How to Freeze Your Credit at All Three Bureaus
A credit freeze stops lenders from pulling your credit report, which stops most new-account fraud in its tracks.
It is free by federal law, does not affect your score, and you can lift it whenever you need to apply for credit. You have to place it separately at each of the three bureaus.
What a freeze does
When someone applies for a credit card or loan in your name, the lender almost always checks your credit report first. A freeze blocks that check. Without it, most lenders will not open the account, so a thief with your Social Security number cannot use it to borrow.
A freeze does not affect your credit score, your existing cards and loans, or your ability to check your own report. Current creditors, and some others such as insurers and employers doing background checks with your permission, can still see it.
How to freeze your credit, step by step
You need to do this at all three bureaus, because a lender might check any one of them.
- Equifax — create an account at equifax.com or call the number on its site.
- Experian — create an account at experian.com or call.
- TransUnion — create an account at transunion.com or call.
Each will ask for your name, address, date of birth and Social Security number, and verify your identity. Online and phone freezes must be in place within one business day. Save the PIN or login for each account: you will need it to lift the freeze later.
Each bureau's site may steer you toward a paid "lock" product or monitoring. You do not need these to freeze your credit. The free freeze is a separate option on the same site.
How to unfreeze it when you apply for credit
Before you apply for a card, loan, apartment or new phone plan, ask the lender which bureau it uses and lift the freeze at that one. You can lift it temporarily for a set number of days or remove it entirely. Requests made online or by phone must be processed within an hour. Once the application is done, the freeze can go back on.
Freeze or fraud alert?
| Tool | What it does | How long | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Credit freeze | Blocks new lenders from seeing your report | Until you lift it | Free |
| Fraud alert | Tells lenders to verify your identity before opening credit | One year, or seven for identity theft victims | Free |
| Credit lock | A bureau's own product, similar to a freeze | While subscribed | Often paid |
A fraud alert is weaker but easier: placing one at any bureau automatically notifies the other two. A freeze is the stronger protection and the one the FTC suggests for most people worried about identity theft.
Where paid monitoring fits
A freeze prevents new credit accounts. It does nothing about fraud on your existing cards, tax refund fraud, medical identity theft, or your details appearing on data-breach lists. That is the gap identity monitoring services try to fill: they watch for your information in places a freeze does not cover and help with recovery if something happens.
Monitoring is not a substitute for a freeze. It is a reasonable addition if you have been in a large data breach, if you have had identity theft before, or if you want someone to handle the paperwork if it happens.
Identity Guard watches for your personal details in breaches and on the dark web, alerts you to suspicious activity, and includes identity theft insurance on its plans. See Identity Guard.
Also worth freezing
- Your children's credit. Parents can request a freeze for children under 16, which prevents their clean record being used for years before anyone notices.
- ChexSystems, which banks use to screen checking account applications, if you are worried about fraudulent bank accounts.
- Your mobile carrier account, by adding a PIN or port-out lock, which blocks SIM-swap fraud.
Check your reports once a year either way. Getting your free credit reports takes about ten minutes.
Common questions
Does freezing your credit hurt your score?
No. A freeze has no effect on your credit score, and existing accounts keep reporting as normal.
Is a credit freeze really free?
Yes. Federal law has required the three bureaus to freeze and unfreeze credit for free since 2018.
How long does it take to unfreeze credit?
Online or phone requests must be processed within one hour. Lift it only at the bureau your lender uses, and you can set it to refreeze automatically.
Do I need to freeze all three credit bureaus?
Yes. Lenders may check any of them, so a freeze at one leaves the other two open.
Figures and rules in this article are checked against the official sources below. Where they disagree with us, they win.
