Can Informed Delivery block junk mail?
No. Informed Delivery previews eligible incoming mail and sends package notifications. It does not remove you from a sender's list, and a preview is not a complete record of what was delivered. What it can do is point you to a sender worth looking into.
Use previews to find senders
- Open your own Informed Delivery previews and look for advertising that shows up repeatedly. Use only your own account and your own mail.
- Pick one repeated piece and wait for the paper copy. The printed piece carries the sender name and return address you will need.
- Compare the preview image with the paper. If they match, record the sender name exactly as printed.
- Check that sender's own website for a way to stop mailed advertising. If you find none, ask the sender whether one exists.
What a preview can and cannot tell you
Seeing an image of a postcard does not tell you who supplied your address or whether a request will change anything. A missing preview also does not prove a piece never arrived, so it is not evidence that a request worked. A reply from the sender is a better record.
Mail that looks like fraud, theft or identity misuse should be reported through the USPIS reporting page instead of handled with an advertising request.
Preview-to-request note
Example for your own use. Replace the bracketed details and review what you share.
Turn one preview into one request
Choose the sender that appears most often in this week's previews. Write down its name, the address printed on the piece and the date you first noticed it, then send that sender a request. Afterward, compare the paper mail you receive with your previews, and do not treat either one alone as proof the mail stopped.
Official sources
Choose the route that matches the mailing
Use the official route described in this guide for this kind of mail. For a separate ordinary advertisement, Junk Mail Magic can help prepare a sender-specific removal request.
Compare removal routes