How to Perform a Post Office Forwarding Address Lookup

Richard Grey - February 28, 2025

Forwarding addresses can be difficult to locate, especially if you are trying to find the forwarding address of a previous tenant of your home or a friend you lost contact with. You may be wondering if you can simply look up this information using the U.S. Post Office, but this process can be more complicated than you might think at first. 

Our article tells you more about the potential for a Post Office forwarding address lookup in addition to giving you details about how to find someone’s forwarding address.

Can I Lookup a Forwarding Address With the Post Office?

While the U.S. Post Office offers a number of different helpful services for individuals looking to send mail, receive packages, and ensure that their mail is delivered to the right place, it is not possible to simply look up someone’s forwarding address on the USPS website. This is due to security and privacy reasons, and the U.S. Post Office provides more details about legal obligations when it comes to protecting privacy here.

In general, address information requests are only completed in situations where there is a legal necessity or when it is necessary to provide this information to law enforcement as a matter of safety and security. You cannot access someone’s forwarding address by looking up things on the USPS website, though you can use address change and forwarding services to ensure your mail gets to the right place.

Does the Post Office Offer Forwarding Services?

The U.S. Post Office does offer forwarding services, but only if you are the person who needs to have your mail forwarded. You can fill out the form on the USPS website to forward your mail for up to a year or to forward it temporarily, and you can also have your mail forwarded internationally or to a P.O. Box as necessary. 

The cost for this service is minimal, typically around one dollar for the forwarding service for a year, and you can speak to a U.S. Post Office employee or navigate the official USPS website if you have any questions.

How Can I Find Someone’s Forwarding Address?

There are a few different ways to find someone’s forwarding address if you do not know it and need to contact that person. Below, we discuss the best ways to find someone’s current address.

Utilize Address Service Requested

Address service requested is a method of having mail you send to a specific address be forwarded to the newest address the U.S. Post Office has on file for someone. For example, if you are trying to find the forwarding address of a friend, you can write them a letter and mail it through the post office using Certified Mail. Make sure to mark the letter as address service requested and that you receive a tracking number for the letter.

Once you mail the letter, the post office will deliver it to the newest address they have on file. You can follow along with the letter’s progress with your tracking number, and once the letter is delivered, you will have the forwarding address of where the person you are searching for lives now.

Check a People Lookup Tool

People lookup tools are easy ways to find someone’s current address, as these tools utilize public records to give you all of the details you need to know about someone. You can use a people lookup tool to find the forwarding address of a previous tenant of your address, among other important contact details.

To use a people lookup tool, type in the name of the person you are searching for and their general location, such as their city and state. Run the search and review the results to discover any previous and current addresses and other important contact details. You can then use their current address details to forward their mail accurately.

Ask Mutual Friends and Family

Sometimes, mutual friends and family members may have the forwarding address you need, especially if you are searching for the forwarding address of someone you used to be close with. Speak with your friends and family members to try to figure out how to send mail, and contact the person you are searching for to find out their forwarding address.

What Do I Do With a Previous Tenant’s Mail?

Constantly receiving a previous tenant’s mail can be annoying, especially if you cannot find them to contact them about their old mail. Typically, you have a few different choices of what to do with a previous tenant’s mail:

• Keep the previous tenant’s mail and collect it until you can find their new address and send it to them all at once
• Mark the mail as ‘return to sender’ and give it back to the Post Office
• Mark the mail as ‘no longer at address’ and give it back to the Post Office
• Throw the mail away if it is old and there is no way to contact the person it is addressed to

Dealing with a previous tenant’s mail is troublesome at best and stressful at worst, so if you absolutely cannot find the person the mail is addressed to, do not hesitate to throw away the old mail or speak to the USPS about your options.

Can I Throw Away the Old Mail of a Previous Tenant?

If you are continually receiving old mail at your address that is for a previous tenant or a friend or family member, and you have done your best to attempt to contact the person in question to try and find their new address.In this particular case, you are able to throw away old mail. In general, this is preferred to opening it, as you can face legal consequences for opening someone else’s mail.

That being said, you can always return every letter or package you receive at your address to the sender using the ‘return to sender’ indicator on the letter and placing the mail back in the Post Office’s care.

Can I Complete a Change of Address for Someone?

It is not possible to complete a change of address for someone else, as tempting as it might be to use the U.S. Post Office’s service to fill out a change of address for a previous tenant or a family member to stop receiving their mail. 

Completing a change of address for someone else falls under the category of tampering with someone else’s mail, and this can lead to legal consequences if you are caught.

Is It Illegal to Handle Someone Else’s Mail?

While it isn’t illegal to handle someone else’s mail if it ends up at your current address, as you will need to handle letters and packages to forward them or return them to the sender, it is illegal to open and tamper with someone else’s mail. 

You cannot open mail or packages that arrive at your address and are not addressed to you; this is a crime in all states, and if you are repeatedly opening someone else’s mail and looking through it, you could face serious legal consequences.

Find the Forwarding Address You Need

Finding a forwarding address for friends or family can seem difficult at first, as there is often a long waiting period with mail, and you cannot ask the U.S. Post Office for this information directly. 

However, with the tips in our article, or even by using free people search tools, you can discover someone’s new current address and even have mail forwarded directly to them without having to do too much extra work. If you ever have concerns about where your mail is being delivered to, don’t hesitate to ask a Post Office employee for advice.