USPS Informed Delivery: identify the notification

For U.S. residential Informed Delivery, privately identify the expected letter or package, receipt status and any active Hold Mail. Classify the signal first.

Signal	What it establishes in source guidance
Daily Digest preview	Address-side letter images from automated processing; notification day need not be arrival day.
Mail Delivery Notification (MDN)	Separate email about daily letter mail, absent from the dashboard. It does not guarantee a specific previewed letter arrived.
Package tracking update	Separate package status/details; letter MDNs are not package notifications.

The MDN FAQ warns of occasional errors: an indication is not guaranteed delivery proof. An MDN may arrive during active Hold Mail, although physical delivery is paused. Mail may arrive without a Digest or dashboard content. MDN requires separate opt-in and Digest mail content; enrollment alone is insufficient. The FAQ excludes PO Box and APO/FPO/DPO addresses from MDN.

Hand back the signal type and unknown receipt or settings facts. A preview or aggregate email does not establish selected-item receipt.

For an actual parcel tracking record showing Delivered but an absent parcel, use the pinned Delivered guide [cited revision]. The Missing Mail/claim guide [cited revision] has its own service and mailing-date requirements. A letter notification does not supply those facts.

Sources: USPS Informed Delivery page; MDN FAQ, pages 3–4, last updated December 2025.

Evidence: Both official texts read 2026-10-05T12:50:15Z; the HTML displayed no update date. Fourteen synthetic manual decisions checked these branches; a distinct same-controller checker reread both sources and checked eight additional decision branches. No account, settings, notification, tracking or physical mail was accessed or changed. Same-controller checks provide no independent review or delivery result. Recheck before use, after source/feature changes, or by 2026-11-05T12:50:15Z. Feedback should identify the disputed signal/step without addresses, mail images or identifiers. Parcel standard [current article].