PEC stands for Posta Elettronica Certificata, Italy’s certified email service. It provides evidence that a message was sent and delivered. It can be useful when contacting public bodies, businesses or professionals. Always check the recipient’s instructions for your application.
This guide provides general information. For a dispute, formal notice or deadline affecting your circumstances, contact the relevant authority or a qualified professional.
Key information
- Audience
- Private individuals, including those abroad, businesses and professionals
- Certified delivery
- Between PEC mailboxes; separate from reading
- Activation
- Through a provider in AgID’s directory
- INAD
- Digital domicile is separate from buying a mailbox
Section 1
PEC, ordinary email, digital domicile and digital signatures
These tools serve different purposes. Before sending a document, check which one the procedure requires.
| Tool | Main purpose | What you should not assume |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinary email | Exchanging messages | It does not generate the certified receipts used by the PEC system. |
| PEC | Recording sending and delivery between PEC mailboxes | Delivery does not prove that the recipient read the message. |
| Digital domicile | Providing an address for communications with legal effect | Opening a PEC mailbox does not always register it as a digital domicile on INAD. |
| Digital signature | Signing an electronic document | Sending an attachment by PEC does not automatically apply its author’s signature. |
The provider’s signatures on receipts concern the transmission process. If an application requires a signed document, follow its signing requirements.
Section 2
When to use PEC
PEC can be used to send documents or communications when the recipient accepts this channel. Private individuals can obtain it without running a business. Requirements related to a business or profession must be checked against the relevant category and register.
Section 3
How to get it and check the costs
Start with AgID’s public list of PEC providers and visit your chosen provider’s website. Prices and activation procedures vary between offers.
- Molise Chamber of Commerce: digital domicile and PEC (in Italian)
- AgID: PEC provider directory (in Italian)
Before buying, check
- Introductory and renewal prices, including whether tax is included.
- Mailbox space, message size and sending limits.
- Sign-in and account recovery methods.
- Options for exporting messages and receipts.
- Included archive or preservation services, and what happens when the plan expires.
Follow the required identity checks, complete the agreement and check the activation confirmation. There is no single activation process for every provider. Check accepted documents or digital identities before purchasing.
Section 4
Finding the recipient and sending a message
These registers help identify the address. Also check which office handles your particular application.
| Recipient | Where to check |
|---|---|
| Italian public administration or public service provider | The application instructions and digital addresses in IPA. |
| Business or professional registered with a professional body | INI-PEC. |
| Person with a published digital domicile | INAD. |
- INAD guidelines, version 2.1 (PDF in Italian)
- IPA: public-sector digital addresses (in Italian)
- MIMIT: business register and PEC (in Italian)
- INI-PEC: business and professional addresses (in Italian)
To organise your message
Open your mailbox
Use the provider’s website or app.
Check the recipient’s address
Do not rely only on autocomplete.
Write your message
Use a clear subject and a short explanation of your request.
Prepare attachments
Attach the required documents and check readability, format and any required signature.
Send and check
Check the receipts associated with that message.
Section 5
Understanding and keeping receipts
A delivery receipt is issued even if the recipient does not open the message. Having only an acceptance receipt does not yet provide evidence of successful delivery.
| Result shown in Italian | Practical meaning |
|---|---|
| Ricevuta di accettazione — acceptance receipt | The sender’s provider accepted the message for sending. |
| Ricevuta di avvenuta consegna — delivery receipt | The message arrived in the recipient’s mailbox. |
| Avviso di non accettazione / mancata consegna — rejection or non-delivery notice | There is a problem to investigate. Clicking “Send” alone does not confirm completion. |
- DPR 11 February 2005, no. 68 (AgID PDF in Italian)
- RFC 6109: Italian Certified Electronic Mail
- DPR 68/2005: current text (in Italian)
Keep the original message, attachments and receipts using the service’s export functions. A complete delivery receipt includes the original message. Keep the electronic files even if you also make a printout or screenshot for easier reading.
Section 6
Digital domicile and INAD
A digital domicile is an address designated for electronic communications with legal effect. INAD contains the digital domiciles of individuals and other eligible categories. For individuals, its guidelines require adulthood and legal capacity to act.
- AgID: INAD overview (text in Italian)
- INAD guidelines, version 2.1 (PDF in Italian)
- Digital Administration Code: current text (in Italian)
To designate your address through the portal
Sign in at domiciliodigitale.gov.it
Use SPID, CIE or CNS.
Complete registration
Provide a PEC address that you hold.
Confirm
Follow the portal’s confirmation steps.
Check the outcome
Check publication of the address.
INAD’s portal services are free; the PEC mailbox contract is separate. A published digital domicile can be looked up by others: it is more than a private contact email. Check your mailbox regularly and update your digital domicile when you change the address.
Section 7
Common problems and security
If the delivery receipt is missing, check the notices and contact your provider. Check the recipient’s address and attachment limits again. If an application has a deadline, also contact the responsible authority: do not assume a technical problem extends the deadline.
For storage, renewal or sign-in problems, use the provider’s official account area. Before closing a mailbox, export useful documents and update your digital domicile and any contact details supplied to authorities. Expiry conditions depend on the service.
Section 8
Using PEC from abroad
If you live outside Italy, ask the provider about activation requirements, accepted documents and access methods. When contacting an Italian authority, follow the instructions for that procedure. For a foreign recipient, check which service and channel they accept; do not assume equivalence with every foreign system.
Section 9
Frequently asked questions
Ten answers on activation, receipts, INAD and security, with the relevant sources.
Do I need an Italian VAT number to get PEC?
No. PEC is also available to private individuals. Activation requirements depend on the provider.
Can I turn a Gmail or Outlook address into PEC?
Changing an email setting does not make an ordinary address a PEC address. You need a mailbox within the PEC service.
Can I send PEC to an ordinary email address?
The service may allow it, but you will not receive the certified delivery receipt provided for PEC-to-PEC messages.
Is the acceptance receipt enough?
It confirms acceptance for sending. Check the delivery receipt to confirm that the message arrived.
Does delivery prove that the message was read?
No. It records arrival in the mailbox, whether or not the recipient opens the message.
Is an attachment automatically signed by me when I send it by PEC?
No. PEC transmission does not automatically apply the sender’s signature to the document.
Does opening a PEC mailbox register me on INAD?
They are different operations. However, the procedure includes transfers for professionals listed in INI-PEC, so check your position.
Are INAD and the PEC mailbox both free?
INAD’s services are free. Your PEC mailbox is subject to the provider’s prices and conditions.
Is a screenshot enough to keep?
Keep the original electronic message and receipt files too. Seek appropriate guidance if you have specific document preservation requirements.
Can a PEC message be a scam?
Yes. Verify unexpected requests through official channels before paying, opening attachments or entering credentials.
Section 10
Official sources
Start with the operational portals and legal documents. Poste’s manual is one provider’s technical documentation: its terms do not automatically apply to other providers.
- AgID: PEC provider directory (in Italian)AgID. Public directory for finding a provider and checking its website and terms.
- INAD: digital domicile and FAQs (in Italian)INAD / AgID / InfoCamere. Portal for designating, changing and looking up digital domiciles; INAD services are free.
- IPA: public-sector digital addresses (in Italian)IPA / AgID. Find digital addresses for public bodies, organisational areas and offices, and public service providers.
- INI-PEC: business and professional addresses (in Italian)INI-PEC / MIMIT / InfoCamere. Operational link to the digital domicile register for businesses and professionals.
- DPR 11 February 2005, no. 68 (AgID PDF in Italian)AgID. PEC regulation covering receipts, delivery, integrity and logs. Document published by AgID.
- Decree of 2 November 2005 (AgID PDF in Italian)AgID. Technical rules: complete receipts, provider signatures and the distinction between transmission and document validity.
- Digital Administration Code: current text (in Italian)Normattiva. CAD: definitions, digital domicile, address registers and PEC transmission.
- DPR 68/2005: current text (in Italian)Normattiva. Current version of the PEC regulation, separate from the historical PDF published by AgID.
- Molise Chamber of Commerce: digital domicile and PEC (in Italian)Camera di Commercio del Molise. Availability for private individuals and variation in provider costs and activation procedures.
- MAECI: certified email (in Italian)MAECI. PEC definition, choosing a provider and checking the economic conditions.
- AgID: INAD overview (text in Italian)AgID. Who the register is for and access using SPID, CIE and CNS.
- INAD guidelines, version 2.1 (PDF in Italian)AgID. PEC address ownership, eligible categories, registration, publication, changes and lookups.
- Transfer from INI-PEC to INAD (PDF in Italian)AgID / MIMIT. Transfer of professional addresses and options to change or remove the personal domicile on INAD.
- MIMIT: business register and PEC (in Italian)MIMIT. Institutional information on the public register for businesses and professionals.
- InfoCamere: INI-PEC (in Italian)InfoCamere. Overview of the INI-PEC register and lookup service.
- CERT-AgID: phishing and spam through PEC (in Italian)CERT-AgID. Warning about malicious campaigns that also use PEC mailboxes.
- Poste: PEC operating manual (PDF in Italian)Poste Italiane. One provider’s technical documentation on access, receipts and ordinary email; conditions depend on the service.
- RFC 6109: Italian Certified Electronic MailRFC Editor. Informational technical document from 2011 on PEC definitions and operation.
- Electronic document guidelines (PDF in Italian)AgID. Scope and guidance on electronic document preservation, separate from simply copying files.
For more on digital identity, communications with the Italian Revenue Agency and security, see these guides.
- SPID guideActivation and access to public services, including INAD.
- CIE guideThe electronic identity card and access to digital services.
- Italian Revenue AgencyServices, offices and communication channels for the Agency.
- Scam-prevention guideRecognising suspicious requests and checking official channels.