You don't actually need six tools. You need one column. This guide shows how to track packages from every carrier you use — side by side, in a single Google Sheet, with one formula that doesn't care who the carrier is.

The core idea: carrier is a column, not a tool​

The way most teams fail at multi-carrier tracking is by splitting their data: one tab for UPS, one tab for USPS, a separate tool for DHL. That's copying the carriers' fragmentation into your own system.

The cleaner pattern is the exact opposite: one master list, every shipment in it, the carrier is just a value in a column. The tracking formula reads whichever carrier the row specifies and returns the right status, whether that's UPS, FedEx, DHL, Royal Mail, or J&T Express.

Concretely:

=PKG_STATUS(tracking_cell, carrier_cell)

That single formula — with Your Package Tracker installed — handles every one of the 1,700+ supported carriers. UPS rows query UPS. USPS rows query USPS. DHL rows query DHL. All in the same column.

Step 1: The canonical multi-carrier sheet layout​

Here's the column structure most multi-carrier ops teams converge on. Adapt to taste — the essential columns are tracking number and carrier, side by side.

The essential thing: columns D and E are the inputs the formula reads from. Everything else is context for you.

Step 2: The one formula that handles everyone​

In cell F2:

=PKG_STATUS(D2, E2)

In cell G2:

=PKG_SUMMARY(D2, E2)

Do not copy these down 500 rows manually — we'll get to the right way in a moment.

These two formulas work identically whether E2 contains UPS, USPS, FedEx, DHL, Australia Post, China Post, SF Express, Yamato, or any other supported carrier name. The add-on recognizes the carrier string and routes the lookup to the right network under the hood.

Which carrier values work?​

You can use any of the following in column E:

• Full English name (case-insensitive): UPS, FedEx, USPS, DHL, Royal Mail, Australia Post, Japan Post, SF Express
• Common abbreviations: UPS, DHL, USPS, FedEx, RM (Royal Mail), AusPost
• Local/native names: 中国邮政 (China Post), Deutsche Post, La Poste
• Numeric carrier codes — if you're importing from a platform that uses codes, those work too

This matters because most teams are ingesting tracking numbers from a mix of sources — your shipping platform, a supplier's CSV, a marketplace export — and the carrier name is spelled differently each time. Our normalization is forgiving.

Step 3: Bulk-track the whole list in one pass​

This is the step people most often get wrong.

Wrong: Select F2:G2, grab the fill handle, drag down to row 500. What happens next: every one of those 500 rows fires a live carrier lookup in the same second. Carriers rate-limit, the add-on surfaces errors, and half your cells show #ERROR!.

Right: Use Bulk Track Packages. It's the dedicated tool for exactly this situation, and it handles a mixed-carrier batch in a single run.

1. In the Sheets menu bar, open Your Package Tracker → Bulk Track Packages.
2. Tracking range: D2:D500.
3. Carrier range: E2:E500.
4. Output type: Status (one word per row) or Summary (status + last location + timestamp).
5. Click Start Bulk Tracking.

The add-on walks the rows, reads the carrier from column E for each, routes the lookup to the right carrier network, paces requests to respect each carrier's rate limits independently, caches duplicates, skips already-delivered rows, and writes the results into the column right after your carrier column.

You can close the dialog. It keeps running in the background. Come back in a few minutes, the status column is filled in.

This is the whole "unified multi-carrier view" you came here for — it's literally one button press.

Step 4: Make the sheet scannable​

Once the status column is populated, the readability win comes from conditional formatting. Three rules cover 95% of the use case:

• Delivered → green background. Dismiss these visually.
• Status contains "Out for Delivery" → yellow. Today's arrivals.
• Status contains "Exception", "Alert", "Return", or "Held" → red. Your callback queue.

How to add it:

1. Select the Status column (e.g. F2:F500).
2. Format → Conditional formatting.
3. Condition: "Text contains" → Delivered → background green.
4. Add another rule for Out for Delivery → yellow.
5. Add another for Exception, Alert, etc. → red.

Now a 300-row sheet with mixed carriers becomes instantly legible: green rows are done, yellow are today, red is the customer service list.

Real-world multi-carrier scenarios​

Dropshipper sourcing from multiple suppliers​

Supplier A ships via China Post. Supplier B via Yanwen. Supplier C via SF Express. End customers are in the US, EU, Australia.

Sheet structure: one row per order, tracking number in column D, carrier in column E. Conditional formatting on Status. Weekly pivot by carrier: which supplier delivers fastest? Which has the highest exception rate? You've built, for $19/month, a supplier performance dashboard that would take a week to build in a BI tool.

3PL handling mixed domestic + international​

The 3PL receives goods from clients, bundles, and ships via whichever carrier is cheapest per destination. A typical week: 50% UPS Ground, 25% USPS Priority, 15% FedEx, 10% DHL for international.

Sheet structure: one row per outbound, columns for client, tracking, carrier, recipient, ship date, Status, Summary. Daily Bulk Track Packages over the open range. Each client sees a filtered view of their shipments only. One sheet, every carrier, no per-client dashboard to build.

Office admin tracking inbound​

You order supplies from twelve vendors. They ship via whatever carrier they prefer — UPS, FedEx, USPS, DHL, one vendor uses OnTrac, another uses a regional LTL freight carrier.

Sheet structure: vendor, PO number, expected arrival, tracking, carrier, Status. Quick Bulk Track when you want to see what's outstanding. Filter on Exception for the "something's stuck" list you need to chase.

Personal — tracking everything you buy​

Online shopping means a tracking number per purchase, and every retailer uses a different carrier. A single personal sheet with 50–100 rows, carrier in column E, Bulk Track once a week, and the whole "where are my things" question is answered without logging into a dozen tracker apps.

Handling the edge cases​

"I don't know the carrier"​

Occasionally a marketplace gives you a tracking number without saying who the carrier is. In that case, leave column E blank or type auto. Some carriers have tracking number patterns distinctive enough that auto-detection works (e.g. 1Z-prefix is always UPS). For ambiguous numbers, you'll need to ask the shipper — no tracking engine can detect the carrier from a bare number 100% of the time.

Tracking numbers crossing two carriers​

FedEx SmartPost, UPS Mail Innovations, and DHL eCommerce's US arm all hand the final-mile delivery to USPS. You can put FedEx or USPS (or UPS / USPS) in column E — the formula will resolve either way, and the event timeline is continuous across the handoff. We explain this in more detail in our FedEx and USPS guides.

Mixing domestic and international in the same sheet​

No special handling needed. International shipments just surface additional events (customs holds, export scans) in PKG_LAST_EVENT. A useful pattern: pin column H (Last Event) only for rows whose destination isn't your home country, so customs status is always visible for the shipments that actually care about it.

Frequently asked questions​

Can I have different carriers in different rows? Yes — that's the whole point of this setup. One row, one carrier. Mix as many as you want in the same sheet.

Will my quota be split per carrier? No. Your monthly lookup budget is pooled across all carriers. 500 lookups on Growth means 500 lookups total, whether they're all UPS or split across 20 carriers.

What if my carrier column is in a different position than column E? Doesn't matter. PKG_STATUS(tracking_cell, carrier_cell) takes any two cells as input. Put the columns wherever fits your layout.

Is it fine to have the same tracking number appear twice? Yes. Cached reads are free, so the second lookup of the same number doesn't count against quota.

Does Bulk Track Packages really handle mixed carriers? Yes — it reads the carrier per row and routes each lookup appropriately. You don't need to run it once per carrier.

What does it cost? 3 free lookups to try. Paid plans from $19/month. Full pricing.

The takeaway​

Multi-carrier tracking is a data-modeling problem, not a tooling problem. The moment you model carrier as a column in one sheet instead of carrier as a separate tool, the whole thing collapses into a single view, a single formula, and a single monthly bill.

Install Your Package Tracker free from the Google Workspace Marketplace →

More carrier-specific guides: UPS, FedEx, USPS, DHL. Comparing tools? Read our overview of multi-carrier tracking platforms.

You don't want five tracking portals. You want one view of every shipment you've ever sent, searchable, sortable, and next to the order information.

This article compares the tools that solve that problem — their strengths, their pricing, who they fit best — and where the dead-simple "just use Google Sheets" approach beats the dedicated platforms.

What to look for in a multi-carrier tracking tool​

Before naming names, here is the short checklist. The right tool for you depends on which of these you weight most:

• Carrier coverage. How many couriers are supported? The serious tools all cover 1,000+ global carriers. Anything under 500 is a red flag if you ship internationally.
• Ingest method. Some tools want you to forward shipping-confirmation emails. Some read your Shopify orders automatically. Some expose an API. Some are spreadsheet-native. Which matches how you already work?
• Pricing model. Per-shipment, per-user, per-month, or a flat fee? Small operations get gouged by per-shipment pricing at scale; large operations get gouged by per-user pricing.
• Customer-facing vs. ops-facing. Some tools are designed to send branded "where's my package" pages to your customers. Others are designed to give your team a dashboard. These are different products.
• Setup effort. A platform that requires a week of implementation is not free, even if the plan itself is. A formula that works in 60 seconds is.

With those in mind:

The tools worth knowing about​

AfterShip​

AfterShip is the best-known name in this category and a genuinely strong product. Their sweet spot is mid-to-large Shopify / BigCommerce / Magento stores that want branded post-purchase experiences — tracking pages on your own domain, delivery notifications in your brand voice, returns flows, analytics dashboards, AI estimated-delivery dates.

• Best for: DTC e-commerce at scale, enterprise customer experience
• Carriers: 1,400+
• Pricing: free tier up to ~50 shipments/month, then plans typically start in the tens of dollars and scale with volume; enterprise plans can reach thousands per month
• Tradeoff: overkill and pricey if you just need an operational view of your own shipments, and setup requires integrating it with your store platform

Ship24​

Ship24 positions itself as an API-first multi-carrier tracker. If you're a developer building your own dashboard, your own customer emails, or your own internal tool, Ship24 gives you a clean JSON endpoint per tracking number and you stitch the UX together yourself.

• Best for: engineering teams building custom tracking UX
• Carriers: 1,200+
• Pricing: pay-per-tracking with volume tiers
• Tradeoff: there is no UI to speak of. If you don't have an engineer to wire it up, Ship24 on its own doesn't solve your problem

TrackingMore​

TrackingMore sits between AfterShip and Ship24 — a dashboard for ops, plus APIs, plus Shopify-style integrations. Popular with small and mid e-commerce that want more than a raw API but less than the full AfterShip suite.

• Best for: small-to-mid stores wanting a dashboard and occasional API calls
• Carriers: 1,200+
• Pricing: per-shipment plans
• Tradeoff: still a separate platform to log into, and the UI is generic rather than tailored to your workflow

ParcelPanel​

ParcelPanel is a Shopify-native tracking app — installs on your store, automatically ingests orders, and pushes branded tracking pages and notifications. Very popular with Shopify merchants because setup is a few clicks.

• Best for: Shopify stores that want branded tracking pages fast
• Carriers: 1,000+
• Pricing: tiered by monthly shipments
• Tradeoff: locked to Shopify (and a few other platforms). If you sell across multiple channels — Etsy, eBay, wholesale, your own site — it covers only one slice

Parcels.app (and similar consumer trackers)​

A constellation of apps and websites — Parcels, Packagetrackr, Boxoh, ExtraVox — aimed at individuals tracking a handful of personal packages. Great for buyers. Not designed for sellers or ops teams.

• Best for: tracking a dozen packages a year for yourself
• Carriers: varies, many hundreds
• Pricing: free with ads; cheap pro tiers
• Tradeoff: no bulk import, no team collaboration, no spreadsheet integration

EasyPost / Shippo​

These are shipping-first platforms — they print labels, compare rates, manage pickups — that also provide tracking as part of the package. If you're choosing a shipping platform, tracking comes included. If you already have a shipping stack and just need a tracking view over top of it, they're too heavy.

• Best for: teams that haven't picked a shipping platform yet
• Carriers: 100+ label-printing carriers, more for tracking
• Pricing: per-label (shipping) + per-tracking
• Tradeoff: solves more than the tracking problem, at more than the tracking price

The Google Sheets approach (Your Package Tracker)​

This is our lane, and it is genuinely different enough from the above to warrant its own row.

Almost every small e-commerce operation, freight forwarder, 3PL intake team, personal seller, and office-admin shipping coordinator is already tracking orders in a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet has the order number, the customer name, the carrier, the tracking number, and enough columns for whatever else the business needs. The problem isn't "I need a dashboard." The problem is "I want the status column next to everything else."

Your Package Tracker is a Google Sheets add-on that makes that one column work. You drop =PKG_STATUS(tracking_number, carrier) into any cell and it returns the current status, live from the carrier. Five other formulas cover summaries, full event histories, and forced refreshes. Bulk Track Packages handles hundreds of rows at a time while respecting rate limits.

• Best for: small businesses, solo sellers, freight desks, office admins, anyone already tracking orders in Google Sheets
• Carriers: 1,700+ worldwide
• Pricing: 3 lookups free, then $19 / $49 / $99 per month for 200 / 1,000 / 3,000 lookups. No per-seat fee. No per-shipment overage surprises.
• Tradeoff: not a customer-facing branded tracking page (use AfterShip or ParcelPanel for that). Not an API (use Ship24 for that). Not a shipping platform (use EasyPost/Shippo). It's just the tracking column in your sheet — and for a lot of small businesses, that's the whole need.

At a glance​

Why the Google Sheets approach wins for small business​

Three reasons small-business teams end up choosing our approach over dedicated platforms, even when the dedicated platforms have more features:

1. You already live in Google Sheets​

A spreadsheet already holds the order, the customer, the SKU, the shipping cost, the profit margin, the notes. The tracking column is the last missing piece. Adding =PKG_STATUS(...) completes the sheet; it doesn't create a new tool to learn, log into, or pay for separately.

2. Small business pricing that doesn't punish growth​

Per-shipment pricing is great for the vendor, rough on you. Ship 300 packages? $0.05 per tracking × 300 = $15 — but that's per tracking refresh. Two refreshes per shipment means $30. Across a year, that's serious money.

Our plans are flat: $19 / $49 / $99 per month for 200 / 1,000 / 3,000 lookups respectively. Cached reads are free, so checking a delivered package again doesn't count. There's no per-user fee, so your whole team can share one sheet.

3. 1,700+ carriers, not just the big US names​

Most small businesses think they only need FedEx / UPS / USPS — until they do. An Etsy seller in Portugal gets a buyer in Singapore via SingPost. A Shopify store dropshipping from Shenzhen gets a tracking number from Yanwen or 4PX or China Post. An office admin orders from a European supplier shipping via GLS or DPD.

Our 1,700+ carrier coverage spans every major regional post, every major express carrier, and most of the specialized e-commerce logistics networks that don't show up in smaller trackers. If your customer base is global even occasionally, this matters.

How to choose: a decision tree​

Answer these in order:

1. "Are you a Shopify-only DTC brand with over $500k/year in revenue that needs branded tracking pages sent to customers?" → AfterShip or ParcelPanel are worth the cost.
2. "Are you a developer building a custom tool?" → Ship24's API.
3. "Are you a consumer tracking a few personal packages?" → Parcels.app or one of the free trackers.
4. "Are you a shipping-first team that needs to print labels AND track?" → EasyPost or Shippo.
5. "Do you already store your shipments in a Google Sheet, and just want a working status column — for one monthly fee, without adding another login?" → Your Package Tracker is probably the right call. Install the free add-on and try it with three free lookups.

Frequently asked questions​

Can I use Your Package Tracker alongside AfterShip or ParcelPanel? Yes. Many teams use AfterShip (or ParcelPanel) for customer-facing branded tracking emails, and use the Sheets add-on as their internal ops view. The two layers don't conflict.

Does the add-on work for non-e-commerce use cases? Yes. Common non-e-commerce users: offices tracking inbound purchases, freight desks tracking LTL pickups, legal teams tracking registered mail and certified deliveries, procurement teams tracking vendor shipments.

What if I need an API? We don't publish an API. If you need raw JSON per tracking number, Ship24 is the right call. If you need an ops view for your team, we are.

How does the "1,700+ carriers" count compare to the others? The serious tools in this category (AfterShip, Ship24, TrackingMore) all claim around 1,000–1,400. Our 1,700+ includes many specialized regional and e-commerce carriers — particularly across Asia and Latin America — that the customer-experience-focused tools often skip.

Is my data private? The add-on only sends the tracking number and carrier name upstream for the lookup. It doesn't read other cells, other sheets, or other files in your drive. See our Privacy Policy.

What does it cost? 3 free lookups to try. Paid plans from $19/month. Full pricing.

The takeaway​

The multi-carrier tracking category has a tool for every size of operation. AfterShip is right for enterprise Shopify brands. Ship24 is right for engineers. ParcelPanel is right for Shopify merchants who just want a branded page. EasyPost and Shippo are right if you haven't picked a shipping platform yet.

Your Package Tracker is right for the enormous middle — small businesses, solo sellers, freight desks, office admins — who are already running their operation out of a Google Sheet and just want the tracking column to work, for one monthly fee, without inviting a new tool into the stack.

Install Your Package Tracker free from the Google Workspace Marketplace →

Related reading: UPS, FedEx, USPS, DHL — or browse all articles.

This guide shows how to track every DHL brand from a single Google Sheet column. One formula, every format, every country.

The formula​

Install Your Package Tracker, then in any cell:

=PKG_STATUS("1234567890", "DHL")

The add-on figures out which DHL service the number belongs to and routes accordingly. You'll get In Transit, With Delivery Courier, Delivered, Held by Customs, or Returned to Shipper back in the cell.

The DHL tracking number cheat sheet​

This is the table you actually want when a DHL number doesn't resolve — the format tells you which service handles it.

Rule: pass any of them with DHL as the carrier and the add-on does the right thing. If a specific number fails to resolve, it is almost always a scan-delay issue on DHL's side — the add-on polls the right endpoint, there's just nothing there yet.

Step-by-step: a DHL tracking sheet​

1. Install the add-on​

Extensions → Add-ons → Get add-ons → Your Package Tracker → Install. 3 free lookups.

2. Columns​

International ops teams (which is most DHL use cases) tend toward a richer column set:

3. Formulas​

F2:  =PKG_STATUS(D2, E2)
G2:  =PKG_SUMMARY(D2, E2)
H2:  =PKG_LAST_EVENT(D2, E2)

For DHL more than any other carrier, column H (last event) is where the value is — because international shipments stall at customs, and the event text tells you where.

4. Bulk track​

Bulk Track Packages is mandatory for DHL at any scale. International lookups are slower than domestic ones (multi-hop routing, customs checks), so pacing matters.

1. Your Package Tracker → Bulk Track Packages
2. Tracking range: D2:D500
3. Carrier range: E2:E500
4. Output: Summary (captures location for customs events)
5. Start Bulk Tracking

What each DHL service looks like when tracked​

DHL Express​

The premium air product. Tracking is detailed and frequent — you'll see scans every few hours across origin, transit, destination hub, customs, and courier. Typical lifecycle:

Shipment information received → Picked up → Processed at origin → Departed origin facility → Arrived at destination hub → Customs clearance processing → Released by customs → With delivery courier → Delivered

DHL eCommerce​

Lower cost, slower, fewer scans. Often hands off to the destination country's post office for the final mile. Common lifecycle:

Shipment information received → Arrived at sort facility → Processed through export facility → Arrived in destination country → Transferred to local postal carrier → Out for delivery → Delivered

Once the package hits "Transferred to local postal carrier," DHL's visibility drops. Local post scans may or may not show up.

Deutsche Post / DHL Parcel Europe​

For intra-EU shipments, DHL Parcel is effectively the domestic parcel service. Tracking is clean and frequent, with German-language event text translated by the add-on.

DHL Global Mail (US → International)​

GM-prefixed numbers are for US-origin bulk international. Tracks through DHL's hub, then a local post. The handoff is where visibility can go dark — expect a 24–48 hour gap between Arrived in destination country and the first local-post scan.

Three DHL quirks worth knowing​

1. "Held by Customs" often resolves by itself​

About half the time, Held by Customs is routine clearance processing that resolves in 24–72 hours with no action needed. Customs only contacts the recipient when a duty is owed or paperwork is missing. A useful rule: only escalate at the 72-hour mark.

2. The waybill format is 10 digits — not 11, not 12​

DHL Express waybills are exactly 10 digits. If you have an 11- or 12-digit "DHL" number, it's almost certainly DHL eCommerce or a JJD-style internal identifier, not Express. Pasting a non-waybill into DHL Express's tracker yields "not found." The add-on figures this out for you, but if you're ever debugging by hand on dhl.com, choose the right service.

3. Scan events for international come in the local language​

The raw event feed from DHL comes in the local language — German for EU intra-shipments, Chinese for some APAC, Spanish for LATAM. The add-on normalizes status words to English (Delivered, In Transit, etc.) but the Last Event text may include local-language detail. That's usually useful for ops; set expectations for customer-facing columns.

A worked example: cross-border e-commerce from China to Europe​

Picture a brand manufacturing in Shenzhen, shipping to EU customers via DHL Express for premium orders and DHL eCommerce for standard.

Workflow:

1. One sheet for active shipments. Columns as above.
2. Column F (Status) filtered to hide Delivered.
3. Column H (Last Event) scanned for Customs or Held.
4. Column I manually, for any row stuck in customs more than 72 hours — the support agent adds a ticket link.
5. End-of-week pivot: average transit time by service, split by destination country. Finance uses this to price shipping.

What this replaces: DHL's MyDHL+ dashboard (one account per shipper ID), manual CSV exports, a shared Notion page that was always stale.

Frequently asked questions​

Do I need a DHL developer account? No. The add-on handles every DHL system. You don't need MyDHL+, DHL API keys, or anything else.

Is my tracking info shared with DHL? Only the tracking number and carrier name are sent to query DHL. The add-on doesn't read other cells or other files. See our Privacy Policy for the full breakdown.

Will it handle the Deutsche Post consumer tracking site's numbers? Yes — Deutsche Post parcel numbers route through the same endpoints. Letters (non-package mail) aren't trackable; that's a DHL limitation, not ours.

What happens with DHL's "proof of delivery" image? Not available via the tracking API. You'll still need to log into MyDHL+ for the image. The event Delivered, Received by [Name] does appear in PKG_SUMMARY when DHL exposes it.

How do I handle a package that shows "Delivered" but the customer hasn't received it? Check PKG_LAST_EVENT for the exact scan location. DHL's scan-location text usually shows whether it was left at a parcel locker, with a neighbor, at reception, etc. That's almost always enough to answer the customer.

What does it cost? 3 free lookups to try. Paid plans from $19/month. See full pricing.

The takeaway​

DHL's complexity is structural — it's genuinely several carriers under one brand, with real differences in speed, scan frequency, and visibility. From inside Google Sheets, that complexity collapses into one column of status strings, updated on demand. For anyone shipping internationally with DHL, the sheet is the right dashboard.

Install Your Package Tracker free from the Google Workspace Marketplace →

Multi-carrier ops? See our guides for FedEx, UPS, and USPS — or browse all articles.

This guide shows how to consolidate every FedEx service into one Google Sheet using a single formula, so all your FedEx shipments live in one place — next to your order IDs, customer names, and everything else you already track.

The formula, in 30 seconds​

Install Your Package Tracker from the Google Workspace Marketplace. In any cell, type:

=PKG_STATUS("794657458294", "FedEx")

You'll get back In Transit, Delivered, Out for Delivery, or whichever state FedEx has on file. The formula auto-routes across FedEx services — you don't need to know whether it's Ground, Express, or SmartPost.

The rest of this guide is the detail worth knowing: how to read a FedEx tracking number, how to pull the data at scale, and how to handle the edge cases (international, SmartPost handoffs, freight pros).

FedEx tracking number formats you will see​

Unlike UPS's single dominant 1Z format, FedEx uses many. The add-on recognizes all of them, but knowing what you're looking at helps when something doesn't resolve:

Rule of thumb: pass any of them with FedEx as the carrier and it will work. SmartPost numbers can also be tracked with USPS as the carrier in the final-mile phase — the add-on resolves either way.

Step-by-step: a FedEx tracking sheet​

1. Install the add-on​

Extensions → Add-ons → Get add-ons → search Your Package Tracker → Install. You get 3 free lookups.

2. Build the columns​

The layout we see most often for FedEx-heavy ops:

3. Drop in the formulas​

E2:  =PKG_STATUS(C2, D2)
F2:  =PKG_SUMMARY(C2, D2)
G2:  =PKG_LAST_EVENT(C2, D2)

4. Scale to a large list​

Once you have more than ~20 rows, do not fill-down. Every formula fires a carrier lookup simultaneously and FedEx will rate-limit you. Use Bulk Track Packages instead:

1. Menu bar → Your Package Tracker → Bulk Track Packages
2. Tracking range: C2:C500
3. Carrier range: D2:D500
4. Output: Summary
5. Click Start Bulk Tracking

The add-on paces the requests, respects FedEx's rate limits, caches duplicates, and writes results into the column right after your carrier column. Close the dialog, let it run, come back when it's done.

What each FedEx service looks like once tracked​

FedEx Express​

The 12-digit Express numbers move fastest: ORIGIN SCAN → DEPARTED ORIGIN → ARRIVED AT DESTINATION HUB → OUT FOR DELIVERY → DELIVERED. For international Express, you'll also see Clearance in Progress and Released by Customs.

FedEx Ground / Home Delivery​

15-digit Ground numbers have a different event vocabulary: Picked Up → At FedEx Destination Facility → On FedEx Vehicle for Delivery → Delivered. Home Delivery (residential Ground) adds evening/weekend windows.

FedEx SmartPost / Ground Economy​

The tricky one. FedEx picks up bulk, linehauls it, hands it to USPS for the last mile. The 20- or 22-digit tracking number updates in FedEx's system until USPS takes custody, then updates in USPS's.

The add-on queries both networks so the timeline is continuous from your sheet's perspective, but expect the Last Event location to jump from a FedEx hub to a USPS facility partway through.

FedEx Freight (LTL)​

Freight pros (9-digit or FDX-prefixed) track in FedEx Freight's system — different vocabulary again: Dispatched → Picked Up → At Destination Terminal → Out for Delivery. Signature confirmation usually appears as Delivered with a consignee name.

International Priority / Economy​

International FedEx uses the same 12-digit Express format but surfaces customs events: Export Clearance, Arrived at Destination Country, Customs Clearance, Released by Customs, On Vehicle for Delivery. If a shipment stalls at customs, it usually says so explicitly.

Three FedEx quirks worth knowing​

1. SmartPost tracking feels "slow" — it's not broken​

SmartPost (now officially FedEx Ground Economy) is optimized for cost, not speed or tracking granularity. Scans are sparser than Ground: often you'll see an origin scan, a linehaul scan 2–3 days later, and then the USPS handoff. This is normal. Don't be surprised when a SmartPost tracking number sits at In Transit for 5 days.

2. 12-digit Express numbers can collide with old FedEx formats​

A very old 12-digit number can sometimes be ambiguous between Express and reused Ground. The add-on disambiguates server-side, but if you ever see Tracking number not found on a number you're sure is FedEx, the fix is to try =PKG_REFRESH(C2, "FedEx") once — it forces a fresh lookup and usually resolves.

3. Freight pros need the full 9 digits, no prefix​

If your TMS exports FDX-PRO-123456789, strip the FDX-PRO- part before passing it to the formula. Extra prefixes will fail the lookup. A quick helper:

=PKG_STATUS(REGEXEXTRACT(C2, "\d{9}"), "FedEx")

A worked example: a 3PL with mixed FedEx services​

Picture a 3PL that ships on behalf of 30 Shopify merchants. Daily volume is 1,500 packages split roughly 60% Ground, 30% SmartPost, 10% Express.

The workflow we've seen work:

1. One master sheet imports each morning from the WMS: order ID, merchant, tracking number, service (mapped to FedEx).
2. Column E: =PKG_STATUS(C2, D2).
3. Column F: =PKG_SUMMARY(C2, D2) — this is what merchants see in their portal.
4. 6 AM cron-style Bulk Track Packages over C2:C2000.
5. Pivot table by status, sliced by merchant. Their ops team sees, per merchant per morning, how many are Delivered / In Transit / Exception.
6. Filter view on Exception → that's the callback queue.

The key unlock: the 3PL stopped needing a separate FedEx account dashboard per merchant. One sheet replaced fifteen browser tabs.

Frequently asked questions​

Do I need a FedEx developer account or API key? No. The add-on handles the carrier side. You never touch the FedEx developer portal.

Does the add-on work with FedEx Custom Critical? Custom Critical uses the same 12-digit Express format underneath. It's tracked like any other Express shipment.

Can I see signature / proof of delivery images? No. Proof-of-delivery images aren't exposed through FedEx's public tracking, so they can't be pulled into a cell. You'll still need fedex.com for the image itself. The PKG_SUMMARY formula does include the signed-by name when available.

What about FedEx Trade Networks / FTN? FTN uses separate systems not covered by consumer tracking. The add-on supports parcel and LTL; FTN freight forwarding is out of scope.

How do I know when FedEx updates a status? Each run of Bulk Track Packages pulls fresh data (cached results are used for up to a few hours to save your quota). If you need a hard refresh right now, use =PKG_REFRESH(C2, D2) for that specific cell.

What does it cost? 3 free lookups to try. Paid plans from $19/month. See full pricing.

The takeaway​

FedEx's tracking surface is fragmented by design — a legacy of the Ground/Express/Freight/SmartPost history. From inside Google Sheets, that complexity disappears: one formula, every service, every status, in the tool your team already uses.

Install Your Package Tracker free from the Google Workspace Marketplace →

Shipping with more than one carrier? Pair this with our UPS and USPS guides — or browse all articles.

There is a much simpler approach. You can track every shipment — across UPS, FedEx, USPS, DHL, and 1,700+ other carriers — directly inside a single Google Sheet using a tracking formula. This guide walks through exactly how to set it up, copy it to bulk rows, and keep the data fresh.

Why track packages inside Google Sheets?​

A dedicated logistics dashboard is great if you are a Fortune 500. For everyone else — Etsy sellers, Shopify stores, small e‑commerce teams, office admins, procurement — the ideal tracking surface is the one you already use: Google Sheets.

• One source of truth. Your order numbers, customer info, costs, and tracking statuses all live in the same file.
• No integration work. No API keys, no webhooks, no Zapier pipelines to maintain.
• Anyone on the team can use it. If they can read a spreadsheet, they can read the tracking column.
• Cheap. A Google Sheets add‑on costs a fraction of a logistics SaaS seat.

The catch has always been that Google Sheets has no built‑in way to query a carrier. This is exactly what a package tracking add‑on solves.

The short answer: one formula per shipment​

Once Your Package Tracker is installed from the Google Workspace Marketplace, every cell in your sheet gains access to six new formulas. The one you will use 90% of the time is PKG_STATUS:

=PKG_STATUS("1Z999AA10123456784", "UPS")

That single cell returns the current status of the package — In Transit, Out for Delivery, Delivered, and so on — refreshed automatically. No macros, no API token, no external tools.

The rest of this guide shows how to set it up from scratch, how to apply it to hundreds of shipments at once, and how to avoid the mistakes that trip people up.

Step 1: Install the Google Sheets add‑on​

1. Open any Google Sheet.
2. Go to Extensions → Add‑ons → Get add‑ons.
3. Search for Your Package Tracker.
4. Click Install and approve the permissions prompt.

The permissions are narrow on purpose: the add‑on needs to read the cell you put a formula in and write the result back. It does not read the rest of your drive.

You get 3 free tracking lookups the moment you install. That is enough to test the full flow before you decide whether to subscribe.

Tip: if you are going to track a lot of packages, install the add‑on on the workspace account that owns the master sheet, not a personal Gmail. Permissions and license keys follow the account, not the file.

Step 2: Set up your tracking columns​

The cleanest layout for a tracking sheet has three columns up front:

Type a real tracking number into A2, the carrier name into B2, and in C2 enter:

=PKG_STATUS(A2, B2)

Within a few seconds the cell will display something like Delivered or In Transit. That is the whole core workflow.

Which carrier names work?​

You can use the carrier name (case‑insensitive) or the numeric carrier code. All of these work for UPS, for example:

• UPS
• ups
• UPS Express
• the carrier code 100002

Supported carriers include the global majors (FedEx, UPS, USPS, DHL, Amazon Logistics, TNT, Aramex), regional postal services (Royal Mail, Canada Post, Australia Post, Deutsche Post, La Poste, PostNL, NZ Post, Japan Post, Korea Post), and the big Asian networks (China Post, SF Express, Yamato, JNE, J&T). The complete list is in the documentation.

Step 3: Go beyond a simple status​

PKG_STATUS is the headline formula, but the add‑on ships with five more. Each one is designed for a different spreadsheet use case.

A practical layout we see a lot:

• Column C: =PKG_STATUS(A2, B2) — for at‑a‑glance filtering.
• Column D: =PKG_SUMMARY(A2, B2) — so an operator can read one sentence without clicking.
• Column E: =PKG_LAST_EVENT(A2, B2) — only referenced when something looks off.

Because these are native Sheets formulas, you can layer conditional formatting on top (green for Delivered, red for Exception), sort and filter on them, or pipe them into pivot tables and charts.

Step 4: Track many packages at once (the safe way)​

Here is the mistake almost everyone makes on day one: they paste the formula once, see it work, then copy‑paste it down 400 rows all at once.

Don't do that.

Every one of those formulas fires a carrier lookup in the same second. Carriers rate‑limit, the add‑on surfaces that as an error, and you end up with #ERROR! cells everywhere. The fix is built in — Bulk Track Packages — and it is the right tool whenever you have more than about 20 rows.

To use it:

1. In the Sheets menu bar, open Your Package Tracker → Bulk Track Packages.
2. Enter the range of your tracking numbers (for example A2:A200).
3. Enter the range of your carriers (for example B2:B200).
4. Choose what to write out: Status, Summary, Last Event, or All Events.
5. Click Start Bulk Tracking.

The add‑on paces the lookups, respects carrier rate limits, caches duplicates, and writes the results into the column immediately after your carrier column. You can close the dialog and come back later — it keeps running.

For carriers that require a secondary identifier (JNE Express asks for the last 4–5 digits of the recipient's phone number, for instance), expand Advanced Options and drop that value in once. It will be applied to every row in the batch.

Step 5: Keep the data fresh​

By default, PKG_STATUS and friends cache each result so you are not burning quota every time your sheet recalculates. That is what you want 99% of the time — your Delivered packages are not going to change status.

When you do want a fresh pull — say, you just handed a label to the driver and want to see it scanned — wrap the call in PKG_REFRESH:

=PKG_REFRESH(A2, B2)

This bypasses the cache and pulls directly from the carrier. Use it sparingly, since it counts against your monthly quota.

To see how much quota you have left, drop =PKG_QUOTA() into any cell. It is a great thing to park in row 1 of your dashboard.

Common problems and how to fix them​

"My tracking number returns an error"​

Nine times out of ten it is a carrier mismatch. UPS numbers starting with 1Z will not resolve if you ask FedEx for them. Double‑check the carrier column, or try the carrier code from the docs list.

"I copied the formula to 500 rows and most of them errored"​

That is the rate‑limit scenario described above. Clear those cells, then rerun the range through Bulk Track Packages — it will process them politely and write clean results.

"The status is out of date"​

Carriers don't always scan in real time. A package can sit for 24 hours between scans without anything being wrong. If you need the freshest view, swap the formula to PKG_REFRESH(A2, B2) for that cell only.

"I hit my monthly quota"​

Every plan has a monthly lookup budget — 200 on Starter, 1,000 on Growth, 3,000 on Business. Cached reads are free, so in practice most teams use a fraction of what they paid for. If you are consistently hitting the ceiling, you can upgrade plans from inside the add‑on at any time. See the pricing page for the full breakdown.

A worked example: an Etsy seller's order sheet​

Suppose you run an Etsy store that ships 50–100 packages a week. Your master order sheet probably has columns for Order ID, customer name, product, ship date, carrier, and tracking number. To bolt tracking onto it:

1. Insert one new column called Status.
2. In the first data row, enter =PKG_STATUS(<tracking cell>, <carrier cell>) — for example =PKG_STATUS(F2, E2).
3. Run Bulk Track Packages over the full range every morning.
4. Add conditional formatting: green background for Delivered, yellow for Out for Delivery, red for anything containing Exception or Return.
5. Filter the sheet by red rows at the end of each day. That is your proactive customer‑service queue.

Total setup time: about 15 minutes. Ongoing time: about zero.

Frequently asked questions​

Do I need to know how to code? No. Everything in this guide is a spreadsheet formula. If you can use =SUM(), you can use =PKG_STATUS().

Does this work on the free Google Workspace tier? Yes. The add‑on works on personal Gmail Sheets, Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, and every tier above.

Is my data private? The add‑on only transmits the tracking number and carrier name to query the carrier, plus a usage counter for quota enforcement. It does not read other cells or other files. See the Privacy Policy for the full breakdown.

How many carriers are really supported? More than 1,700 worldwide — every major postal service and courier we have been able to integrate. If you hit a gap, email us and we will usually add it within a week.

What does it cost? 3 free lookups to try it, then plans from $19/month. See pricing.

The takeaway​

Tracking packages in Google Sheets used to mean writing a fragile Apps Script against a carrier's private API and praying nothing broke. It no longer does. Install the add‑on, drop =PKG_STATUS(A2, B2) into a cell, and the problem is solved for 1,700+ carriers at once.

Ready to try it? Install Your Package Tracker from the Google Workspace Marketplace — the first three lookups are on us.

This guide shows how to pull live UPS tracking data — status, last location, delivery events — directly into any Google Sheet using a single formula. No UPS developer account, no API key, no Apps Script.

The one‑cell answer​

If you already have the Your Package Tracker add‑on installed, type this into any empty cell:

=PKG_STATUS("1Z999AA10123456784", "UPS")

You'll get back something like Delivered, In Transit, Out for Delivery, or Exception — refreshed live from UPS's tracking network. That's the whole setup.

The rest of this guide covers the details: UPS tracking number formats, which UPS services work, how to bulk‑track a large range, and the quirks worth knowing.

What a UPS tracking number actually looks like​

UPS uses several tracking number formats depending on the service. The add‑on auto‑detects all of them, but it helps to know what you're looking at:

That last row is the one that trips people up. UPS SurePost and UPS Mail Innovations hand the final‑mile delivery to USPS, so the tracking number often looks like a USPS tracking number. You can track them by passing UPS or USPS as the carrier — the add‑on resolves either.

Step‑by‑step: set up a UPS tracking sheet​

1. Install the add‑on​

Open a Google Sheet, go to Extensions → Add‑ons → Get add‑ons, search for Your Package Tracker, and install. You get 3 free lookups to test.

2. Lay out your columns​

Here's the layout every UPS ops team converges on eventually:

3. Drop in the formulas​

In D2:

=PKG_STATUS(B2, C2)

In E2:

=PKG_SUMMARY(B2, C2)

(Optional) in F2:

=PKG_LAST_EVENT(B2, C2)

You'll see In Transit, Denver, CO — Departed UPS Facility (2d ago), and so on. Ready to be sorted, filtered, charted, or color‑coded.

4. Apply to many rows the right way​

Do not select D2:F2 and drag the fill handle to row 500 all at once. Every single formula will fire a UPS lookup in the same second, UPS will rate‑limit, and your sheet will fill with errors.

Instead, use Bulk Track Packages:

1. Menu bar → Your Package Tracker → Bulk Track Packages.
2. Tracking range: B2:B500.
3. Carrier range: C2:C500.
4. Output: Summary (most useful) or Status.
5. Click Start Bulk Tracking.

The add‑on paces the requests, caches duplicates, skips already‑delivered rows by default, and writes the results into the column immediately after your carrier column. You can close the dialog and come back — it keeps running in the background.

UPS services the add‑on handles​

Because the underlying tracking engine speaks UPS's public tracking protocol, every UPS service is supported:

• UPS Ground — the everyday 1Z‑prefix domestic service
• UPS Next Day Air / 2nd Day Air / 3 Day Select — same format, different SLA
• UPS SurePost — last‑mile via USPS, traceable from either side
• UPS Mail Innovations — bulk‑mail hybrid, USPS last mile
• UPS Worldwide Express / Expedited / Saver — international, still 1Z or T‑prefix
• UPS Standard to Canada / Mexico
• UPS Freight (TForce) — LTL freight with pro numbers
• UPS Access Point returns

There's no configuration switch between them. Pass the tracking number and UPS as the carrier; the right backend is chosen automatically.

Understanding the statuses UPS returns​

UPS normalizes events into a fairly predictable vocabulary. The statuses you'll most often see:

• Label Created — shipper printed the label; UPS hasn't picked it up yet
• Origin Scan — UPS has possession
• Departed Facility — moved between hubs
• In Transit — on the road or on a plane
• Arrived at Facility — regional sorting
• Out for Delivery — on the truck, delivery expected today
• Delivered — done, usually with a signature or photo indicator
• Exception — address issue, weather delay, customs hold, damage, etc.
• Return to Sender — coming back

A practical tip: set conditional formatting so Exception and Return cells turn red. That column becomes your proactive customer‑service queue.

Three UPS quirks worth knowing​

1. "Label Created" can sit for hours​

UPS only updates tracking once the package is physically scanned. If a warehouse prints 200 labels at 4 PM, you'll see 200 rows stuck at Label Created until UPS picks up. That is not a bug in the add‑on — it's UPS's reality. The first real scan usually appears within 24 hours.

2. International 1Z numbers are the same format​

A 1Z number going from Atlanta to Frankfurt looks identical to a domestic one. The add‑on figures out the routing from UPS's side, including customs events (Export Scan, Import Scan, Released by Customs).

3. Mail Innovations / SurePost show different details over time​

Early in the lifecycle, tracking lives in UPS's system. Once USPS takes custody, updates shift to USPS. Because the add‑on queries both networks transparently, you'll see the whole timeline from either side — but the Last Event location may suddenly jump from a UPS hub to a USPS facility. That's expected.

A worked example: a Shopify store with 300 UPS shipments/day​

Say you run a DTC brand, ship via UPS Ground, and export a daily "open orders" CSV from Shopify. The workflow:

1. Import the CSV into a Google Sheet. You should have columns for order ID, tracking number, and carrier (UPS).
2. Add a Status column with =PKG_STATUS(B2, C2).
3. Run Bulk Track Packages over the full range once every morning and once at end of day.
4. Pivot: count rows by status. Your dashboard now shows how many are delivered, in transit, or in exception — no separate tool.
5. Wire a filter view for Exception. Hand that view to your customer service lead as their daily callback list.

Setup time: under 30 minutes. Ongoing work per day: maybe 2 minutes to trigger bulk tracking.

Frequently asked questions​

Do I need a UPS API account? No. The add‑on handles the carrier integration. You never see a UPS developer portal.

Does it work with UPS CampusShip / WorldShip numbers? Yes. Any tracking number UPS itself can trace can be traced through the formula.

What about signature details and proof of delivery? PKG_SUMMARY includes the delivery timestamp. Full PoD images are not exposed via public tracking and therefore are not available through the formula — you'll still need ups.com for that.

How often does the status refresh? Results are cached per tracking number to save your quota. Cached reads are free. If you need a hard refresh (e.g. you just updated a label), use =PKG_REFRESH(B2, C2) for that cell — it bypasses the cache.

What does it cost? 3 free lookups to try it. Paid plans start at $19/month. See full pricing.

Can I mix UPS and FedEx in the same sheet? Yes. Put the carrier name in its own column and the same formulas work across every carrier row‑by‑row. That's the whole point — one sheet, every carrier.

The takeaway​

Pulling UPS tracking data into Google Sheets used to mean either (a) paying for a logistics SaaS seat per user, or (b) maintaining an Apps Script that breaks every time UPS tweaks their endpoints. Neither is necessary anymore.

Install the add‑on, type =PKG_STATUS("1Z...", "UPS"), and you're done. Scale it with Bulk Track Packages when the list gets long, layer conditional formatting for exceptions, and you have a live UPS ops dashboard in the tool your team already knows.

Install Your Package Tracker free from the Google Workspace Marketplace →

Want the same for FedEx, USPS, or DHL? Browse the rest of our articles — every major carrier has its own guide.

Google Sheets + one formula fixes it. This guide is the practical version — how to set it up, which USPS products it handles (Priority, First-Class, Media, Certified, Registered, international), and the quirks that come with USPS's own tracking inconsistencies.

The short path​

If you have Your Package Tracker installed, drop this into any cell:

=PKG_STATUS("9400111899223100012345", "USPS")

You'll see Delivered, In Transit, Out for Delivery, or Alert (USPS's word for exceptions). The formula works for every USPS service — Priority, First-Class, Parcel Select, Certified, Registered, international, and the hybrid products FedEx and UPS hand off to USPS.

The rest of this guide gets into the specifics sellers actually care about.

USPS tracking number formats (all of them)​

USPS uses more tracking number formats than any other carrier. The add-on detects all of them automatically — this table is just for your own sanity when reading a number:

The 420 prefix: if you're pasting numbers from some shipping platforms, you'll see 420 90210 9400111899223100012345. The 420 plus 5-digit ZIP is a routing hint, not part of the trackable number. Strip it (or let the add-on handle it — it does).

Step-by-step: a USPS tracking sheet​

1. Install the add-on​

Extensions → Add-ons → Get add-ons → Your Package Tracker. 3 free lookups to test.

2. Lay out your sheet​

The columns a typical Etsy or eBay seller ends up with:

3. The formulas​

F2:  =PKG_STATUS(D2, E2)
G2:  =PKG_SUMMARY(D2, E2)

PKG_SUMMARY is especially useful for USPS because it combines status + last location + timestamp. You get a sentence like In Transit — Jamaica, NY (arrived 4/18, 9:42 AM) instead of just a status word.

4. Bulk track the list​

For any sheet with more than ~20 rows, use Bulk Track Packages — don't fill-down the formula. USPS rate-limits aggressively and a 200-row drag will produce 200 errors.

1. Your Package Tracker → Bulk Track Packages
2. Tracking range: D2:D300
3. Carrier range: E2:E300
4. Output: Summary
5. Start Bulk Tracking

The add-on paces, caches, and writes into the column right after your carrier column.

What each USPS product looks like when tracked​

Priority Mail & Priority Mail Express​

Most reliable tracking. You'll see: Acceptance → In Transit → Arrived at Regional Facility → Out for Delivery → Delivered. Express adds guaranteed delivery windows.

First-Class Package Service​

Tracks similarly to Priority. Sellers sometimes see longer gaps between scans — First-Class packages don't always get regional facility scans, so the timeline jumps straight from Acceptance to Out for Delivery. That is USPS's behavior, not a bug in the lookup.

Media Mail​

Tracks, but scans are even sparser. Media Mail is processed alongside standard mail and often has only 2–3 events across a 5–10 day journey. Set customer expectations accordingly.

Certified Mail / Registered Mail​

PKG_SUMMARY surfaces the key certified-mail event — the signature acceptance. For hard proof-of-delivery (the actual signed receipt), you still need usps.com; only the text event is exposed in the API.

Parcel Select / Parcel Select Ground​

This is the service FedEx SmartPost and UPS Mail Innovations hand off to. When those carriers hand a package to USPS, the 9400/9205-series USPS tracking number becomes active. You can track the final mile with either the FedEx/UPS number or the USPS number — the add-on resolves both.

International (EA/EC/CP/LC etc.)​

International tracking adds customs events: Departed Origin Country → Arrived at Destination Customs → Customs Clearance Processing → Released from Customs → Out for Delivery. Lots of packages stall at step 3 — that's the call-your-buyer moment.

Five USPS quirks that matter to sellers​

1. "Delivered" can precede the actual delivery scan by an hour​

USPS carriers sometimes scan packages as delivered while they're still on the truck, at the end of their route, to save time. If a buyer says "tracking says delivered but I don't have it," wait 24 hours before panicking.

2. "Alert" doesn't always mean something's wrong​

USPS uses Alert for things as minor as weather delay or missort routing correction. Look at the Last Event text to distinguish a real problem from noise. A reasonable rule: only escalate if Alert persists more than 48 hours.

3. First-Class to PO Boxes can skip the delivery scan​

Deliveries into a PO Box box-section sometimes never get a final Delivered scan — they just stop updating after Arrived at Post Office. Treat Arrived at Post Office, 3+ days ago on a PO Box recipient as likely delivered.

4. "Label Created" sits forever for Sunday drop-offs​

If a label is printed Sunday and handed to USPS Monday, it stays at Label Created until the Acceptance scan on Monday. No tracking engine can show what USPS doesn't scan. Your sheet won't show it either.

5. International tracking often stops once the package leaves the US​

Many destination-country post offices don't share their scans with USPS. You might see Departed Origin — ISC New York NY and then silence for 10 days. The buyer's local post office in Germany / Japan / Brazil has scans you can't see. This is not fixable from the US side.

A worked example: Etsy seller, 60 sales a week​

A one-person Etsy store doing ~60 orders per week, shipping mostly First-Class Package and Priority Mail.

Setup:

1. One sheet per month: Orders_2026_04.
2. Columns: Date, Order, Buyer, Tracking, Carrier (always USPS), Status, Summary, Notes.
3. Morning routine: run Bulk Track Packages over the month-to-date range, takes 1–2 minutes.
4. Conditional formatting:
   • Row turns green when Status = Delivered
   • Yellow when Status contains Out for Delivery
   • Red when Status contains Alert or Exception
5. Filter view "Red rows only" is the daily customer-service queue.

Before: 60 buyers × potential message = 60 tabs open on usps.com on a bad day. After: one sheet, one filter.

Frequently asked questions​

Do I need a USPS developer account / Web Tools API key? No. The add-on handles the carrier integration. You never deal with USPS's developer portal.

Does it work with USPS Click-N-Ship tracking numbers? Yes — Click-N-Ship labels are standard Priority / First-Class numbers.

What about PS Form 3811 green card signatures? Not available via tracking APIs. You'll still need usps.com for the image. The event "Delivered, Signed for by [Name]" does appear in PKG_SUMMARY.

Can I track informed-delivery items / letters? Only packages and certified/registered letters have tracking. Standard letters don't get tracking numbers.

How fresh is the data? Results are cached per tracking number to save quota (cached reads are free). For a hard refresh, use =PKG_REFRESH(D2, E2).

What does it cost? 3 free lookups to try. Paid plans from $19/month. See full pricing.

The takeaway​

USPS is the carrier small sellers ship with most and track the worst — because usps.com is genuinely bad and because small sellers don't justify a logistics platform subscription. Google Sheets + one formula splits the difference: all your USPS shipments in one place, one status column, filter view for exceptions, done.

Install Your Package Tracker free from the Google Workspace Marketplace →

Shipping multi-carrier? See our FedEx, UPS, and DHL guides — or browse all articles.