Royal Mail is planning to close 57 post offices across Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and County Durham.
A further 23 branches would be replaced by outreach outlets such as mobile services, and an additional outreach branch introduced in one village.
Towns and villages from Berwick to Crook, via the outskirts of Newcastle and Sunderland, are affected.
There will now be a six-week consultation period to allow local people to comment.
Including outreach services, there would be a total of 364 branches across the area.
Post Office Ltd said 99.5% of the area's population would see no changes, or be within a mile of an alternative branch.
Adrian Wales, network development manager for the North East, said: "Taking the decision to close any Post Office branch is always very difficult and we know it will cause concern to many of our customers.
"We want to ensure that everyone who uses, relies on, or has any concern with Post Office services is both fully aware of the proposed changes and able to give views on them.
"Post Office Ltd's aim is to continue to provide essential services and support retail businesses and the local economy in as many communities as possible, subject to the minimum access set by the government."
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