned by your retailer, and it isn't a tracking number. The carrier's tracking number only exists once a label is printed.
- Order placedThe shop gives you an order number
- Label printedThe tracking number exists, but the carrier has no parcel yet
- First scanTracking comes alive, often within a day or two
- Missed deliveryThe card left behind often has a number that works too
To tell them apart: a number labelled "Order" is the shop's own and won't work on the carrier's site, while a tracking number comes with a carrier's name or a link to its tracking page. 1Z999AA10123456784 is a UPS number; many postal items carry the international 13-character format, like RR123456785CH. Tracking number formats shows which carrier a number belongs to.
Why does my tracking number show nothing?
Usually because it's new: the label exists, but the carrier hasn't scanned the parcel yet. DHL says scans usually appear 24 to 48 hours after you get the number, Vinted allows up to 48 hours, and Evri can take a few days to receive a parcel. Each carrier's wait is in why tracking stops updating.
Past that wait, check the number itself:
- Is it a tracking number? An order number won't work on a carrier's site, nor will a UPS package release code (4 to 6 digits from the shipper). A sender's reference works only in the courier's reference search.
- Is it this carrier's? Royal Mail asks you to check the item went with Royal Mail, on a tracked service; Australia Post, that it's an Australia Post parcel.
- Is it typed right? DHL reads a space, comma, semicolon or tab as the start of another number, so paste it without them.
Still nothing? Ask the sender or the shop, as DHL advises. For each status, see what tracking statuses mean.
Sources
- USPS: How to find your tracking number – sender, PS Form 3849, receipts
- USPS: Informed Delivery, the basics – conditions and limits
- UPS: Tracking support – Delivery Notice, 1Z
- UPS: How to use InfoNotice – tracking by notice number, release code
- UPS: Track – track by reference
- UPS: Understanding tracking status – Label Created
- UPS: UPS My Choice – free, four months, letter
- UPS Canada: UPS My Choice – letter with activation code in Canada
- FedEx: Tracking – door tags, reference
- FedEx: Delivery Manager – free, home deliveries
- FedEx: How to register for Delivery Manager – address verified by a texted code
- DHL Express: Track by reference – reference search
- DHL: Sendungsverfolgung, Probleme und Lösungen – not an order number
- DHL: Tracking FAQ – 24 to 48 hours, separators
- Royal Mail: Help with tracking reference numbers – receipts, no name or address, numbers not recognised
- Evri: Track a parcel – calling card, ask the sender
- Evri: How do I track my parcel – a few days
- DPD UK: The DPD app – automatic matching
- An Post: Track and Trace – Track ID, trans ref ID
- Canada Post: How to use Track – only the sender, notice card, reference
- Canada Post: Find your tracking number – receipts, no records by name or address
- Canada Post: Automatic tracking – conditions
- Australia Post: Lost tracking number – receipts, numbers not recognised
- Australia Post: Tracking service – MyPost
- Amazon: Tracking your package – Your Orders, untracked international deliveries
- Amazon: Missing tracking information – contact the seller, two days
- eBay: Tracking your item – purchase history, Show delivery details
- eBay US: Tracking your item – Show shipping details
- Etsy: What's the status of my order – Purchases, View Receipt
- Temu: How to track my order – Track, 1 to 3 days
- Shein: Where is my order – My orders
- Vinted: Tracking a parcel – Track parcel, 48 hours
- UPU: S10 standard – the 13-character postal format