How to Track Royal Mail Packages

Introduction

Royal Mail needs one specific setting to track correctly on Ship24. You must supply the courier code gb-post with the tracking number, or the shipment will not be tracked.

Royal Mail also only shares tracking events from the moment the tracker is created, so events that happened earlier are not returned. This comes from Royal Mail's own data-sharing specifications, not from Ship24.

Before you start

Through the API, include the courier code gb-post when you create the tracker. On the Shipment Dashboard, select Royal Mail manually rather than relying on auto-detection.

Without gb-post, Royal Mail shipments cannot be tracked.

No historical data is returned for events before the tracker was added. Royal Mail only shares events from the moment the tracker is created.

Track Royal Mail on the Shipment Dashboard

The Shipment Dashboard lets you add shipments one at a time, in bulk, or by CSV import.

Add one Royal Mail shipment

Click Add shipment.
Select the Add one shipment tab.
Enter your Royal Mail tracking number.
In the Courier field, select Royal Mail, or enter the courier code gb-post.
Click Add shipment.

Add the tracker as early as possible in the delivery journey, since Royal Mail only returns events from the time the tracker is created.

Add multiple Royal Mail shipments with bulk paste

Click Add shipment.
Select the Add multiple shipments tab.
Select Royal Mail manually, or enter gb-post as the courier.
Paste your tracking numbers into the text box, one per line.
Click Add shipment.

Invalid tracking numbers are skipped during the import rather than stopping it.

Import Royal Mail shipments via CSV file

Click Add shipment.
Select the CSV Import tab.
Upload your CSV file.
Click Add shipment to start the import.

In your CSV file, enter gb-post in the courier_code_1 column. See how to add shipments for the full column reference.

Duplicate or already imported tracking numbers are ignored.

Track Royal Mail with the Tracking API

Create the tracker with the courier code gb-post.

Create a single Royal Mail tracker

{
  "trackingNumber": "LA076200660GB",
  "courierCode": ["gb-post"]
}

Create Royal Mail trackers in bulk

[
  {
    "trackingNumber": "LA076200661GB",
    "courierCode": ["gb-post"]
  },
  {
    "trackingNumber": "LA076200662GB",
    "courierCode": ["gb-post"]
  },
  {
    "trackingNumber": "LA076200663GB",
    "courierCode": ["gb-post"]
  }
]

For request details, response fields and endpoint specifications, see the Ship24 API documentation. If you are new to the API, start with getting started with the Ship24 Tracking API.

Troubleshooting

No tracking result appears

Check that you selected Royal Mail on the dashboard, or included gb-post in your API request. Without that courier setting, Royal Mail tracking will not work.

If the courier is set correctly and results are still empty, see why the shipment status is Pending.

Earlier events are missing

This is expected. Only events recorded after the tracker was added to Ship24 are returned.

Best practice

Create the tracker as early as possible. If a parcel had events on the 1st and the 5th of the month and you create the tracker on the 10th, only events from the 10th onward are available.

For Royal Mail specifically, that makes it worth creating trackers at the point you generate the label rather than in a nightly batch.

Updated on: 17/08/2026

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