Google AdSense PIN: How Long It Takes and What to Do If It Doesn’t Arrive
I’m happy: yesterday my Google AdSense PIN arrived! Google decided on its own that it was time to verify my address and mailed the letter, even though my balance was only about $8. The letter took 16 days.
In short: the PIN is a 6-digit code in an ordinary paper letter from Google. AdSense uses it to verify your payments address. The letter takes 2–4 weeks. If it hasn’t arrived in 3 weeks, request a new PIN. You have 4 months to enter it, otherwise ads on your site stop showing.
What the letter from Google looks like
How it works now (as of November 2026)
When your AdSense earnings reach the verification threshold (the amount depends on your country), Google mails a letter with a 6-digit PIN to your payments address. Until the address is verified, you won’t get paid.
How long the letter takes
Usually 2–4 weeks. It comes by standard international mail with no tracking number, and the mail carrier simply drops it in your mailbox. It isn’t registered mail, so the post office can’t tell you anything about it.
The letter is easy to lose. Readers in the comments found it on the floor of the building entrance under broken mailboxes, and for one of them it only arrived on the third try. As for mine, my wife put it on top of the laptop and it slipped underneath — we barely found it :-)
Where to enter the PIN
- Sign in to AdSense.
- Go to Payments → Verification check.
- Enter the 6 digits exactly as they appear in the letter and click Submit.
You can only get it wrong twice: after the third incorrect entry, ads on your site stop showing. To reset the limit, request a new PIN.
What to do if the PIN doesn’t arrive
- Wait 3 weeks from when it was sent. You can’t request a new PIN sooner: replacements can only be requested once every 3 weeks.
- Check your payments address. The country must match your account’s country. Line 1: house number, street, district, city; line 2: apartment, floor, building; then the postal code. Google now recommends writing the address in local language characters.
- Changed your address after it was sent? Then the letter went to the old one. After 3 weeks, request a new PIN — it will go to the new address.
- A replacement PIN is a copy of the original. If the first letter does arrive, its code works too.
- The fourth replacement didn’t arrive either? Use the PIN troubleshooter in AdSense Help.
The key thing is to finish within 4 months of the PIN being generated. If the address is never verified, Google stops showing ads on your site.