GLOSSARY
Restricted Delivery
By Justin Winter · Updated August 28, 2026
A USPS extra service that limits delivery to the addressee, or to someone the addressee has authorised in writing.
Ordinarily a Certified Mail piece can be signed for by anyone at the address willing to accept it — a spouse, a receptionist, a neighbour. Restricted Delivery narrows that: USPS will hand the piece only to the named addressee or their written designee.
It exists because some statutes and contracts require notice to reach a specific person rather than an address. If yours does not say so explicitly, standard Certified Mail is normally what is meant.
See also
- Certified Mail — A USPS extra service that adds a dated mailing receipt and delivery tracking to a letter, with the delivery record kept by USPS.
- Return receipt — A USPS add-on that sends the sender a copy of the recipient’s signature as proof the piece was delivered and to whom.
- Signature Confirmation — A USPS extra service that requires a signature at delivery and keeps the record on file, without the mailing receipt Certified Mail gives you.
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