How to send certified mail

Step by step at the post office

• Put the letter in a standard envelope with your return address and the recipient’s address.
• Ask for Certified Mail at the counter and fill in the Certified Mail receipt (PS Form 3800). Keep your copy: it carries the tracking number.
• If you want the signature, add a Return Receipt: paper (by mail) or electronic (by email).
• Pay postage plus the extra services, keep the receipt and track the letter on usps.com.

What you can prove afterwards

• That you sent it: your stamped receipt and tracking number.
• When it was delivered, or that delivery was attempted.
• With a Return Receipt: the signature of the person who accepted it.

Paper or electronic return receipt?

Both give you a delivery record with the signature. The electronic one costs less ($2.91 against $4.65 for the paper card) and arrives by email, so it is easier to keep and forward. It is not available for APO/FPO/DPO addresses and some U.S. territories.

When certified mail is worth it

• Cancelling a gym or a contract that asks for written notice.
• Notices to a landlord or tenant, such as a notice to vacate or a security deposit request.
• Any letter where the date it arrived matters, because a deadline counts from receipt.