USPS holidays 2026: Post Office closures and mail delivery days

2026 postal holidays

This is the USPS list for 2026. On these days Post Office locations are closed and there is no regular mail delivery; retail service and delivery resume on the next regular service day.

• USPS holidays and events ↗

When a holiday falls on a weekend

The federal government moves weekend holidays for its own employees. OPM’s rule is that when a holiday falls on a Saturday, most federal employees observe it on the preceding Friday; when it falls on a Sunday, they observe the following Monday. That is why OPM lists Friday, July 3, 2026 as the Independence Day holiday.

The Postal Service did not close that Friday. Its holiday page and its June 26, 2026 announcement said Post Offices would be open and deliveries would occur as normal on Friday, July 3. With Independence Day on Saturday and no regular Sunday delivery, retail service and regular delivery resumed on Monday, July 6. The lesson for any year: check the USPS list, not a general federal or bank holiday calendar, before assuming the Post Office is closed.

What is closed on a postal holiday, and what still works

On a postal holiday, Post Office retail counters close and carriers do not deliver regular mail. USPS announcements for 2026 holidays state this directly; for example, its Juneteenth notice said all Post Office locations would be closed on Friday, June 19 and that regular delivery and retail services would resume on Saturday, June 20.

Some services do not depend on an open counter:

• Online at usps.com you can still buy stamps, order free boxes, schedule Hold Mail, file a change of address, rent or renew a PO Box, and print prepaid labels with Click-N-Ship.
• Self-service kiosks in select lobbies print postage for Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express, and international shipping, sell stamps, weigh and mail packages, and show tracking. Many are available around the clock.
• Priority Mail Express offers Sunday and holiday delivery in many major markets for an additional fee.
• Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are not postal holidays, but USPS publishes a separate holiday service schedule for local Post Office hours, delivery, and collection box pickup on those days.

• USPS Priority Mail Express ↗

Which days have no mail delivery?

Regular mail is not delivered on Sundays or on the 11 postal holidays. Two of those surprise people every year: Columbus Day and Veterans Day. Many private businesses stay open on both, but Post Offices close and carriers do not deliver regular mail.

The reverse catches people out too. Days that are not on the USPS list are regular service days, even when other offices close. In 2026 that includes Friday, July 3, the day after Thanksgiving, and Christmas Eve. Local Post Office hours can be shorter on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, so check the USPS holiday service schedule or the hours for your Post Office before a counter visit.

If a letter needs to go out before a holiday weekend, the practical cutoff is the last regular pickup before the holiday, not the holiday itself. Check the last pickup time for the collection box or Post Office you plan to use.

Is there mail delivery today?

If today is Monday through Saturday and not on the holiday list above, regular mail delivery is scheduled. If it is a Sunday or a postal holiday, it is not, apart from a few exceptions. For local disruptions caused by weather or emergencies, check the USPS service alerts page.

Saturday is a regular delivery day. USPS says deliveries are normally made by 5 p.m. local time Monday through Saturday, although traffic, staffing, severe weather, and route changes can make them later.

Sunday is not a regular delivery day. According to the USPS FAQ, Priority Mail Express items and Amazon parcels are the only mail delivered on Sunday, so a letter or postcard sent by First-Class Mail will not arrive on a Sunday. Our Sunday delivery guide covers the exceptions and fees.

• Does USPS deliver on Sunday? ↗
• USPS service alerts ↗

How holidays affect First-Class Mail delivery times

The USPS FAQ describes First-Class Mail as 1–5 business days, not including Sundays and postal holidays. Under USPS’s service-standard rules, a holiday is left out of the count when the letter is mailed the day before it: a letter mailed on Tuesday, November 10, for example, does not have Veterans Day counted toward its service standard. Either way, a holiday with no delivery pushes the expected arrival later on the calendar.

Year-end holidays deserve extra care. Christmas Day falls on Friday, December 25, 2026 and New Year’s Day on Friday, January 1, 2027. Each creates a stretch from Thursday evening to Monday with regular delivery only on Saturday. Allow more time than the standard range suggests for anything date-specific in late November and December. The detailed counting rules, including how Saturdays count, are in our guide to how long a letter takes to arrive.

• How long does a letter take to arrive? ↗
• USPS holiday mailing deadlines for 2026 ↗

Planning an IRIS letter or postcard around a holiday

You can upload a letter or design a postcard on IRIS on any day, including holidays, but ordering is not the same as mailing. IRIS does not publish a fixed time from payment to USPS handoff and does not guarantee an arrival date. The USPS 1–5 business day estimate starts only after the piece enters the mailstream, and holidays, weather, and USPS operations can add time.

If a letter must arrive before a date, order early and count backward with holidays excluded. Certified Mail adds tracking information but does not travel faster, so it does not shorten the timeline. For a fixed legal or contractual deadline, confirm the accepted mailing method and timing with whoever set it.

• IRIS delivery stages ↗
• What Certified Mail costs ↗

Early 2027 holidays to plan around

USPS had not posted its 2027 list when this article was written. The federal schedule published by OPM shows these dates for the start of 2027; none falls on a weekend. Confirm them on the USPS holiday page before you rely on them.

• OPM federal holidays ↗