Checking your own credit score does not lower it
When you look at your own credit score, it has no effect on the number. Checking your score is called a soft inquiry or soft pull, and credit bureaus do not count it against you. You can check as many times as you want without any damage.
The confusion comes from the fact that some inquiries do hurt your score. Those are called hard inquiries or hard pulls, and they happen when a lender checks your credit to decide whether to give you a loan or credit card. Hard inquiries can lower your score by a few points, but checking it yourself is never a hard inquiry.
Key Takeaways
- Soft inquiries, which include checking your own score, do not lower your credit score at all.
- Hard inquiries happen when a lender pulls your credit to make a lending decision and can lower your score by a few points.
- You can check your credit score as often as you want through your bank, credit card company, or free services without any penalty.
- Monitoring your score regularly helps you catch errors and watch for fraud before they become bigger problems.
Why lenders pull your credit (and why it matters)
When you explore for a credit card, mortgage, car loan, or personal loan, the lender runs a hard inquiry to see your full credit history and decide your risk level. That hard inquiry shows up on your credit report and typically lowers your score by 5 to 10 points, though the exact amount varies by scoring model and your individual situation.
The damage from a hard inquiry is temporary. The points usually come back within a few months, and the inquiry itself stays on your report for about two years but stops affecting your score after 12 months. Multiple hard inquiries in a short window (like shopping for a car loan from several banks in one week) often count as a single inquiry for scoring purposes, so the damage is less than if you spread them out over months.
Where you can check your score for free
Your bank or credit card company often shows your score for free in their online portal or mobile app. Log in and look for a section labeled "Credit Score," "Credit Monitoring," or "Credit Health." This is always a soft inquiry and costs nothing.
You can also check your score through AnnualCreditReport.com, which is the official site for your free annual credit reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. The reports themselves do not include your score, but many credit bureaus let you buy your score separately for a small fee, or you can find free score estimates through other services.
Free credit monitoring services like Credit Karma, Experian's free service, and others show your score and update it regularly. These are all soft inquiries. The trade-off is that these services make money by showing you ads or credit offers, but checking your score through them does not hurt you.
The difference between soft and hard inquiries
A soft inquiry happens when you check your own score, when a company does a background check, or when a business you already work with (like your bank) reviews your credit. Soft inquiries are invisible to other lenders — they do not show up on the version of your credit report that lenders see. You can check as many times as you want.
A hard inquiry happens only when you formally request credit. It shows up on your credit report and is visible to other lenders. Hard inquiries lower your score because they signal that you are actively seeking new credit, which lenders see as higher risk. If you are shopping for a mortgage or car loan, expect hard inquiries from each lender you contact.
Why monitoring your score is actually a good idea
Checking your score regularly helps you spot problems early. If your score drops suddenly without a hard inquiry, it might mean an error on your report, a missed payment that was reported, or fraud. The sooner you catch these, the sooner you can dispute them or take action.
Monitoring also lets you see how your financial habits affect your score. Paying down a credit card balance, making on-time payments, or closing old accounts will show up in your score over time. Watching these changes helps you understand what actually moves the needle, rather than relying on guesses.
What actually lowers your credit score
Hard inquiries are only one factor. Your score is hurt much more by missed or late payments, high credit card balances relative to your limits, collections accounts, and negative marks like foreclosure or bankruptcy. Checking your score does none of these things.
If you are worried about your score dropping, focus on the things that matter: paying bills on time, keeping credit card balances low, and not opening new accounts unless you really need them. Checking your score as often as you want is free information that helps you manage these real factors.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does checking my credit score multiple times in one day hurt it?
No. Checking your own score as many times as you want in one day, one week, or one year has no effect. Only hard inquiries from lenders lower your score, and those only happen when you formally request credit.
If I check my score on my bank's app, will other banks see it?
No. Soft inquiries like checking your own score do not show up on the credit report that lenders see. Other banks have no way of knowing you checked your score.
How much does a hard inquiry lower my score?
A hard inquiry typically lowers your score by 5 to 10 points, though the exact amount depends on your credit profile and the scoring model used. The impact fades over time and stops affecting your score after about 12 months.
Should I be worried about checking my credit before explore for a loan?
No. Checking your own score beforehand is a soft inquiry and does not hurt you. It is actually smart to know your score before you explore so you understand what rate you might get and whether it is worth explore at all.
Can I check my credit score if I have bad credit?
Yes. Checking your score does not require good credit and does not make bad credit worse. In fact, people with lower scores benefit most from monitoring, since they can watch for errors or fraud and track improvements as they pay down debt.