How to Send Certified Mail: Step by Step

The short answer

To send Certified Mail, address and seal your envelope, write the recipient’s name and address on a PS Form 3800, stick its green label above the delivery address and to the right of your return address, and hand the letter to a Post Office clerk with postage plus the $5.55 Certified Mail fee (USPS retail prices effective July 12, 2026, unchanged in the October 4, 2026 Notice 123). The clerk postmarks your receipt. Keep it: the article number on it is how you track the letter and get proof of delivery.

Send a Certified letter How to send Certified Mail online

What you need before you start

Certified Mail can be added to a First-Class Mail or Priority Mail piece. For an ordinary letter, gather the following, then decide which proof you want back, because a Return Receipt can only be bought at the time of mailing.

What you need for a certified letter (USPS retail prices effective July 12, 2026, unchanged in the October 4, 2026 Notice 123)
Item	Where it comes from	Cost
Sealed, addressed envelope with your return address	You	Postage: $0.82 for a 1-ounce stamped letter, $0.29 for each extra ounce
PS Form 3800, Certified Mail receipt and green label	Post Office retail counter	$5.55 Certified Mail fee
PS Form 3811, the green-card Return Receipt (optional)	Post Office retail counter	$4.65
Electronic Return Receipt (optional)	Requested and paid for at mailing	$2.91
Certified Mail Restricted Delivery (optional)	Requested at mailing; the addressee must be a named individual	$14.35

How to send a certified letter at the Post Office

This is the standard counter method. USPS’s Domestic Mail Manual and its Certified Mail guidebook describe the same sequence.

Filling out the Certified Mail slip takes a minute: the receipt asks for the recipient’s name and address and the postage and fees you’re paying. Copy the address exactly as it appears on the envelope.

Fill out the receipt part of PS Form 3800 with the recipient’s name and complete address.
If you want the green card, fill out both sides of PS Form 3811: write the address the card should come back to (usually yours) on the reverse, and put the Certified Mail article number in box 2 (the guidebook says to peel the number label from the top of PS Form 3800). Write “Return Receipt Requested” near the Certified Mail endorsement and enter the fee on your receipt. With any Return Receipt, the envelope must show your name and complete return address.
Attach the green Certified Mail label to the front of the envelope above the delivery address and to the right of the return address, folding the green strip over the top edge on the dotted line.
Attach the green card to the back of a small envelope, or to the front of a large envelope where it doesn’t cover the address.
Hand the letter to the clerk and pay the postage and fees. Ask for any Restricted Delivery or electronic Return Receipt now.
Take the postmarked receipt. The clerk round-dates it to show when USPS accepted the letter, and can also record the time if you ask.

Can I drop Certified Mail in a mailbox?

Yes. The Domestic Mail Manual lets you attach the Certified Mail sticker, detach the receipt, write the mailing date on it yourself, and mail the letter. USPS says a piece with a Return Receipt can likewise go from your home or office mailbox or a collection box, as long as the correct forms, postage, and fees are on it. Extra service fees may be paid with ordinary stamps: $6.37 for a 1-ounce letter with Certified Mail alone.

What you give up is the postmarked receipt. USPS says to present the letter to a postal employee if you want a postmarked sender’s receipt; a receipt you date yourself is your own note, not USPS’s record of acceptance. If a deadline matters, use the counter. You still need the PS Form 3800, which USPS’s guidebook tells you to collect at the counter.

Can I send Certified Mail without going to the Post Office?

Apart from the mailbox method above, there are online routes. The Domestic Mail Manual allows Certified Mail with USPS-approved PC Postage and other online services; instead of a round-dated form, you get an online record showing the extra service number, postage paid, and declared mailing date.

A print-and-mail service is the other route: you upload the letter and the service prints, certifies, and mails it. The online guide compares what you get that way with a counter receipt.

How can I track my Certified Mail receipt and get a USPS Proof of Delivery?

Enter the article number from your receipt in USPS Tracking on usps.com, text it to 28777, or call 1-800-222-1811. Ordinary First-Class letters can’t be tracked; the Certified Mail number is what makes a letter trackable. USPS can also email a proof of delivery letter that includes the signature when one is available.

If you paid for an electronic Return Receipt, USPS’s guidebook says you request the signature letter on the USPS website and receive it as a PDF by email. If you paid for a green card and it never arrives, you can get the delivery information at any Post Office within 90 days of purchase by filling out PS Form 3811-A and showing your fee receipt. USPS keeps the Certified Mail delivery record for two years from mailing, and records older than 60 days take longer to retrieve.

Can Certified Mail be held at the Post Office?

Yes, if no one is there to sign. The carrier leaves a PS Form 3849 notice, and USPS holds Certified Mail for 15 days before returning it on the 16th day. As the sender, you can shorten that period by marking fewer days on the piece. The recipient can pick the letter up or schedule a redelivery online. If it comes back unclaimed, the receipt and tracking still show that you mailed it and that delivery was attempted.

What to keep after you mail it

Certified Mail records show that a numbered piece was mailed and delivered, not what was in it. Keep a complete file:

The postmarked PS Form 3800 receipt, or your online label record.
An exact copy of every page you sent, dated.
The green card, or a saved PDF of the electronic Return Receipt or proof of delivery letter.
A screenshot or printout of the tracking history.

Common Certified Mail mistakes

Most problems come from choices that can’t be fixed after the letter is gone:

Trying to add a Return Receipt later. USPS doesn’t sell it after mailing.
Using a mailbox when you need a postmarked receipt. Only a clerk round-dates it.
Losing the receipt. USPS can’t track or locate an item without the number.
Short postage. The envelope must carry postage for the mail class plus every fee.
Ordering Restricted Delivery for a company. It only works when the addressee is a named individual.
Expecting speed or insurance. Certified Mail travels at the speed of its mail class and has no insurance of its own.

Sending a certified letter through IRIS

IRIS prints a letter from the US Letter-size PDF you upload and mails it by USPS First-Class Mail to a US address. You enter your name and return address and the recipient’s name and address, add Certified Mail ($6.95), and optionally the electronic Return Receipt ($2.91). You review the document, addresses, options, and total before paying. A one-page black-and-white letter is $3.20, or $10.15 with Certified Mail. Certified letters can be up to six sheets (6 single-sided or 12 double-sided pages).

IRIS doesn’t offer Priority Mail, Restricted Delivery, Registered Mail, or the hardcopy green card, and it can’t enclose checks, cash, or originals; it prints your PDF. It doesn’t guarantee a delivery date, and payment or order status is not proof of delivery. Where an agency requires an original signature or another submission method, follow its instructions.

Sources & further reading

Product details checked against the IRIS API contract when this article was published. Platform references can change; consult the linked documentation when implementing.

Published by IRIS Postal Forms, operated by Great Lakes Computing Office LLC. Send a correction.

Put it into practice

Skip the counter for a certified letter

Upload a finished PDF, add Certified Mail, and review the itemized total before you pay. IRIS prints the letter and mails it by First-Class Mail to a US address.

Send a Certified letter ↗How to send Certified Mail online ↗