Certified Mail proves you mailed something and shows whether it was delivered. It does not get you the recipient's signature. That takes Return Receipt, an add-on that costs $4.65 by mail or $2.91 by email on top of the $5.55 Certified Mail fee and postage. If all you need is proof of the date you mailed it, a $2.45 Certificate of Mailing is cheaper, and it is a different service.
Use Certified Mail for anything you may later need to prove you sent: court papers, contracts, tax notices, insurance claims, demand letters. You buy it at the Post Office counter, leave with a receipt that records the date USPS accepted the item, and follow delivery online with the number on that receipt.
What each proof covers
Three USPS services sound alike and prove different things.
Certified Mail on its own gives you a mailing receipt with the date USPS accepted the item, and a delivery record you can pull up with the number on that receipt, showing when it was delivered or when a carrier tried. No signature comes back to you.
Certified Mail with Return Receipt adds the signature. USPS mails you a hardcopy delivery record or emails you an electronic one showing who signed, for $4.65 by mail or $2.91 by email. If the other party could later argue they never got it, buy this combination.
Certificate of Mailing is not Certified Mail. For $2.45 it records the date you handed the item to USPS and nothing about delivery. It is sold only at the Post Office, only when you mail the item, on PS Form 3817 or 3877, and USPS keeps no copy, so keep yours.
Two more options come up at the counter. Certified Mail Restricted Delivery, $14.35, means only the addressee or someone they authorize can sign for and receive the item. Signature Confirmation is sold as its own service, $5.15 at a Post Office or $4.15 online, and gets a signature at delivery.
What USPS charges
Every fee below is per item and added to postage. The fees come from the USPS extra services page. Postage depends on the mail class you pick, and current postage is in USPS Notice 123, the USPS price list.
Service | Fee | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
Certified Mail | $5.55 | Mailing receipt plus a record of delivery or attempted delivery |
Return Receipt (PS Form 3811) | $4.65 by mail, $2.91 by email | The recipient's signature. Add it to Certified Mail. |
Certified Mail Restricted Delivery | $14.35 | Only the addressee or the person they authorize can sign for and receive it |
Certificate of Mailing (PS Form 3817 or 3877) | $2.45 | Proof of the date you mailed it. Nothing about delivery. |
Signature Confirmation | $5.15 at a Post Office, $4.15 online | A signature at delivery, sold as its own service |
USPS Tracking | No charge | Date and time of delivery or attempted delivery |
How to send Certified Mail at the Post Office
- Address the envelope or package, check the address, and make sure the contents are allowed in the mail. The address you write on the Certified Mail form has to match the one on the item.
- Ask for Certified Mail at the counter and fill in the sender and recipient sections of the form. If you need the recipient's signature, ask for Return Receipt at the same time. If only the addressee may sign, ask for Restricted Delivery.
- Put the barcode on the item and hand it to the clerk. You only get a postmarked receipt when a Postal employee takes the item from you, so ask for the postmark if you want one.
- Pay the postage plus the $5.55 Certified Mail fee and any add-ons.
- Keep the receipt. The number on it is your tracking number. Enter it on usps.com to see the delivery record; USPS Tracking has no charge. The recipient may be asked to show an acceptable primary ID before USPS hands the item over.
Sources: USPS insurance and extra services for every fee and service rule on this page, and USPS Notice 123 for postage.
Updated October 2026.
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