DPD Tracking: How to Track Your Parcel in the UK

DPD tracking in the UK should show where your parcel is in seconds, yet the status reads like code, the number is hard to find, and a “missed delivery” text wants a small fee. Tap that link and the fee is bait for a scam that has cost UK shoppers hundreds of thousands of pounds.

This guide covers every official way to track a DPD parcel, what each status means, and how to spot a fake DPD message.

How to track a DPD parcel in the UK

There are three official ways to track a DPD parcel, and you can use whichever one matches what you have to hand. Each goes to DPD’s own system, so the status you see is the real one.

Method	What you need	Best for
DPD website	A DPD reference number plus your delivery postcode or Order ID	Tracking on a laptop or shared computer
Your DPD app	Just the app, matched to your phone, email and address	Hands-free tracking with no number to type
SMS or email link	The text or email DPD sent you	The quickest single check on your phone
Package Tracker	Your tracking number, added once	Watching DPD alongside every other courier in one place

Track on the DPD website (reference number plus delivery postcode or Order ID)

Go to DPD’s tracking page and enter a valid DPD reference number together with your delivery postcode or Order ID. DPD confirms this is what the website form needs — a number on its own won’t pull up a parcel.

Tracking several parcels from different couriers gets tedious when each one has its own site. You can see how the big carriers compare in our guides to Royal Mail tracking and Evri vs Royal Mail.

Track in the Your DPD app (no number needed)

The Your DPD app shows your deliveries automatically, matched to your mobile number, email and delivery address, so there’s no number to type. DPD says it presents tracking “without the need to manually track using parcel numbers”, and it covers parcels from both DPD and DPD Local (DPD app FAQs).

Track from the link in your DPD text or email

When DPD has your parcel it sends an SMS and email with a link straight to your tracking. Tapping that link opens the live status with nothing to type. Only tap links in messages you were actually expecting, though — fake DPD texts are covered further down.

Track every carrier’s parcel in one place with Package Tracker

If your orders arrive by different couriers, Package Tracker puts them on one timeline. You add each tracking number once and the app watches the status for you, sending a push the moment a parcel moves — out for delivery, delivered, or a failed attempt. That means one place to look instead of four separate carrier websites.

Where to find your DPD tracking number

What a DPD tracking number looks like

DPD doesn’t publish an official length or pattern for its parcel numbers anywhere on dpd.co.uk or dpdlocal.co.uk. You’ll see a “14-digit” format quoted on other sites, but that comes from third-party trackers, not DPD. Treat any fixed digit count as a rough guide rather than a rule.

In practice you rarely need the raw number at all. DPD steers you to the link in your email or SMS, or to a reference number plus your postcode, which is more reliable than copying a long string by hand. If a number won’t work, see why a tracking number not working is usually fixable.

How to track a DPD parcel without a tracking number

No number is not a dead end. You have several options:

• The number beside the barcode, or in the highlighted circle, on a “sorry we missed you” card
• Your retailer’s order confirmation email or order reference
• The sender, who always holds the parcel number — DPD’s own advice is to contact them for it
• The Your DPD app, which matches parcels to your phone, email and address with no number at all

Can I track a DPD parcel by postcode?

Not by postcode on its own. On the DPD site the postcode works alongside a reference number or Order ID — it confirms the parcel is yours rather than finding it from scratch. The app is the only route that needs no number, because it links deliveries to your details automatically.

What your DPD tracking status means

DPD status glossary, decoded

The wording you see is the typical display text, not official DPD terminology — DPD doesn’t publish a single glossary of every status string. Each stage below, though, matches how DPD describes a parcel’s progress. Use it to work out whether to wait or to act.

What the tracking says	What it actually means	What you should do
“We’re expecting your parcel”	The retailer has made a label but DPD hasn’t collected or scanned the parcel yet	Usually wait; if it sits here for days, chase the sender, not DPD
“We’ve got your parcel”	DPD has collected and scanned it; it’s moving through the network	Nothing needed — a delivery date and one-hour window will follow
“At your local depot”	It’s reached the depot that covers your postcode, the last stop before the van	Expect an “out for delivery” update and your window, usually by about noon
“Out for delivery”	It’s on the van and the driver is bringing it today	Watch for your one-hour window; you can still set in-flight options
“Your 1-hour delivery window is…”	DPD Predict has worked out your slot, narrowing to 15 minutes on the map	Be available, or set a neighbour, safe place or Pickup divert
“Sorry we missed you”	The driver tried but couldn’t deliver and left a card	Enter your reference plus postcode to rearrange or collect; the driver can’t return the same day
“Held at depot”	The parcel is being held, often awaiting your instructions or after a failed attempt	Rearrange or divert quickly — DPD can return it to the sender after a minimum of 5 calendar days
“Ready to collect” / at a Pickup shop	It’s waiting for you at a local DPD Pickup shop	Bring two IDs (photo ID and ID with your address); collect promptly
“Delivered”	DPD has recorded it as delivered to you, a neighbour or a safe place	Open the proof-of-delivery photo and check safe places and neighbours
“Returned to sender”	DPD couldn’t deliver or it wasn’t collected in time, so it’s going back	Contact the retailer for a resend or refund — DPD acts on the sender’s account
“Delayed”	A hold-up in the network, such as weather or high volume	A day or two usually clears it; if it persists beyond about 48 hours, contact DPD

When a status means you need to act

Most statuses are just updates — you only need to step in at a few points. A “sorry we missed you” or “held at depot” status is your cue to rearrange delivery or divert the parcel before the clock runs down. A “delivered” status with no parcel in hand needs checking straight away, which we cover below.

Two statuses are easy to mistake for a problem when they’re not. Learn what out for delivery and a delivery exception actually signal so you don’t panic over a normal step.

DPD live tracking, the 1-hour window and the delivery map

DPD Predict: your 1-hour delivery window

DPD Predict gives you a one-hour delivery window, sent by SMS and email on the day (DPD Predict & Follow My Parcel). DPD issues the window once the driver has scanned all the parcels onto the van, usually by about 12 noon. Until then you’ll have a delivery date but not the exact slot.

Follow My Parcel and the real-time map

Follow My Parcel then shows your delivery on a real-time map. You get the driver’s name and your position in the delivery queue, and the estimate narrows to a final 15-minute slot as the van gets close.

DPD doesn’t phrase this as a number of “stops away” — what you actually see is your place in the queue counting down. The app is the easiest place to watch it in real time.

Changing or diverting your delivery while it’s on the van

You’re not stuck with the original plan once the parcel is out. The table below shows what you can change in transit and whether it costs anything.

Option	How to set it	Cost (free / paid upgrade)
Choose another delivery day	Reschedule from your DPD notification or in the app	Free
Deliver to a neighbour	Nominate a neighbour in the notification or app	Free
Leave in a safe place	Set a safe place in the notification or app	Free
Divert to a DPD Pickup shop	Select a Pickup point from the notification	Free
Divert to a DPD Locker	Choose a locker from your delivery options	Free
Upgrade the delivery (before 10:30, before 12, afternoon, Saturday or Sunday)	Select the upgrade in the app	Paid

One thing you can’t do is move the one-hour slot itself — DPD fixes that once the van is loaded. You can, though, change the day or send the parcel somewhere else entirely. If you’ll miss the window, set a safe place or neighbour before the driver arrives.

Setting delivery preferences in the app

Beyond a single parcel, the Your DPD app lets you set standing preferences so you don’t choose every time — a default safe place, a nominated neighbour, or sending parcels to a DPD Pickup shop or Locker (Your DPD app). You can also reschedule or redirect a delivery and follow the driver live from the same screen.

Set these once and future DPD and DPD Local deliveries follow them automatically, which is the easiest way to avoid a missed delivery in the first place.

DPD tracking not updating or not working

Why your DPD tracking isn’t moving

DPD only logs your parcel at scan points, so quiet gaps are normal — especially overnight, at weekends and on bank holidays. A completed scan can also take a short while to show on the website. Allow at least 24 hours, longer over a weekend, before you worry.

Rather than refreshing a page all day, let Package Tracker watch the status and push you a notification the moment it changes. If a parcel has genuinely stopped moving, read what a parcel stuck in transit usually means.

“No information found” or number not recognised

This usually means the label exists but DPD hasn’t scanned the parcel yet, there’s a typo, or it isn’t a DPD number at all. Re-check it against the retailer’s dispatch email and enter it with your delivery postcode. If there’s still nothing after a day, ask the sender to confirm it shipped with DPD and that the number is right.

Parcel stuck at the depot for days

A missed connection, high volume, weather or an address problem can hold a parcel at the depot. Enter your reference number and postcode to rearrange delivery or divert it to a Pickup shop, or contact DPD with your parcel number and postcode. Act quickly: DPD reserves the right to return an undeliverable parcel to the sender after a minimum of 5 calendar days (DPD returns and disposal policy).

Is DPD tracking down right now?

Occasional display lag is far more common than a full outage. Before assuming the system is down, check the status against a genuine carrier feed and wait for the next scan. If the same status holds beyond about 48 hours, contact DPD rather than keep refreshing.

'Delivered' but no parcel — where is my DPD parcel?

Check the proof-of-delivery photo first

DPD drivers usually take a photo at the point of delivery, and it’s attached to your tracking as proof. Open it first — it normally shows exactly where the parcel was left. Then check every safe place on your property and ask your neighbours.

Safe place and wrong-photo disputes

If the photo shows a door that isn’t yours, or there’s no parcel where it was left, treat it as a possible mis-delivery. Contact DPD through live chat; DPD can arrange a driver interview and may ask you to sign a “Denial of Receipt” confirming you didn’t get it. Keep the photo and your tracking reference to hand.

Lost or damaged: who is responsible, you or the retailer?

Your contract is with the seller, not DPD. Under UK consumer law the retailer is responsible for getting the goods to you, so a refund or replacement is theirs to arrange. Raise the missing parcel with DPD to establish what happened, but pursue the retailer for the money.

Missed delivery, redelivery and DPD Pickup collections

What a ‘sorry we missed you’ card means

A “sorry we missed you” card means the driver tried to deliver but no one was in and there was no authorised safe place. The card tells you where your parcel is and what to do next. The driver can’t come back the same day.

Rearranging delivery or diverting to a Pickup shop

Enter your reference number and postcode on DPD’s site to pick a new delivery date or send the parcel to a local DPD Pickup shop. You can also divert an in-flight parcel to a Pickup point straight from the SMS or email notification (DPD Pickup). There are thousands of DPD Pickup shops and lockers across the UK, so one is usually close by.

If your order came from a marketplace seller, our sister-courier guides can help with a reorder too — for example Yodel parcel tracking if the replacement ships differently.

Collecting in person: the two IDs you must bring

To collect from a Pickup shop you must bring two pieces of ID: photo ID and ID showing your address, such as a utility bill. For a locker, you open the right door with a one-time PIN or by scanning the QR code in your notification. Collect promptly — an uncollected parcel can be sent back to the sender after a minimum of 5 calendar days.

How to spot a fake DPD text or email

The redelivery-fee scam, how it works

Fake “DPD” missed-delivery texts and emails are one of the UK’s most common scams, and they target people who are expecting a parcel. The message says DPD tried to deliver and you must click a link and pay a small “redelivery” fee, often a pound or two. That tiny fee is bait to capture your card and personal details.

A convincing “bank” call often follows days later, using a spoofed number to push your money to a “safe” account. Action Fraud reported that victims lost roughly £242,000 to criminals impersonating DPD over one six-month period. The detail scammers rely on you not knowing: genuine DPD never asks you to pay a fee to redeliver a standard parcel.

Real vs fake: the tells

DPD’s genuine domains are narrow, which makes fakes easier to catch. The table below shows what a real DPD message looks like against the scam red flags, as reported by Which? and Action Fraud, both of which quote DPD directly.

Signal	Genuine DPD	Scam red flag
Payment	Never asks for a fee or card details to redeliver a standard parcel	Asks you to pay a small “redelivery” or “reschedule” fee
Link domain	Only links to www.dpd.co.uk or www.dpdlocal.co.uk	Odd domains, link-shorteners, or swapped characters like “dpd-c0.uk”
Email sender	Only from dpd.co.uk, dpdlocal.co.uk or dpdgroup.co.uk	Gmail, Outlook or a random address claiming to be DPD
Greeting	Usually references your actual parcel or order	“Dear Customer” with no name or order detail
Tone and detail	Clear, with no pressure to pay now	Spelling errors, odd dates, threats the parcel will be “returned”
Were you expecting it?	Matches a parcel you actually ordered	An out-of-the-blue “missed delivery” for nothing you bought

How to report a DPD scam

Don’t tap the link. To check a real delivery, open your tracking in an app or type dpd.co.uk into your browser yourself. This is where Package Tracker helps: when a surprise “DPD” text lands, check the real status against the genuine carrier feed, and if there’s no matching parcel or fee due, you can ignore the message.

Report what you get. Forward scam texts free to 7726, forward scam emails to report@phishing.gov.uk, and report fraud to Action Fraud at actionfraud.police.uk or 0300 123 2040.

Tracking a DPD return or collection

How a DPD return is tracked

A DPD return is tracked from drop-off to delivery back at the retailer, the same as an inbound parcel. You drop it at a DPD Pickup shop and get notifications the whole way as it travels back to the seller (DPD Pickup returns).

Following a return matters because it gives you proof the parcel is on its way back, which protects your refund if the retailer later says it never arrived. Keep your drop-off receipt and tracking reference until the refund or exchange comes through.

Dropping off at a DPD Pickup shop

You can start and manage a return at your local DPD Pickup point. Exactly how the label works depends on the retailer’s return portal, so follow the seller’s instructions for whether to print a label or show a code. Returns from resale marketplaces work the same way — see Vinted tracking for how a second-hand sale is tracked.

How long you have before a parcel goes back

DPD doesn’t hold a parcel indefinitely. It reserves the right to send an undeliverable or uncollected parcel back to the sender after a minimum of 5 calendar days, so rearrange or collect promptly (DPD returns and disposal policy).

After that, DPD stores returned or undeliverable goods for a set period — about four weeks, and longer, around twelve weeks, for personal effects — before they may be disposed of. In practice that means acting within days rather than weeks keeps every option open.

DPD vs DPD Local: which one is your parcel?

DPD and DPD Local explained

DPD Local, formerly Interlink Express, is a sister brand of DPD under the same parent group, Geopost. Trade press reported the rebrand launched on 6 February 2017 to bring the group’s brands in line (Logistics Manager). It runs on the same network and technology as DPD, aimed more at smaller and local shippers.

For you as the recipient, the label might say DPD or DPD Local, but the parcel moves on one shared system. Both brands use the same tracking events and the same Your DPD app, so you follow a DPD Local parcel exactly as you would a DPD one.

Does it change how you track?

It makes no practical difference. The Your DPD app tracks parcels from both DPD and DPD Local automatically, and so does carrier auto-detect. Package Tracker handles DPD Local parcels the same way through auto-detect — there’s nothing separate to set up.

If you’re comparing couriers, our Parcelforce tracking and GLS tracking guides cover two more you’ll meet often.

Tracking a DPD parcel to Ireland or abroad

GB to Republic of Ireland: VAT and customs

Since Brexit took effect on 1 January 2021, a parcel from Great Britain to the Republic of Ireland is an international shipment that crosses a customs border, with DPD Ireland handling final delivery. VAT at 23% is due on all items regardless of value, and customs duty may apply depending on the commodity code, value and transport cost (DPD Ireland customs guide).

Charges are either collected by the retailer at checkout or by DPD before delivery, and DPD Ireland will send an SMS and/or email to request payment. If a parcel pauses in customs, our explainer on what customs clearance means walks through the stages, and larger couriers handle it similarly — see DHL tracking for an international comparison.

Why Northern Ireland is different

Northern Ireland is part of the UK, so a parcel there is a normal domestic DPD delivery, not a customs case. You won’t face the Republic of Ireland’s VAT and duty process, and tracking works exactly as it does anywhere in Great Britain. Don’t let a “customs” worry delay a straightforward NI delivery.

How to contact DPD about your parcel

DPD’s contact channels, ranked by speed

DPD is digital-first, so the fastest routes aren’t the phone. In-app chat is billed as the quickest way to reach DPD, with priority for app users, and 24/7 web live chat and WhatsApp are close behind. Have your parcel number and postcode ready whichever you choose (DPD contact).

Channel	Hours	Best for
In-app chat	24/7	The fastest route; app users are prioritised
Web live chat	24/7	Quick help without the app
WhatsApp (+44 121 275 0500)	24/7 messaging	A written thread you can return to
Phone 0121 275 0500	Mon–Fri 8am–6:30pm, Sat 8am–4pm, Sun 9am–3pm	Speaking to someone directly

The phone number and hours

The DPD UK customer service number is 0121 275 0500. It’s a standard-rate Birmingham geographic landline, not a freephone number, and not the old 0845 number you’ll still see quoted elsewhere. Lines are open Monday to Friday 8am to 6:30pm, Saturday 8am to 4pm and Sunday 9am to 3pm, excluding bank holidays.

Why there’s no delivery email

DPD doesn’t offer an email address for delivery queries — chat and WhatsApp are the written routes instead. The only published email, app@dpdgroup.co.uk, is for DPD app technical issues and feedback, not for tracking a parcel. If you want a record of the conversation, use WhatsApp or save the chat transcript.

Track DPD and every other parcel in one place

Buy from more than one shop and your parcels rarely all come by DPD. One order lands with DPD, the next with Royal Mail, Evri or Yodel, and the retailer’s own dispatch email is a fourth place to look. Package Tracker pulls them together, so every parcel sits on one timeline and you can see at a glance what’s arriving today and what’s still on its way.

Because the app watches the status for you, it pushes a notification the moment something changes — picked up, out for delivery, delivered, or a failed attempt. No more refreshing a tracking page all afternoon.

It also closes the loop on scam texts. When a surprise “DPD” message lands, you check the real status in the app against the genuine feed instead of gambling on its link — DPD and DPD Local parcels both show up the same way. You get every delivery in one place, updating itself, so you always know where your parcel is.

Frequently asked questions

Comparing couriers? See how DPD measures up against Evri on reliability, speed and tracking in our Evri vs DPD guide.

Related tracking guides

• Royal Mail tracking
• Evri (Hermes) tracking
• Yodel parcel tracking
• InPost parcel tracking
• Parcelforce tracking
• Parcel stuck in transit
• How to track any parcel