Frequently asked Questions (FAQs)
- Is Global Penfriends Safe Global Penfriends has been connecting penpals for almost 30 years and we believe Global Penfriends is the safest penpal club in the world. All member profiles are reviewed by a human and any non genuine profiles are removed. Our site is administered to ensure we provide a safe place to meet your new international friends.
- Where is Global Penfriends? We are a family based club based in Western Australia.
- Is this site for snail mail penpals or internet penpals? Both, We have structured the site to allow snail mail penpals to connect and also provided a messaging tool to allow internet friends to connect.
- How do I log a letter I posted? When you post a real letter to a penpal, you can log it in your conversation with them so you both have a record of it.
- How do I get a penpal's postal address to write to them? To protect everyone's privacy, postal addresses are not shown on profiles. There are three main ways to exchange snail mail addresses on the site:
- Share yours with a penpal using the ✉️ share address button in your conversation.
- Add your own postal address and tick “Also let me receive surprise mail” — both are needed before anyone can write to you unasked.
- Use snail mail credits to collect addresses or unlock extra address exchanges (a separate add-on, not included in Premium).
- How do I share my own postal address with a penpal? Whenever you feel ready, it is easy to do. Click the little ✉️ envelope icon inside the message box, in the bottom left corner. Before that works you will need to have saved your address under the My Postal Address link — that is where you register it with the site. Once it is saved, you are all set.
- How many times can I share my postal address? While you are still building trust with a penpal, free members can swap addresses with 2 new penpals a month and Premium members with 5. Once trust is established in a conversation there is no limit at all.
- Do I have to accept an address that is offered to me? Not at all. You will see a card in the conversation asking if you would like their address; the address stays hidden until you accept. If you decline, your penpal is not told why, and they cannot offer again unless you change your mind. You can also turn address offers off for a conversation entirely using the toggle above the message box.
- Is this site free? Yes! The site has a great free/basic offering which allows everyone to find penpals. If you want an enhanced experience, there are also options to upgrade.
- How can I support the club or other members? We love that members want to give back. There are a few simple ways to help — including gifts that go towards giving kind young penpals the full Premium experience.
- Is my data safe? Any information provided to Global Penfriends will never be distributed to any other third party.
- Are the reviews on Global Penfriends real? There are currently 9693 reviews published on our testimonials page.
- Is Global Penfriends for dating? NO - We are an international friendship club. If you get reported for being flirtatious or suggestive - your profile will be removed immediately.
- Can Prison inmates join? No, convicted criminals or inmates are not allowed to join.
- What ages is the club for? Global Penfriends is designed with safety as the top priority. There is complete separation between adults and children on the platform. Children can only connect with other children who are close to their own age (within a few years), and cannot view or interact with adult members. This structure is possible thanks to the large, diverse membership base and ensures a safe, age-appropriate penpal experience for everyone.
- Do i need a profile in order to contact other penpals? Yes.
- Do children under 13 see ads? No.
- Can children under 13 upload a photo of themself? No, for safety reasons we do not allow children under 13 years of age to post pictures of themselves. If any children under 13 would like to add a profile photo, we ask that they upload a picture of an animal or pet instead.
- What is a Candy Swap? This refers to exchanging candy / lollies / sweets via post. Candy is often small and travels well, so it makes for an ideal item to exchange with penpals overseas. Many countries have candy that is specific to their country - so this is a good form of cultural exchange.
- What is a Travel Ring and how does it work? A Travel Ring is a small group of penpals whose treasures — journals, letters, postcards — travel the world by post, with every member adding something along the way. Rings run in one of two formats: the "round robin", where every member's item travels the ring at the same time and comes home to its owner, or the "relay", where only the creator's item is passed around and each member posts just once.
- Why am I seeing Ads? Free / basic members over the age of 13 are shown ads. These ads help sustain the club so people can continue to find penpals from around the world. Premium members will not see ads.
- Can you share images / video or other media on the site? You can share photos directly with a penpal once you know each other well. Photo sharing becomes available in a conversation when you are both 18 or older and trust is established. Video and other media cannot be shared.
- My profile photo gets distorted when uploading Try a different image or run your photo through a resizer such as https://picresize.com/. Try to upload a square image if possible.
- I need help finding penpals - where to start? Start by creating a free profile, search for penpals and send messages and virtual smiles on our website. If you have time, check out our visitor tour.
- Why is my new account showing "under review"? All new profiles are reviewed by our team before being approved. This usually takes up to 12 hours. If you haven't received a verification email, please check your spam folder. If it's still missing after 24 hours, click the contact support link and send us a query.
- I forgot my email and password Visit the contact us page, send us an email and we will run a manual security check.
- I forgot my password Please go to the sign-in page and click on the "forgot password" link. You will be asked for your registered email address. You will be sent a link to reset your password.
- What is the Send a Smile button for? This is used to send an expression of interest to contact a penpal. Your penpal will receive a message saying you are interested in contacting them.
- Can school classes or students register? Yes students are welcome to join, we suggest that each student within a class creates a profile to ensure a customised experience. Each profile will require its own email address.
- I have too many penpals - Can i pause my profile? If you have too many penpals, just sign in, click on my profile and suspend your profile. This will remove it from search results, but still allow you to message your existing penpals.
- I upgraded but my account has not updated Upgrades usually happen straight away, but occasionally you must wait a couple of minutes for it to activate.
- How do I delete my profile and all my data Sign in, click my profile and then delete profile >> Then click to confirm deletion. Once deleted - your data cannot be restored..
- Can I remove a penpal from my inbox? You can only remove a conversation from an inbox when a trash bin icon is displayed alongside their conversation. The trash icon will display if the penpal is new and not responding within 1 week OR if the conversation is two-way and the recipient does not respond after several weeks. Basically the trash icon will display when the conversation is stale.
- Can deleted messages be recovered? No — once a message is deleted it cannot be restored. Please be careful before deleting any conversations.
- Why are some of my conversations locked or limited? Free members can actively correspond in up to 5 conversations at a time. Once that limit is reached, additional chats in your inbox will be locked. The most active conversations will display in your top 5 conversations.
- My message was wrongly detected If you are in a new conversation and trust is not established, your messages must be filtered to ensure electronic contact details, links and phone numbers are not being given out early. If you feel our detection system wrongly penalised one of your messages. Let us know by clicking the contact support link.
- Why are some profiles removed from the club? Safety is our primary focus. Profiles can be removed if they are found or suspected of being non genuine or displaying suspicious behaviour.
- How do I block or report someone? If a penpal makes you uncomfortable, you can block them (they can no longer contact you) or report them to our safety team. Both tools are in the three-dot menu at the top of any conversation.
- How do i cancel a subscription payment Please sign into your profile, click on the payments link. Then click on the active subscription and cancel it. Alternatively, submit a support ticket and we will cancel it within 24 hours.
- Does Global Penfriends have an App? Sorry but we have not yet developed an app.
Read how this remote corner of the world inspired Global Penfriends.
See our guide to logging a posted letter.
Our explainer goes through each method in detail.
See our guide to the 3 ways to exchange postal addresses.
If the icon is greyed out it could be because your penpal does not want to receive an address, or because you have not yet sent a couple of messages back and forth. Hover over the icon and it will tell you which.
See our step-by-step guide to sharing your postal address.
Sharing again with someone who already has your address does not count, and neither does an offer that is declined or left unanswered — you only use one when an exchange actually completes.
See how you can support Global Penfriends.
Yes — every review on Global Penfriends is submitted by a verified member after using our service. We do not use third-party platforms or paid testimonials. The reviews you see reflect genuine experiences from real people in our global community. Many of the reviewers still have active profiles, so you can even message them directly. It’s transparent, authentic, and shows exactly what real members think of our platform.
See our guide to how Travel Rings work.
See our guide to sharing a photo safely.
See our guide to making your first contact.
See our guide to making your first contact.
See our guide to pausing your profile.
See our guide to removing a conversation from your inbox.
See our guide to building trust and the Trust Progress bar.
See our step-by-step guide to blocking or reporting a penpal.