Plan mail during a trip longer than a month
A trip longer than a month runs past Hold Mail, which covers three to thirty days. Read the USPS forwarding page and ask USPS which official service fits the length of your absence. Neither a hold nor forwarding removes you from advertising lists, so requests to advertisers are a separate task.
Fit the service to the length
- Write down your departure and return dates and count the days. If the total is thirty days or fewer, Hold Mail may be enough. If it is longer, review the USPS forwarding options.
- Contact USPS through its official channels with those dates and ask which service suits the absence. Do not chain holds together as a workaround.
- Make sure everyone at the address agrees to any change in delivery, because a hold or forward affects mail sent to that address.
- Before you leave, list the unwanted advertising senders you can identify and send each one a request to stop mailed advertising.
What stays unchanged while you are away
Whichever delivery option you choose, the advertisers' records stay the same. A forwarded catalog may follow you to your temporary address, and a held one will be waiting when you return.
For current terms, use the official USPS page for the service you choose. If mail goes missing or you suspect theft, report it through the USPIS reporting page. Delivery service problems have their own USPS route.
Absence timeline
Example for your own use. Replace the bracketed details and review what you share.
Write the timeline
Keep the dates in one place: departure, return, the service USPS recommends and the date of each advertiser request. When you get back, sort the mail against that list. Send one dated follow-up to any sender still mailing after an earlier request.
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