Whether you plan to move your business to another location or no longer have the need for a post office box, the United States Postal Service makes it easy to cancel your service through its website. Canceling online will require having a USPS account and linking your PO Box for management, but both cancellation options require a visit to the post office to turn in your keys. The USPS PO Box refund policies will determine how much money you get back for unused service and your key deposit. You'll also get some extra time to pick up any mail remaining in your box.

Basics of PO Box Management

After you sign up to rent a PO Box, USPS requires that you continue to make regular payments to avoid having the box closed involuntarily. You usually sign up for an auto-renewal subscription of between three and 12 months, and you can pay the post office box renewal online to renew your term. The USPS website also offers a place to make changes to your PO Box, such as transferring your rental to another post office.

Note that USPS can forcibly close your PO Box for reasons beyond nonpayment. For example, if you don't take care of the box or pick up your mail regularly, you risk losing it. USPS can also revoke your PO Box rental if you cause physical damage to the box or lie on your application.

Close a PO Box Online

If you had completed the rental application online, your PO Box is already linked to the account so that you can make changes right away. Otherwise, you can find a "Link" button on the "PO Boxes" page available through the "Track & Manage" menu option on the USPS website. That will take you to a form where you can enter your business name, ZIP Code and PO Box number to add the rental to your existing USPS account. You'll proceed through a few more pages to answer questions about your payment method, auto-renewal setup and added services before you get confirmation of the linked PO Box.

To cancel the PO Box rental, head to the "PO Boxes" page on the USPS website and look for a button in the "Renew or Manage" section. This will let you log in to your USPS account, and it will list all PO Box rentals you have. Look for a "Close/Request Refund" button beside the PO Box's information. USPS will ask why you're closing the box and make you agree to a disclaimer, and you'll click "Close PO Box" to confirm.

Your confirmation will say if you'll get a refund for any remaining service. The PO Box refund policies state that you don't get your key deposit returned when you cancel online, but any due refund of unused service should arrive in five business days or less. Refunds are usually prorated for active boxes with subscriptions of six to 12 months, but you can get a full refund if you never activated the box at the post office and are within the first 30 days. You'll need to return your PO Box keys to the post office and will have 10 days to pick up any remaining mail.

Cancel a PO Box in Person

If you want to receive back your PO Box key deposit, you can head to the post office where your rental resides and tell the postal service representative that you'd like to cancel the service. Be prepared with your PO Box keys and number handy. Once the worker verifies your information, processes your cancellation and collects your keys, you'll be able to get your key deposit and any due service fees returned to your credit card within five business days. Like with online cancellation, you have 10 days to collect any mail in your PO Box.