How to Track an Amazon Package: Where It Is, Tracking Numbers and What to Do If It’s Delayed

Most Amazon packages are easy to follow. The hard part is knowing what you’re looking at: Amazon’s own delivery network, a carrier like UPS or USPS, or a third-party seller shipping on its own. Each one shows tracking a little differently, and each one has a different next step when it’s late.

Sources: About Amazon (how-to article modified Dec 30, 2025; holiday features from 2019 and 2022), the Amazon Shipping tracking page, Tom’s Guide (2019), the FTC’s business guide to the Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule (updated July 22, 2025), and the UPS and USPS help pages, all read Oct 3, 2026. Amazon’s own customer-service help pages block automated readers, so we could not verify them. The Amazon Shipping tracking page (track.amazon.com) describes a separate, seller-facing service, so its guidance on first scans and the 36-hour wait may not apply to every Amazon.com order. Features described in 2019 and 2022 sources may have changed; check what your app shows.

How to track an Amazon package

The quickest route depends on where you are. The first three come from About Amazon’s guide to tracking a package; the Alexa row comes from a separate About Amazon article.

1. Go to Your Orders using one of the routes above.
2. Find the order and select Track Package.
3. Read the status and delivery estimate. When the package is close, the page can switch to a map.
4. If you’d rather not check, set up notifications (next section).

Where is my Amazon package? Map tracking and delivery updates

When the package gets close, Amazon can show you where the driver is. About Amazon says that once a package is “10 stops away,” Amazon sends push notifications to customers who’ve opted in, and you can select “Track Package” from the Your Orders page to see the driver’s proximity and delivery timing.

A few limits are worth knowing:

• It’s for Amazon’s own deliveries. Tom’s Guide, reporting on the feature’s launch in 2019, said map tracking wasn’t available for packages shipped through traditional carriers such as UPS, FedEx or the U.S. Postal Service. It only worked for dedicated Amazon vehicles. We couldn’t find a current Amazon statement either way, so if you don’t see a map, the carrier is the first thing to check.
• It appears late. The map shows up near the end of the trip. Before that you’ll see status steps and an estimate only.
• Other features Amazon described in 2019: a Predicted Delivery Window of 2 to 4 hours, Photo-On-Delivery to show where the driver left the package, and Share Tracking by text, email or messaging apps. These are from a December 2019 Amazon release; availability today varies by order and area.

Share tracking, especially for gifts

About Amazon says the Progress Tracker page lets you share tracking details by text, email or apps such as WhatsApp. For gifts, recipients can virtually unbox the item, open the gift receipt or review it from the Amazon app. In 2019, Amazon also made Alexa “spoiler-friendly”: items marked as gifts at checkout aren’t named when you ask Alexa where your stuff is.

Track an Amazon package with Alexa

About Amazon’s Alexa shopping tips say you can ask “Alexa, where’s my stuff?” or “What’s the status of my order?” On a device with a screen you can ask Alexa to show package tracking. To get alerts, open the Alexa app and go to Settings → Notifications → Amazon Shopping, where the article says you can adjust sliders for packages out for delivery, order updates such as delays or cancellations, and delivery confirmation. That article is dated December 21, 2022, so menu names may differ in your app.

Amazon tracking number: where to find it and what the formats mean

Not every Amazon order gives you a tracking number you can paste somewhere else. For Amazon-delivered packages, the Track Package page is the tracker. For carrier-delivered ones, the carrier’s number can be used on the carrier’s site.

• Where: on the Track Package page for the shipment. Third-party guides say the tracking ID is shown on the shipment details page; the layout varies by order, and if you don’t see one, Amazon may not expose it for that shipment.
• UPS numbers: UPS lists its standard formats as 1Z followed by characters (1Z9999999999999999), 12 digits, T plus 10 digits, or 9 digits.
• Amazon’s own IDs: consumer tracking sites describe Amazon Logistics numbers as starting with “TBA” and say they don’t work on UPS, USPS or FedEx sites. We couldn’t confirm that on an Amazon page, so treat it as a common observation, not an Amazon statement.
• Seller-shipped orders: a seller may add its own carrier and number. Amazon also runs a separate “Amazon Shipping” tracker at track.amazon.com where you enter a tracking ID. That page describes the process as three stages: you place an online order, the package is out for delivery, and Amazon Shipping delivers it.

Amazon package delayed: what to do

Delivery estimates move. Before you worry, work through this list in order.

1. Re-check Your Orders. Look at the delivery estimate and status. A changed date is Amazon’s updated estimate.
2. Look for a scan gap. The Amazon Shipping page (a separate seller-facing service) notes that the first package scan may not happen until the package reaches a regional hub, or may occur only on final delivery, because of high shipping volume. A quiet tracker isn’t proof of a lost package.
3. Check the carrier. UPS says its drivers can generally deliver as late as 9 p.m., and later in the holiday season. If a package marked “out for delivery” can’t be delivered, UPS attempts another delivery the next business day.
4. Check “undelivered” reasons. The same Amazon Shipping page lists no secure location, no access to the address (missing codes, call box numbers or buzzer info), and items too large for a P.O. box.
5. Contact Amazon or the seller. For seller-shipped orders, contact the seller through your order; for orders Amazon ships, contact Amazon customer service.
6. Know your rights if the delay is long. See the FTC rule below.

What the FTC rule says about late shipments

The FTC’s Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule covers most goods ordered online. Key points from the FTC’s business guide:

• If an ad doesn’t state a shipping time, the seller must have a reasonable basis to ship within 30 days of receiving a properly completed order (the guide notes 50 days when the buyer applies for credit to pay for the order). Amazon shows a delivery estimate on orders, so this default may not apply to your order.
• If a seller can’t ship on time, it must tell you and give you the choice to agree to the delay or cancel for a refund. The notice must offer a definite new shipping date or say the seller can’t say how long the delay will be.
• For a delay of more than 30 days, or an indefinite one, the buyer is treated as having rejected it unless the seller gets express consent within 30 days.
• Refunds are due within 7 working days for non-credit payments, or one billing cycle for credit sales.

If the carrier is USPS or UPS and nothing is moving

For a USPS shipment, a Missing Mail search request can be submitted “starting 7 days from mailing.” You’ll need the sender and recipient addresses, the size and type of container, the USPS tracking number or mailing receipt, a description of the contents, and pictures that could help USPS recognize the item. USPS confirms by email and sends periodic updates; it says recovery isn’t guaranteed. That process is built around the mailer, so as the buyer start with Amazon or the seller.

For UPS, use the UPS tracking number on ups.com or in the UPS app; UPS’s support page lists the formats above and the delivery-hours details.

My Amazon package says delivered but I don’t have it

That’s a separate problem with its own steps. The Amazon Shipping page (a separate seller-facing service, so treat this as a guide, not a rule for every order) recommends checking for delivery notices, the delivery spot and mailbox, whether someone else accepted it, and any photo confirmation. It says that if you still can’t find it after 36 hours, contact the seller. For the full process, see what to do when a package is delivered but not received.

Quick fixes for common tracking problems

How to avoid tracking headaches

• Turn on notifications in the Amazon app so you get the “10 stops away” alert, and in the Alexa app for out-for-delivery and delay alerts.
• Add access details (gate codes, call box or buzzer numbers) so the driver isn’t blocked.
• Check who ships it before ordering time-sensitive items: a seller-shipped order can use a different carrier and tracking number.
• If the order ends in a return or refund, see Amazon refund time.