How to Track an AliExpress Order (and What to Do When Tracking Stalls)
Quick answer: To track an AliExpress order, open My Orders, click the order, and copy the logistics number from the tracking section — it is not the order number. Paste it into Cainiao's global portal or a multi-carrier tracker. Silence in the first 7–11 days after dispatch is normal, not a lost parcel.
Key takeaways
- The order number is not a tracking number. Most "my tracking doesn't work" cases are someone pasting an 8–16 digit order ID into a courier site.
- Your number can change mid-journey. An LP code from China is often replaced by a local postal code once the parcel lands, and the old number stops moving forever.
- Cainiao's own guidance allows up to 11 days for tracking to start updating after a seller ships. Before day 12, silence is a workflow gap, not evidence of a problem.
- Track in three places, not one — the AliExpress order page, Cainiao, and your destination country's postal site. Each one is blind to part of the route.
- Watch the protection countdown, not the tracking page. The only date that can cost you money is the day your buyer protection expires.
Where do you find the tracking number for an AliExpress order?
The tracking number sits on the order details page, not in the order confirmation email. Open My Orders, select the order, and look for the logistics or tracking section — the number appears once the seller marks the item as shipped.
- Sign in to AliExpress (web or app) and open My Orders.
- Click Order Details on the order you want, then Track Order or the logistics line.
- Copy the number exactly as shown, including letters. Don't retype it — a single wrong character returns "not found" and sends people down a two-hour rabbit hole.
- Paste it into Cainiao Global, a multi-carrier tracker, or your own postal service's site.
Order number versus tracking number
These are two different things, and confusing them is the single most common tracking failure:
- Order number — a long string of digits at the top of the order. It identifies your purchase inside AliExpress. No carrier in the world recognises it.
- Tracking (logistics) number — appears only after dispatch, usually with letters in it. It identifies your parcel in a carrier network.
If the order page shows no logistics number at all and the seller has already marked it shipped, that is itself information: the label exists but the parcel has not entered a carrier network yet.
What does your AliExpress tracking number tell you?
The format of the number tells you which leg of the journey you are looking at, and therefore which site can see it.
| What you have | Looks like | What it actually is |
|---|---|---|
| Order number | 8–16 digits, no letters | AliExpress's internal purchase ID. Never trackable anywhere. |
| LP number | LP + 14 digits | AliExpress Standard Shipping / Cainiao's international leg. Visible on AliExpress and Cainiao, usually invisible on your national postal site. |
| S10 postal code | 2 letters + 9 digits + 2 letters (e.g. RS123456789SG) | The universal postal format. Appears after the parcel leaves China and is what your local post office actually searches. |
| Local courier code | Carrier-specific format | Last-mile handoff — common on Choice and Standard shipping in Europe and the US. |
| Express courier code | DHL / FedEx / UPS format | Paid express. Trackable end to end from day one, which is most of what you are paying for. |
An LP code being replaced by an S10 code is normal and expected — it is a handoff, not a lost parcel. The problem is that the AliExpress page does not always show you the new number promptly, so people keep refreshing a number that has been retired.
Where should you actually track an AliExpress parcel?
No single tracking surface sees the whole route. The China leg, the international transfer, and the final delivery are run by different systems, and each one publishes to its own audience.
| Where you track | Best for | Blind spot |
|---|---|---|
| AliExpress order page / app | Day-to-day checking, and the only view that also shows your protection countdown | Often lags the carrier's own site by a day or two |
| Cainiao Global | Anything sent by AliExpress Standard Shipping or Choice — the fullest view of the China leg | Thin on final-mile detail in some countries |
| Your national postal site (Royal Mail, USPS, Canada Post…) | Delivery attempts, redelivery, held-at-depot notices | Shows nothing at all until the parcel is in your country |
| Multi-carrier tracker (17TRACK, Ship24, Parcels) | Spotting the moment a number changes hands between carriers | Third-party aggregation — can duplicate events or mislabel a carrier |
A practical habit: check Cainiao while the parcel is still in Asia, then switch to your national postal site the moment you see a "departed" or "arrived in destination country" event. Checking the wrong one for the stage you are at produces most of the panic.
Why is my AliExpress tracking not updating?
Tracking updates are scan events. No scan means nobody handled the parcel in a way that produced a record — which happens constantly for reasons that have nothing to do with your parcel being lost.
1. The seller pressed "shipped" before the parcel moved
Marking an order shipped generates a label. The parcel may still be in the seller's stockroom waiting for a pickup run. This alone explains a large share of the first three days of silence.
2. The parcel is sitting in consolidation
Cross-border economy shipping works by pooling many small parcels until there is enough volume for a container or an air pallet. During that wait there is deliberately nothing to scan. This stage can quietly absorb four to seven days.
3. Customs and the international transfer
The gap between "departed from China" and "arrived at destination" is normally the longest silence of the whole journey. A parcel in a sealed air container or a customs backlog produces no events, sometimes for a week or more. Typical AliExpress delivery times already account for this — the silence is inside the normal estimate, not on top of it.
4. The number changed and you are watching a dead one
After the handoff to a local carrier, the original LP number often freezes at its last event permanently. Nothing is wrong with the parcel; the record simply continued somewhere else, under a code you have not been shown yet. Re-open the order page and re-copy the number before assuming anything.
5. Choice and last-mile carriers that don't report back
AliExpress Choice uses local delivery partners for the final stretch, and some of them feed events back to Cainiao slowly or not at all. The parcel arrives on time; the tracking page simply never catches up.
6. The rare genuine problem
Two patterns are worth taking seriously: a number that has produced no origin scan whatsoever after two to three weeks, and a number that shows events in a country you don't live in or a "delivered" status you cannot account for. The second sometimes means a recycled or invalid number was uploaded to satisfy the shipping deadline.
How long is too long? A realistic timeline
Cainiao's own help documentation states that tracking usually takes up to 11 days to start updating after a seller sends an order, and suggests contacting the seller if there is still nothing 12 days after shipment. That figure is the useful dividing line between patience and action.
| Time since "shipped" | What is normal | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 0–3 days | No scans at all | Nothing. The label exists, the parcel may not have been collected. |
| 3–7 days | First origin scans: accepted, departed facility | Nothing. Check Cainiao, not your postal site. |
| 7–11 days | Departure from China, possibly a transit hub | Nothing. This is still inside the documented window. |
| 12–20 days, zero events | Outside normal | Message the seller with a specific question (below). |
| 20+ days, zero origin scan | Likely never dispatched, or an invalid number | Escalate — and check how much protection time you have left. |
| Moving, then stalled 10+ days mid-route | Usually customs or a missed handoff | Re-copy the number, try a multi-carrier tracker, then message the seller. |
What to do when tracking is genuinely stuck
- Re-copy the number from the order page today. Not from your notes, not from an old email. It may have been replaced during a handoff.
- Try all three surfaces — Cainiao, a multi-carrier tracker, and your national postal site. A number invisible on one is frequently live on another.
- Ask the seller a specific question. "Where is my order?" gets a copy-paste reply. "Which carrier is handling this now, what is the current tracking number, and on what date was it handed over?" gets an actual answer, and creates a written record for a dispute.
- Check your protection countdown on the order page. This matters more than the tracking page, because it is the only clock with money attached to it.
- Extend the deadline only for a real reason. A seller who explains a customs hold and gives a new number has earned a few days. A seller asking for an extension with no new information is buying time until your buyer protection window closes.
- Open a dispute before the window expires, not after. A dispute can be withdrawn if the parcel turns up. An expired protection period cannot be reopened — see how AliExpress refunds and disputes work.
The date that matters more than any tracking event
Experienced buyers barely watch tracking. They note one date — the day buyer protection expires — and work backwards from it. Tracking silence is only a problem when it eats that deadline.
Two habits follow from that:
- Screenshot the tracking page when it stalls, with the date visible. Carrier pages are overwritten as events update; your screenshot is not, and it is the evidence that a parcel sat motionless for three weeks.
- Treat "delivered" with no parcel as urgent, not confusing. Request proof of delivery from the local carrier the same week, while the GPS and signature record still exists.
If you order from AliExpress often, the same order page discipline pays off in a second way: your AliExpress cashback is tied to the order, not the parcel, so a delayed shipment doesn't affect it — but a cancelled or refunded order does. Refundy is one of several browser extensions that return a percentage of AliExpress orders (currently up to 11%) once they complete; it is worth setting up before a big order rather than after.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my AliExpress tracking not updating?
Usually because no scan event has been generated yet — the seller marked the order shipped before handover, the parcel is in consolidation, or it is in a customs or international transfer gap. A second common cause is that the tracking number changed at a carrier handoff, so the number you are watching has been retired.
How long does AliExpress tracking take to update?
Cainiao's help documentation allows up to 11 days after the seller ships for tracking to start updating, and recommends contacting the seller if there is still nothing 12 days after shipment. Express couriers such as DHL or FedEx update within a day or two.
Can I track an AliExpress order without a tracking number?
Only inside AliExpress. The order page shows the shipping status even without a usable logistics number, but no carrier or third-party site can find a parcel from an order number. If no logistics number has appeared after the seller marked the order shipped, ask them for it directly.
My tracking says delivered but nothing arrived. What now?
Act the same week. Check with neighbours and any safe-place instructions, then ask the final-mile carrier for proof of delivery — GPS coordinates, a signature, or a photo. If it shows a different address, open a dispute with that evidence while your buyer protection is still open.
Is it safe to use 17TRACK or another multi-carrier tracker?
Tracking numbers are not sensitive on their own, so pasting one into a reputable multi-carrier site is low risk, and no account or app is required. Never enter your AliExpress login, card details, or a payment "customs fee" on a tracking site — that request is always a scam, whatever the page looks like.
Does a changed tracking number mean my parcel was lost?
No. It usually means the parcel was handed from the international carrier to a domestic one, and the new carrier issued its own code. Re-open the order details page to find the current number rather than following the old one.
Images: Photo by Luke Heibert on Unsplash · Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash (Unsplash License).
Refundy provides cashback on AliExpress, Alibaba.com, 1688, and Taobao. 1688 cashback must be activated by support before it applies. Cashback excludes shipping, fees, taxes, and split payments — see the cashback terms for details.