USPS Informed Delivery previews your letters, not your catalogs. If the morning email shows nothing and a stack of catalogs arrives anyway, that’s why.
The quick answer
- Informed Delivery shows the address side of letter-size mail that goes through USPS sorting machines: up to 10 pieces in the daily email, and all of them on your online dashboard.
- Catalogs and magazines usually aren’t imaged, so they don’t appear. USPS says so in its own FAQ.
- When USPS scans a piece it has no picture of, the email says there’s mail “for which we do not currently have an image.” On those days, expect a catalog or magazine.
- A color picture with a “Learn More” button under a letter is an ad the mailer paid to add.
What this means for checking the mailbox
An empty preview doesn’t always mean an empty mailbox. Letters show up as images. Catalogs and magazines show up, at most, as that “no image” note. Packages are listed separately at the bottom of the email.
Using it against junk mail
- Letters: the images show who’s mailing you. Note the senders you never want, then ask each company to stop. Our store-by-store guides link to the official routes.
- Catalogs: since they rarely appear, keep a quick list of the ones that land in your mailbox and stop them the same way. See how to stop holiday catalogs.
- Mail for someone who moved out: their names show up on the images too. Here’s what to do.
Good to know
- Informed Delivery is free. You sign up at informeddelivery.usps.com and verify your identity.
- Some apartment and condo addresses can’t sign up, because USPS can’t tell individual mailboxes apart there.
- Mailbox Zero is independent and doesn’t show or store USPS images. Our pilot reads the text of the email you forward.
Sources
- USPS, Informed Delivery – The Basics (updated September 30, 2026): letter-size mail imaged by automated equipment; up to 10 images in the daily email; catalogs and magazines not imaged; the “no image” message; interactive campaigns from mailers. Last checked November 2, 2026.
Or let us read it for you
Forward your free Informed Delivery email and Mailbox Zero tells you each morning whether today’s mail is worth the walk, and flags the junk worth stopping. Mail you want is never touched without your yes.
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Mailbox Zero is independent and not affiliated with any company named here or the U.S. Postal Service.
