Tracking number not found: what it means and what to do

"Not found", "no information available" or "invalid number" rarely means your package is lost. Often the carrier hasn't recorded a tracking event yet, or the number is being checked with the wrong carrier.

What the message means

A carrier's tracking page answers one question: does its system have any record for this number? "Not found" means the answer is no. That can be because the number has not been scanned yet, because it belongs to another carrier, because it was copied with a mistake, or, months after delivery, because the carrier no longer shows the old tracking history.

Two situations look alike but mean different things. A carrier that recognises the number but has no events yet usually shows "label created" or "shipment information received": the seller has registered the shipment, and the package will appear once the carrier gets it. A carrier that doesn't recognise the number at all is more likely to be the wrong carrier, or the number has a typo.

The most common reasons

• •
  It is too early. Sellers often create the shipping label, and send you the number, before the package is handed to the carrier. Until the first event, many carriers show nothing at all. For domestic shipments the first event often appears within a few business days; for low-cost international shipments it can take longer.
• •
  It is being checked with the wrong carrier. Many numbers fit the format of several carriers, and some sellers name the company that collected the package rather than the one that delivers it. A number that shows nothing at one carrier can be fully tracked at another.
• •
  There is a typo. Letters and digits that look alike are the usual culprits: O and 0, I and 1, S and 5, B and 8. A missing character also breaks the lookup.
• •
  It is not a tracking number. Order numbers, invoice numbers and payment references often appear right next to the tracking number in shop emails and look just as official.
• •
  The tracking history is no longer available. Carriers keep tracking data for a limited time. A number from an old order may show nothing even though it was delivered.
• •
  The service has limited tracking. Some low-cost international postal services are tracked only until they leave the origin country, or only at a few points on the way.

What to do, step by step

• •
  Check the number character by character against the shipping email or the order page. Copy and paste it instead of typing it. Spaces printed between groups of characters are only for readability.
• •
  Check which carrier it belongs to. The shipping email or the order page usually names the carrier. Our guide to tracking number formats explains what the letters and digits can, and cannot, tell you.
• •
  Give it time. If the label was created in the last few days, wait a few business days for a domestic shipment, and up to about a week for an international one. See what "shipment information received" means.
• •
  Ask the seller. If a domestic number still shows nothing after about a week, or an international one after about two, contact the seller or the shop. They are the carrier's customer, can confirm the number and the carrier, and can open an investigation.
• •
  Keep an eye on deadlines. If you bought on a marketplace or paid by card or a payment service, note the deadline for reporting an order that didn't arrive. Waiting for tracking should never make you miss it.

How Trackful handles a number no carrier knows yet

When you add a number, Trackful checks it with the carriers it fits. If none of them has information yet, the package stays in your list with a note saying so, and Trackful keeps checking it in the background, so you don't have to come back and retry. If the number fits several carriers, you can pick the right one yourself, and some carriers ask for an extra detail, such as the destination postal code, before they share tracking events.