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Reviewed By:
Ashley Davison
Ashley Davison
Editor
Ashley is currently the Chief Compliance Officer for Credit Saint, previously the Chief Operating Officer. Ashley got into the Financial world by working as a Logistics Coordinator at Ernst & Young. Coming from a previous career in education, she is eager to teach the world every...
No, checking your own credit score doesn’t lower it. When you check your own score or report, it’s a soft inquiry, and soft inquiries aren’t counted in FICO or VantageScore calculations.
Only a hard inquiry, which happens when you apply for new credit, can affect your score, and that effect is usually small and temporary.
The belief that looking at your score pulls it down is one of the most common credit myths. Knowing the difference between inquiry types means you can stay informed instead of avoiding your credit out of worry.
Key Takeaways
Every consumer can get free weekly credit reports from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion through AnnualCreditReport.com, a change made permanent in 2023.
Checking your own credit score is a soft inquiry and doesn’t affect your score.
Hard inquiries from new credit applications can lower a score slightly. They stay on your report for two years and generally affect FICO scores for twelve months.
If you find an error, you have the right to dispute it with the credit bureaus for free.
Why Does Checking Your Credit Matter?
The fear that any credit check will drop your score keeps many people from looking at their reports for years. That avoidance has its own costs. Errors go unnoticed, and so does identity theft.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) gives you the right to dispute inaccurate items, but that right only helps if you find them. Understanding inquiry types is the first step to staying informed without a penalty.
What Is a Soft Inquiry?
A soft inquiry is a credit check that isn’t tied to a new credit application. Soft inquiries show up on your credit report for your reference, but lenders reviewing future applications can’t see them, and they aren’t counted in FICO or VantageScore models.
Common soft inquiries include:
Checking your own credit score or report through a bank, card issuer or a site like AnnualCreditReport.com.
Pre-approved credit card or loan offers, where a lender pre-screens people who meet certain criteria.
Existing creditors reviewing your account as part of routine account management.
Employer background checks, made with your written consent.
Insurance companies pulling a credit-based insurance score in states where it’s allowed.
None of these affect your credit score. You can check your own credit as often as you like, even daily through free monitoring tools, without worrying about a drop.
How Much Does a Hard Inquiry Affect Your Score?
A hard inquiry happens when a lender pulls your credit report because you applied for new credit. The application creates the inquiry, not the act of checking a score. Common examples include applications for credit cards, mortgages, auto loans, personal loans and some utility or rental services.
The typical impact:
Score effect: A single hard inquiry usually lowers a score by only a few points.
Time on your report: Hard inquiries stay on your credit report for two years.
Time it affects your score: FICO generally counts inquiries from the past twelve months.
Several inquiries: Many hard inquiries in a short period can add up and signal higher risk to lenders.
Scoring models allow for rate shopping. When you apply with several mortgage, auto or student loan lenders within a short window, FICO and VantageScore typically treat those inquiries as one for scoring purposes.
The exact window depends on the model, and newer FICO versions allow a longer window than older ones. Credit card applications aren’t grouped this way. If you see a hard inquiry you don’t recognize, our guide on disputing inquiries on your credit report explains your options.
Why Are Regular Credit Checks Worth the Habit?
Avoiding your credit report doesn’t protect your score. It just hides what lenders see. Regular self-checks help with a few important goals:
Catching errors early. Wrong balances, inaccurate delinquency dates or accounts that aren’t yours can all weigh on a score. The sooner you spot them, the sooner you can dispute them.
Spotting identity theft. Accounts opened in your name without permission often show up on your report before any other warning sign. Reviewing all three reports helps you catch fraud early. See our guide to repairing credit after identity theft if you find something.
Tracking progress. If you’re working on your credit by paying down balances, resolving collections or disputing inaccurate entries, you can see how your report changes over time.
Preparing for big applications. Reviewing your report a few months before applying for a mortgage or auto loan gives you time to address errors before they affect the terms.
How Can You Check Your Credit Without a Hard Inquiry?
Several free, no-impact options are available:
AnnualCreditReport.com. The official site for free reports authorized under federal law. You can get free weekly reports from each of the three major bureaus, a policy made permanent in 2023. Checking your own reports is a soft inquiry. Our guide on how to get all three credit reports walks through the steps.
Credit card issuers. Many issuers offer a free FICO Score or VantageScore as a cardholder benefit, often updated monthly.
Banks and credit unions. Some offer free score access through online banking.
Free credit monitoring services. Free tools offer regular score updates and alerts when new accounts or inquiries appear, all through soft pulls.
What Do FICO Score Ranges Mean?
When you review a score, the range it falls in matters as much as the number. FICO uses these ranges:
800 to 850: Exceptional
740 to 799: Very Good
670 to 739: Good
580 to 669: Fair
300 to 579: Poor
Movement within a range rarely changes loan terms much. Moving across a range, such as from Fair to Good or Good to Very Good, often does. That’s useful to know when deciding whether it’s a good time to apply for new credit. Learn more about credit score ranges.
What Should You Do If Your Score Is Lower Than Expected?
Start by reviewing your credit reports in detail. Pull all three through AnnualCreditReport.com and check every entry for accuracy: account ownership, balance, dates, status and inquiries. Anything unfamiliar or incorrect may be eligible for dispute under the FCRA, and the bureaus generally have 30 days to investigate.
No. Checking your own credit score is a soft inquiry, no matter how often you do it. Soft inquiries aren’t counted in FICO or VantageScore calculations and don’t affect your score.
At least a few times a year, and before any major application. Every consumer can get free weekly credit reports from each of the three major bureaus through AnnualCreditReport.com. Many people find a quarterly review of all three is enough to catch errors and identity theft early.
A credit report is the record; a credit score is a number calculated from it. Each bureau keeps a report listing your accounts, payment history, balances and inquiries. A score is a three-digit number based on that data and designed to predict repayment. Lenders look at both.
Two years. FICO scores generally count only inquiries from the past twelve months, so the score effect fades well before the inquiry leaves your report.
Usually only a little. FICO models group multiple mortgage, auto or student loan inquiries made within a short shopping window into one inquiry for scoring purposes, and newer versions allow a longer window. That lets you compare lenders without each application counting separately. Credit card applications aren’t grouped this way.
Bottom Line on Whether Checking Your Credit Lowers Your Score
Checking your own credit score doesn’t lower it, no matter how often you do it. It’s a soft inquiry, and soft inquiries aren’t counted in FICO or VantageScore calculations.
Only hard inquiries from new credit applications can affect your score, usually by a little and for a short time. Checking often helps you catch errors and identity theft early.
Reviewed By:
Ashley Davison
Editor
Ashley is currently the Chief Compliance Officer for Credit Saint, previously the Chief Operating Officer. Ashley got into the Financial world by working as a Logistics Coordinator at Ernst & Young. Coming from a previous career in education, she is eager to teach the world everything she knows and learn everything that she doesn’t! Ashley is a FICO® certified professional, a Board Certified Credit Consultant, a Certified Credit Score Consultant with the Credit Consultants Association of America, UDAAP certified, and holds a Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) Compliance Certificate.
