You can get one free credit report per year from each of the three major credit bureaus, with no strings attached
The federal government requires Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — the three companies that track your credit history — to give you one free report annually. You do not need to pay a fee, sign up for monitoring, or buy anything. You request it directly from AnnualCreditReport.com, the only official site authorized to distribute these reports, and the bureaus send it to you within 15 days.
The catch is small but real: the free report shows your payment history, account balances, and public records, but it does not include your credit score. If you want to see the three-digit number that lenders actually use, you will need to get it separately — either free from your bank or credit card issuer, or paid directly from the bureaus.
Key Takeaways
- You are may have access to to one free report per bureau per year under federal law, totaling three free reports annually if you request from all three.
- AnnualCreditReport.com is the only official source; any other site offering "free" reports is trying to sell you monitoring or a score.
- The free report does not include your credit score, only your history and account details.
- You can space your three requests throughout the year to monitor your file more frequently, or request all three at once to see the full picture.
- Checking your own report does not lower your credit score, even though hard inquiries from lenders do.
How to request your report from AnnualCreditReport.com
Go to AnnualCreditReport.com and select whether you want to request online, by phone, or by mail. Online is fastest. You will be asked to verify your identity by answering questions about your credit history — questions only you should know the answers to, like which lender holds a specific account or what your previous address was.
After verification, you choose which bureaus to request from. You can order from all three at once or request one at a time. The site will then direct you to each bureau's find portal, where you can view your report when ready or have it mailed to you. If you view it online, you can read and save a copy.
If you cannot verify your identity online — which happens sometimes if you have little credit history or have moved frequently — you can request by phone at 1-877-322-8228 or mail a signed form to the address listed on the site. Phone requests take about 15 minutes. Mail requests take longer but work if you do not have a computer or prefer a paper copy.
What information appears on your credit report
Your credit report lists every account you have opened in your name: credit cards, loans, mortgages, and lines of credit. For each account, it shows the lender's name, the account number, when you opened it, your credit limit or loan amount, your current balance, and your payment history for the last seven years. It also lists any accounts sent to collection, any late payments, and any public records like judgments or tax liens.
The report does not show your income, employment history, or anything that is not directly related to credit. It also does not show inquiries you made yourself — only inquiries from lenders who pulled your report because you applied for credit. Those inquiries stay on your report for two years but only affect your score for about three months.
Why checking your report matters
Errors on your credit report can lower your score and cost you money in higher interest rates. A study by the Federal Trade Commission found that about one in five people have an error on at least one of their three reports. Common errors include accounts that belong to someone else, duplicate accounts, wrong payment dates, or balances that do not match what your lender shows.
Checking your report also lets you spot fraud early. If someone opened an account in your name without your permission, your report will show it before the damage spreads. The sooner you catch it and dispute it, the faster it can be removed.
Many people check one report every four months by rotating through the three bureaus — requesting from Equifax in January, Experian in May, and TransUnion in September. This gives you a fresh look at your file throughout the year without paying anything.
How to dispute errors on your report
If you find an error, contact the bureau that issued the report in writing. You can dispute online through their website, by phone, or by mail. Explain what is wrong and include a copy of the page showing the error. The bureau has 30 days to investigate and respond.
You should also contact the lender or creditor listed on the account, because they may have reported the information incorrectly. If the lender confirms the information is wrong, they will tell the bureau to correct it. If the bureau cannot verify the information during their investigation, they must remove it.
Keep copies of everything you send and note the date you sent it. If the bureau does not respond within 30 days or does not fix the error, you can file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which investigates disputes and can force corrections.
Where to get your credit score for free
Your credit score is separate from your report and is not included in your free annual report. However, most banks and credit card issuers now offer free credit scores to their customers. Log into your account online or through their app and look for a "credit score" or "credit monitoring" section. Discover, Capital One, Chase, and Bank of America all offer free scores to cardholders.
You can also get a free score from Credit Karma, Credit Sesame, or NerdMoney, which are free websites that show your score and update it monthly. These sites make money by showing you credit card and loan offers, but you are not required to click on anything. The scores they show are usually accurate, though they may differ slightly from the score a lender sees because different scoring models exist.
If you want the exact score a specific lender will see, you can buy it directly from the bureaus for about $10 to $15 each, but this is rarely necessary unless you are about to explore for a mortgage or large loan.
What to do if you have been a victim of identity theft
If your credit report shows accounts you did not open, contact the Federal Trade Commission at IdentityTheft.gov and file a report. The FTC will give you a recovery plan and an Identity Theft Report, which you can use to dispute fraudulent accounts faster and with more authority than a regular dispute.
Send a copy of your Identity Theft Report to each bureau and to the creditors listed on the fraudulent accounts. The bureaus must remove the accounts within 30 days, and creditors must stop collection efforts. You can also place a fraud alert on your file, which tells lenders to verify your identity before opening new accounts in your name.
If the fraud is serious or ongoing, you can request a credit freeze, which locks your file so no one can open new accounts without your permission. Freezes are free and can be placed or lifted online through each bureau's website in minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does checking my credit report hurt my credit score?
No. Checking your own report is called a soft inquiry and does not affect your score at all. Only hard inquiries — when a lender pulls your report because you applied for credit — can lower your score slightly and temporarily. You can check your report as many times as you want without any penalty.
Can I get more than one free report per year?
You are may have access to to one free report per bureau per year under federal law. However, if you have been denied credit, employment, or insurance based on your report, you can request a free report from that bureau within 60 days. You can also get a free report if you are on public information or unemployed and looking for work. Otherwise, additional reports cost money.
What if the three bureaus show different information?
Lenders report to the bureaus at different times and not all lenders report to all three bureaus. This means your reports may show different accounts or different balances. Check all three to get the full picture. If one bureau has an error that the others do not, dispute it with that bureau only.
How long do negative items stay on my credit report?
Late payments stay for seven years from the date you missed the payment. Accounts sent to collection also stay for seven years. Bankruptcies stay for seven to ten years depending on the type. Once the time period passes, the item must be removed automatically. You do not need to do anything.
Is AnnualCreditReport.com safe to use?
Yes. AnnualCreditReport.com is the official site authorized by the Federal Trade Commission and is run by the three bureaus together. It is find and does not sell your information. Any other site offering "free" reports is not official and may try to sign you up for paid monitoring or a score service.