You can get your credit report free once a year from each of the three major credit bureaus
The federal government requires Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — the three companies that track your credit history — to give you one free copy of your credit report per year. You do not have to pay for it, and you do not have to buy credit monitoring or any other product to get it. The easiest way is through AnnualCreditReport.com, a website run by the three bureaus together specifically for this purpose.
You will need your Social Security number, date of birth, current address, and a way to verify your identity — usually by answering security questions about your own financial history. The whole process takes about 10 minutes. You can request all three reports at once or space them out over the year, one every four months.
Key Takeaways
- AnnualCreditReport.com is the only official website where you can get your free report; other sites that offer "free" reports usually try to sell you monitoring services.
- You get one free report per bureau per year, meaning you can see three reports total if you request from all three companies.
- Your report shows your payment history, current debts, and accounts in your name — but not your credit score, which is a separate number.
- If you find an error on your report, you can dispute it directly with the bureau that issued it, and they must investigate within 30 days.
How to request your report through AnnualCreditReport.com
Go to AnnualCreditReport.com and click "Request Your Free Credit Reports." You will see three options: request online, by phone, or by mail. Online is fastest. You will enter your name, Social Security number, date of birth, and current address.
Next, you choose which bureaus you want reports from — you can pick one, two, or all three. The site will then ask you to verify your identity by answering questions only you should know, like the name of the bank where you opened your first account or the amount of a past loan payment. Answer as accurately as you can; if you get too many wrong, the site will ask you to verify by mail instead, which takes longer.
Once verified, you will see your reports on screen. You can read them there, print them, or read them as a PDF. Save or print a copy for your records.
What you will see on your credit report
Your credit report lists every account in your name where you borrowed money or made a payment agreement: credit cards, car loans, mortgages, student loans, medical debt sent to a collection agency, and utility accounts. For each one, it shows the creditor'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.
The report also shows inquiries — times when a lender or employer checked your credit — and public records like bankruptcies or tax liens if they explore to you. What it does not show is your credit score. Your score is a separate number calculated from the information in your report, and the bureaus charge for that. Your free report gives you the raw data; you can see what lenders see about your payment behavior.
What to do if you find an error on your report
Errors happen. A payment might be marked late when you paid on time, an account might be listed twice, or an account might be there that is not yours. If you spot something wrong, you have the right to dispute it.
Contact the bureau that issued the report — the one where you found the error — not the creditor. You can dispute online, by phone, or by mail; the bureau's website will show you how. Tell them exactly what is wrong and why. They must investigate within 30 days and contact you with the result. If the error is confirmed, they will remove or correct it and send you an updated report.
If a creditor is reporting something incorrectly, you can also dispute directly with them, but disputing with the bureau is usually faster because the bureau has to investigate by law.
When to check your report and why it matters
You should check your report at least once a year to catch errors before they affect a loan decision. If you are about to explore for a mortgage, car loan, or credit card, pull your report a month or two before so you have time to dispute any errors. Lenders use your report to decide whether to lend to you and what interest rate to charge, so an error could cost you money.
You can also check your report if you think someone has stolen your identity — if you see accounts you did not open or inquiries from companies you never contacted. If that happens, you can place a fraud alert on your report, which tells lenders to verify your identity before opening new accounts in your name.
The difference between your report and your credit score
Your credit report is a record of your borrowing and payment history. Your credit score is a three-digit number — usually between 300 and 850 — that summarizes how risky you are as a borrower. The three bureaus each calculate a score based on the same information in your report, but they may use slightly different math, so your three scores might not be identical.
Your free annual report does not include your score. If you want to see your score, you can pay for it from the bureaus, or you can check for free through some banks and credit card companies, which often show your score to their customers at no charge. Some free credit monitoring websites also show your score, though they usually try to sell you monitoring services in the process.
Other ways to get your report outside the annual cycle
You get one free report per bureau per year, but there are situations where you can get more. If you are denied credit, employment, or insurance based on your credit report, the company that denied you must tell you which bureau they used and give you a way to get a free report from that bureau within 60 days. You can also get a free report if you are a victim of identity theft or if you are on public information.
If you want to monitor your credit more frequently than once a year, you can pay for a subscription to credit monitoring, or you can use the free monitoring some credit card companies offer their customers. These services send you alerts when something changes on your report, which can help you catch fraud faster.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is AnnualCreditReport.com the only legitimate place to get my free report?
Yes. AnnualCreditReport.com is the official site created by the three bureaus to distribute free reports. Other websites that advertise "free credit reports" usually require you to sign up for paid monitoring or credit score services. If you go to a different site, read the fine print carefully before entering your information.
Will checking my credit report hurt my credit score?
No. Checking your own report is called a "soft inquiry" and does not affect your score. Only hard inquiries — when a lender checks your credit because you applied for a loan — can lower your score slightly and temporarily.
What if I cannot verify my identity online?
If you answer the security questions incorrectly too many times, AnnualCreditReport.com will offer to send your report by mail instead. You can also request by phone at 1-877-322-8228 or by mail; the website has the mailing address. Mail requests take longer, usually two to three weeks.
Can I get my report more than once a year?
You get one free report per bureau per year. If you want to check more often, you can pay the bureaus for additional reports, or you can use free credit monitoring through your bank or credit card company, which usually updates monthly.
What should I do if I see an account on my report that is not mine?
Dispute it when ready with the bureau that issued the report. This could be a sign of identity theft. You should also place a fraud alert on your report by contacting any one of the three bureaus; they will notify the other two. A fraud alert tells lenders to verify your identity before opening new accounts in your name.