Royal Mail tracking
Track a Royal Mail parcel
Enter your Royal Mail tracking number to follow your item from acceptance to delivery. Below, we explain every status, the common reasons tracking stalls, and how businesses track Royal Mail deliveries the moment they reach the building.
Track a Royal Mail parcel
Enter your tracking number to see the parcel's journey.
About Royal Mail
Royal Mail is the United Kingdom's universal postal service, delivering letters and parcels to every UK address six days a week. Its tracked parcel services - Tracked 24 and Tracked 48 - are among the most common ways goods reach UK offices, campuses and residential buildings, alongside Special Delivery Guaranteed and Signed For.
Only these services carry end-to-end tracking. Standard 1st and 2nd Class letters and untracked parcels have no scan history, so there is nothing to look up - the tracker only works for items sent on a tracked or signed-for service.
Royal Mail tracking number formats
A Royal Mail tracking number is usually 13 characters: two service letters, nine digits, and the country code GB. You will find it on your Post Office receipt, the sender's dispatch email, or the parcel label.
Royal Mail tracking statuses explained
- AcceptedRoyal Mail has taken the item - at a Post Office, postbox collection, or from the sender's premises.
- In transitThe parcel is moving through the network between mail centres and delivery offices. Expect quiet gaps between scans.
- Out for deliveryThe item is with a postie on the delivery round and should arrive that day.
- DeliveredHanded over at the address. For businesses this means reception or the mailroom received it - not yet the named recipient.
- Awaiting collectionHeld at a local delivery office or Post Office, usually after a missed delivery. Bring ID and the card or reference.
Royal Mail tracking FAQs
How do I track a Royal Mail parcel?
Enter your 13-character tracking number (like AA123456789GB) into the tracker above. You'll see each scan from acceptance to delivery. Only tracked and signed-for services have a scan history.
What does a Royal Mail tracking number look like?
Most are 13 characters: two letters, nine digits, then GB - for example AA123456789GB. Special Delivery and international items follow the same pattern with different service-letter prefixes.
Why is my Royal Mail tracking not updating?
Tracking normally pauses between scans, such as overnight in transit or while an item waits at a delivery office. If there's been no scan for several days, ask the sender to raise an enquiry with Royal Mail.
What does “delivered” mean at a business address?
For an office, campus or apartment block, “delivered” means Royal Mail handed the parcel to reception or a mailroom - not to the named person. Internal tracking software like Traizr takes over from that point.
Can Traizr track Royal Mail parcels automatically?
Traizr tracks parcels once they reach your building: staff scan each item in, the recipient is notified automatically, and a signature is captured on collection - a complete chain of custody from courier to recipient.
Common Royal Mail tracking problems
Tracking stuck “in transit”
Long gaps are normal in the network. Give it a working day or two; if it stalls beyond the expected delivery date, the sender can open an enquiry.
No tracking events at all
The item was likely sent untracked (1st/2nd Class). Only Tracked, Signed For and Special Delivery services produce scans.
Says delivered but not received
At a business, it's usually with reception or the mailroom. Check there first - this is exactly the internal gap Traizr closes.
Missed delivery card
The parcel is awaiting collection at your local delivery office, or can be redelivered. Take ID and the reference number.
What happens after “Delivered”?
For a home address, delivery is the end of the story. For an office, university, hospital or apartment building, it's only halfway: the parcel has reached the door, but it still has to travel from reception to the person it's actually for. That internal leg is invisible to Royal Mail - and it's where parcels most often go missing.
Traizr picks up exactly where the courier scan ends, giving your building the same visibility for the internal journey that Royal Mail gives for the external one.
How Traizr tracks Royal Mail deliveries inside your building
Most tracking stops at “Delivered”. Traizr continues the journey - from the front desk to the recipient's signature.
- CourierRoyal Mail arrives
- ReceptionScanned in
- MailroomLogged & sorted
- NotificationRecipient alerted
- CollectionHanded over
- SignatureProof captured
- Audit trailFull history
Explore Traizr's features or see it applied to office mailrooms, universities and student accommodation.
Track other couriers
Never lose a Royal Mail parcel in the building again
Traizr is internal mail & parcel tracking for reception teams and mailrooms - scan-in, instant recipient notifications, and a signature-backed audit trail for every item.
Book a free demo Track another parcel