Checking your own credit score does not lower it. When you review your score or request your own credit report, the review is generally treated as a soft inquiry, which does not affect your credit score.
The confusion comes from hard inquiries. These commonly occur when a lender checks your credit after you apply for a credit card or loan. Hard inquiries can affect your score, although their impact depends on the scoring model and the rest of your credit history.
Understanding the difference can help you monitor your credit confidently and avoid unnecessary worry when comparing loan offers.
Does Checking Your Own Credit Score Hurt It?
No. You can check your own credit score without lowering it.
Viewing your own credit score through a legitimate service does not lower your score. Checking your own credit report is also a soft inquiry and does not damage your score.
A credit report and a credit score are not the same thing. Your credit report contains information about your credit accounts and payment history. A credit score is calculated from information in a credit report using a particular scoring model.
You can also have multiple credit scores. The number you see may vary depending on the credit bureau, scoring model, loan type, and date the score was calculated.
What Is a Soft Credit Inquiry?
A soft inquiry, sometimes called a soft credit check or soft pull, does not affect your credit score.
Common examples may include:
Checking your own credit report or score
An existing creditor reviewing your account
A company screening you for a preapproved credit offer
Some prequalification checks
Certain employment or insurance-related reviews
The exact process can vary. For example, a lender may use a soft inquiry for prequalification but conduct a hard inquiry if you proceed with a formal application. Before submitting personal information, check whether the company will perform a soft or hard credit check.
Soft inquiries may appear on the version of your credit report that you see, but they are not treated as applications for new credit and do not lower your score.
What Is a Hard Credit Inquiry?
A hard inquiry, also called a hard credit check or hard pull, commonly occurs when you formally apply for new credit.
Examples include applying for:
A credit card
A mortgage
An auto loan
A personal loan
A private student loan
A new line of credit
A hard inquiry shows that you may be seeking new debt. Because recently applying for credit can be relevant to lending risk, many scoring models consider hard inquiries when calculating a score.
A hard inquiry can affect a credit score, but the result is not identical for everyone. Its effect depends on factors such as the scoring model, the number and timing of inquiries, and the consumer’s overall credit history. It is best not to rely on promises that a particular inquiry will change a score by an exact number of points.
How Long Does a Hard Inquiry Stay on Your Credit Report?
Hard inquiries can generally remain on a credit report for up to two years.
Under FICO scoring, however, inquiries are considered for scoring purposes for 12 months. An inquiry may therefore remain visible on a report after it has stopped being considered by a FICO Score.
Other scoring models may handle inquiries differently. This is one reason consumers can see different scores even when those scores are based on similar credit-report information.
If you find a hard inquiry you do not recognize, review the lender information shown on your credit report. An unfamiliar inquiry could result from a name you do not recognize, but it may also warrant contacting the lender and the credit reporting company—especially if you suspect identity theft.
Do Multiple Loan Inquiries Count Separately?
Credit-scoring models may make an allowance when you shop for certain types of loans.
For FICO Scores, multiple inquiries for mortgage, auto, or student loans made within a rate-shopping window are generally treated as one inquiry for scoring purposes. The window is 14 days for some older FICO models and 45 days for newer versions.
FICO also says that inquiries for these loan types made during the 30 days before a score is calculated are ignored. This allows consumers time to compare lenders without each qualifying inquiry being treated as a separate credit-seeking event.
These protections do not mean that the inquiries disappear from your reports. Multiple inquiries may still be listed individually even when a scoring model counts them as one.
The rules also should not be assumed to cover every type of application. Multiple credit card applications, for example, are not grouped together simply because they were submitted within the same period.
Because lenders may use different scoring models, completing mortgage, auto-loan, or student-loan comparisons within a relatively short period can reduce uncertainty about how the inquiries will be treated.
What Actually Affects Your Credit Score?
Checking your own score does not lower it, but information in your credit reports can affect it.
Depending on the scoring model, relevant factors may include:
Whether bills and credit accounts are paid on time
Current unpaid debts
Credit card balances compared with available limits
The number, types, and ages of credit accounts
Recent applications for new credit
Collection accounts, foreclosures, or bankruptcies
How recently negative events occurred
The relative importance of these factors varies by scoring model. Income, age, marital status, and checking your own credit score are not themselves credit-scoring factors.
A score can also change because a lender reports a new balance, a payment is recorded, an account is opened or closed, or information on a credit report is corrected. A score change that appears after you check it was not necessarily caused by the act of checking.
Common Myths About Checking Credit
“Checking my score too often will gradually lower it.”
False. Your own checks are soft inquiries, so repeatedly viewing your score does not cause points to accumulate against you.
“Every lender prequalification hurts my score.”
Not necessarily. Many prequalification tools use soft inquiries, but you should verify the company’s terms before submitting information.
“Every hard inquiry affects every score the same way.”
False. Credit scores vary by scoring model and credit-report data. The effect of an inquiry is not guaranteed to be identical across all scores or consumers.
“My credit report automatically includes a free credit score.”
Not always. A credit report contains the underlying account information, while a credit score is a separate product calculated from that information.
How to Monitor Your Credit Without Hurting Your Score
You can safely:
Check scores offered through your bank, credit card issuer, or a legitimate credit-monitoring service.
Review your credit reports through AnnualCreditReport.com.
Compare information from all three nationwide credit bureaus because their reports may not be identical.
Look for unfamiliar accounts, incorrect balances, late payments reported in error, and hard inquiries you do not recognize.
Ask whether a lender will use a soft or hard inquiry before completing an application or prequalification request.
AnnualCreditReport.com currently allows consumers to request a free online credit report from each of the three nationwide credit bureaus every week. Requesting these reports does not hurt your credit score.
The Bottom Line
Checking your own credit score or credit report does not lower your score. It is a soft inquiry and can help you understand your credit standing, identify reporting errors, and prepare before applying for a loan.
Hard inquiries are different. They commonly occur after a formal credit application and may affect a score, but their impact varies. Mortgage, auto-loan, and student-loan inquiries may receive special rate-shopping treatment when they occur within the applicable scoring-model window.
Regular credit monitoring is not something consumers need to fear. The more important issues are paying accounts on time, managing balances, reviewing reports for accuracy, and applying for new credit thoughtfully.