Royal Mail's tracking updates follow the parcel from the shop's label to your door. Most of them need nothing from you. The ones that do are a missed delivery, an item held at the Delivery Office, and a parcel that has gone quiet for days.

Before Royal Mail has it

"We're expecting it." The shop has printed a label and told Royal Mail a parcel is coming. That is all. The parcel may still be on a shelf in the warehouse, and nothing can be changed yet. If this is the only update for a few days, ask the shop, not Royal Mail: it usually means the parcel has not been handed over.

On the move

"We've got it." Royal Mail has scanned the parcel in. From here it is in the network, and on most tracked parcels the Change delivery options start to appear around the day it is due.

"Item received at [name] Mail Centre" and "Item leaving [name] Mail Centre." Sorting scans. It is normal to see one or two of these, and normal for a parcel to sit at a Mail Centre overnight.

"Item received at [name] Delivery Office." It has reached the office your postie works from. It usually goes out the next delivery day.

The delivery day

"Out for delivery." It is on the van today. This is also the last point you can usually change where it goes for that day.

"Delivered" (sometimes with "to a neighbour" or "to a Safeplace"). Done. If it says delivered and you have nothing, check the Safeplace or neighbour it names before contacting the shop.

The ones that need you

"Sorry, we tried to deliver your item" or a "Something for you" card. Nobody could take it. You can usually rearrange a redelivery or collect it from the Delivery Office or a Post Office, as the card or update says.

"Item being held at the Delivery Office" or "Ready for collection." Take ID and the card or tracking number. Items are only kept for a limited time before they go back to the shop, so do not leave it.

No update for several days in the middle. Parcels do sometimes skip a scan. If it has been quiet for more than a few working days, contact the shop: they are Royal Mail's customer, and they are the one who can open an enquiry.

Doing this for a lot of parcels

Checking twenty tracking pages one by one is the slow part. Trackerly reads your dispatch emails, so every Royal Mail number lands on one Tracking page on its own, with the latest update on each row, and a Change delivery button on a Royal Mail parcel once Royal Mail has it. We cover the options in how to redirect a Royal Mail or DPD parcel.

Start your 7-day free trial and see every parcel you have coming on one page.