Post offices and shipping in Palo Alto

Palo Alto has three post offices. They are not interchangeable. The historic downtown office handles everyday mail and is the only one with a Saturday counter. A small branch near California Avenue serves the middle of town. The main post office out by Highway 101 is the one that takes passport applications. Add three UPS Stores and two FedEx Office stores and you have plenty of choice, as long as you know which place does what.

This guide sets out each location as our business directory lists it, with links to the full directory pages. Hours change, so treat the times here as a guide and confirm with USPS or the store before a trip that matters.

The three post offices

All three show the same phone number on USPS's site, 650-321-1423. The national customer line is 1-800-ASK-USPS.

Hamilton Post Office, downtown

When people say "the Palo Alto post office," they usually mean the building at 380 Hamilton Avenue. Birge Clark designed it in the Mediterranean Revival style. It was built in 1932 and 1933 and joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1981. Our page on architect Birge Clark puts it in context with his other downtown buildings.

The counter is open weekdays and on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The self-service kiosk is available all day Monday through Saturday, which helps if you need postage after hours. PO box access runs from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. The office is a block from University Avenue. Our parking guide lists the nearby city garages.

Cambridge Post Office, near California Avenue

The Cambridge branch at 265 Cambridge Avenue is a small office a block off California Avenue. It sells postage, handles money orders and holds mail for pickup. It also has PO boxes. The counter is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Saturday the PO box lobby is open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the kiosk from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., but there is no counter service. USPS lists the last weekday collection at 5:30 p.m. The California Avenue guide covers the street around it.

Main post office, East Bayshore Road

The main post office sits at 2085 East Bayshore Road, on the frontage road on the bay side of Highway 101. USPS writes the mailing city as East Palo Alto with ZIP code 94303. The building is on the Palo Alto side of the freeway, though. It has its own parking lot. That makes it the easiest office for a big stack of packages.

USPS lists two entries at this address. One, called Palo Alto CA S&DC, short for sorting and delivery center, carries the retail hours and passport services. The other, called Palo Alto, covers package pickup. The retail windows are open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PO box access runs from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The self-service kiosk stays open on Saturday too.

Passports

For a first passport, a child's passport or a replacement for a lost one, you must apply in person at an acceptance facility. In Palo Alto that means the main post office on East Bayshore Road. USPS lists:

• Passport appointments from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday.
• Walk-in passport service from 3 to 4 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
• Passport photo appointments from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays.

Book through USPS's online scheduler and bring the completed form, proof of citizenship, ID and payment. The State Department sets the document rules and fees. Adult renewals are usually done by mail or online rather than at a post office.

If you only need photos, the UPS Store in Town & Country Village and both FedEx Office stores list passport photo service. FedEx notes that its stores are not passport acceptance facilities, so you still have to apply at the post office.

The Stanford post office

The small post office in White Plaza on the Stanford campus is scheduled to close on October 31, 2026. Students and staff who used it will need another office. The Hamilton Post Office downtown is the nearest full office for most of campus. For mail addressed to university departments and residences, follow Stanford's own mail instructions. Our White Plaza guide covers the rest of the plaza.

The UPS Stores

Each UPS Store is a franchise that the brand says is independently owned and operated, so services and hours vary by location. Palo Alto has three:

The Town & Country store keeps the latest weekday hours of the three, until 7 p.m. The Bryant Street store lists its last UPS Ground pickup at 5 p.m. on weekdays and 4 p.m. on Saturday. None of the stores has a UPS pickup on Sunday, so a package dropped off that day leaves on Monday. The Midtown store lists freight services, including custom crating, which helps with furniture or artwork.

FedEx Office

FedEx runs two stores in town:

• FedEx Office Print and Ship Center at 249 California Avenue. This is the full store, with self-serve and full-service printing, large-format prints, packing, shipping and Hold at FedEx Location.
• FedEx Office Ship Center in Suite 110 at 3000 El Camino Real, near Page Mill Road. It focuses on shipping and lists a maximum package weight of 150 pounds.

Both accept eligible Amazon returns by QR code with no box or label needed. FedEx also lists counters at some Walgreens stores. For a big print job, such as posters for an event, go to California Avenue.

Mail when you move

File a change of address with USPS when you move in or out. The official site is moversguide.usps.com. Use only that site, since lookalike sites charge extra fees for the same form. Forwarding takes a few days to start, so file a week or two ahead if you can. Our moving checklist lists the other accounts to update, from utilities to voter registration.

A PO box or a private mailbox can bridge the gap if you are between homes. All three post offices have PO boxes. Our directory lists the Bryant Street UPS Store as a mailbox center too. A private mailbox gives you a street address rather than a PO box number, which some senders require.

Frequently asked questions