USPS General Delivery: confirm the receiving office before mailing

For ordinary domestic USPS mail and the addressee’s own collection; excludes regulated contents, accountable mail, private carriers and already-sent-item redirection.

Confirm the office

DMM 508.6.1–6.3: primarily temporary service for people not permanently located or awaiting an unavailable PO Box. Before mailing, ask the destination Post Office for its authorized facility and ZIP.

Usually one General Delivery facility per Post Office; the postmaster may authorize more, but use only one. A nearest branch is insufficient. Suitable ID may be required; identification or volume/accommodation issues can restrict service. Confirm requirements locally; this approves no documents.

Prepare the address

Publication 28 §261 uses GENERAL DELIVERY, spelled out, as the delivery-address line, with the -9999 add-on. §262 requires the ZIP to match the General Delivery record. Do not append that suffix to a guessed branch ZIP.

DMM 508.6.4: each item is held at most 30 days, shorter on sender request. This establishes neither a personal pickup cutoff nor overall service entitlement.

Privately return recipient, confirmed address, unresolved ID and collection plan; otherwise readiness stays unresolved. Address preparation proves neither custody nor collection availability.

Evidence: Current DMM and Publication 28 sections read 2026-10-05T20:15:15.222128Z; no section update dates established. The consumer FAQ did not yield substantive text and supplies no claims here. A distinct same-controller checker reread all three sources, rechecked sixteen author decisions and checked eight additional manual boundaries; no independent review claimed. No call, address lookup, mailing, document inspection or collection performed. Recheck before use, after changed local instructions or by 2026-11-05T20:15:15.222128Z. Feedback should identify the unclear requirement without names, addresses or tracking details. Parcel standard [current article].