How to Freeze Your Credit: A Step-by-Step Guide

What a credit freeze actually does

A security freeze restricts access to your credit report, so a lender that cannot pull your file usually will not approve a new account. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes it as a free right you have under federal law, placed at each nationwide credit reporting company.

Most new credit applications involve a credit check. When the check fails because the file is frozen, the application usually stops there. That is the whole mechanism, and it is why a freeze is the strongest of the free tools for preventing new accounts.

A freeze does not close your existing accounts, change your credit score, or stop you from using the cards and loans you already have. It does not block your current creditors from reviewing your file, and it does not block prescreened offer companies unless you opt out of those separately.

It also does not touch anything that already happened. If an account was opened in your name last month, freezing today does nothing to it. That is a dispute and a block, covered in our guide to reporting identity theft and recovering.

It is free, and it has to be done three times

Placing, lifting, and removing a security freeze is free at all three nationwide credit bureaus, and no bureau may charge you for it. The Federal Trade Commission states plainly that there is no cost to place or lift a credit freeze.

The part people get wrong is the number of requests. For a freeze, the FTC says to contact all three of the credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. A request to one is not passed along. A file left unfrozen at a single bureau is a file a lender can still pull.

The CFPB also gives the clock. A freeze must be placed within one business day if you request it by phone or secure electronic means, and no later than three business days if you request it by mail. Lifting is faster: no later than one hour after a request by toll-free telephone or secure electronic means, and three business days after a request by mail.

What to have ready before you start

Each bureau verifies your identity before it will touch your file, so gather the documents first. The process takes a few minutes per bureau once you have everything in front of you.

1. If you suspect fraud is happening right now, call the affected bank or card issuer first. A freeze stops new accounts, not activity on the accounts you already have. Then come back and freeze.
2. Collect your identity documents. Full legal name, current and recent addresses, date of birth, Social Security number, and a government photo ID. For mail requests, bureaus generally ask for copies of an ID and a proof of address such as a utility bill.
3. Decide how you will do it. Online is immediate at all three. Phone works if you would rather not create an account. Mail is the fallback and is the slowest.
4. Pull your credit reports first if you have not recently. The three bureaus let you check each report once a week for free at AnnualCreditReport.com, according to the FTC. Freezing an already damaged file is only half the job.
5. Plan where you will store the credentials. You will need the logins or PINs again every time you apply for credit. Keep them somewhere you will still have access to in two years.

How to freeze your credit at each bureau

Use the bureaus’ own freeze pages. Each one lets you place a freeze online, by phone, or by mail, and each one confirms that the service is free. Do all three in one sitting if you can, because a half-finished job is easy to forget about.

Equifax

The Equifax security freeze page says that placing, temporarily lifting, or removing a security freeze is free. Online you place it through a myEquifax account. By phone, Equifax lists 888-298-0045 and says you will be asked for information to verify your identity, with the option of a one-time PIN by text message or questions based on your Equifax credit report. Mail instructions are on the same page, under customer care.

Experian

The Experian freeze center offers the freeze for free and processes online requests in real time. By phone, Experian lists 1-888-EXPERIAN, which is 1-888-397-3742. By mail, it lists Experian Security Freeze, P.O. Box 9554, Allen, TX 75013, and says a mailed request can take up to three days from receipt.

TransUnion

The TransUnion credit freeze page handles freezes through its service center online, by phone at 800-916-8800, or by written request sent to its freeze address. TransUnion says online and phone requests generally take effect almost immediately, while a mailed request may take up to three business days from the date it is received.

Save the confirmation from each bureau. Take a screenshot, note the date, and file it with any login, PIN, or reference number. That record is what you reach for the next time you need the file open.

How to lift a freeze when you apply for credit

You lift the freeze before the application, not after it is declined. A lender that hits a frozen file usually cannot finish the check, and you will not always be told that the freeze was the reason.

Ask the lender which bureau it pulls. Many pull only one, and lifting at that single bureau is enough. If nobody can tell you, lift at all three. You can lift temporarily for a set window or until a date, or remove the freeze permanently and place it again later. Both options are free.

Give yourself margin. The CFPB says a bureau must lift the freeze no later than one hour after a request made by toll-free telephone or secure electronic means, and three business days after a mailed request. Online requests are usually much faster than the maximum, but an hour is the outside figure you can rely on, so do not lift from a dealership lot with a salesperson waiting.

After the application clears, put the freeze back. If you lifted with a time window, it re-freezes on its own. If you removed it, you have to place it again, three times.

Fraud alert or credit freeze: which one fits

A fraud alert tells businesses to verify your identity before opening new credit in your name. A freeze restricts access to the report entirely. The FTC calls the freeze the stronger prevention tool, and frames the alert as the lighter, shorter option.

The FTC gives the mechanics. For a fraud alert you contact one of the three bureaus and that bureau tells the other two. An initial fraud alert lasts one year and can be renewed. An extended fraud alert lasts seven years, requires that you have experienced identity theft and completed an FTC identity theft report, and takes you off marketing lists for unsolicited credit offers for five years.

The difference that decides it is what an alert can be overridden by. A fraud alert asks a business to verify your identity first, usually by calling you. A business that skips the step, or that reaches a phone number the thief supplied, can still open the account. The CFPB puts it directly: a fraud alert does not prevent a lender from opening credit in your name, it requires them to take certain measures to verify your identity first.

A practical way to choose. If you apply for credit rarely, freeze. If you are mid-application, mid-move, or apply often and cannot manage the lifting, start with an alert and freeze when the window closes. If you are already a victim, the FTC report you file at IdentityTheft.gov qualifies you for the extended alert, and there is no reason not to have both the extended alert and the freeze.

Credit freeze vs. credit lock

A security freeze is the right federal law gives you and it is free. A credit lock is a product a credit bureau sells or bundles, with its own terms, and it may come with a monthly fee or with a subscription you have to keep paying.

The CFPB is unambiguous about how to weigh them: credit locks are no more effective than security freezes, which are free and which you have a right to by law. The convenience argument for a lock is the app toggle. The convenience is real, and so is the fee.

Read what you are agreeing to. A lock offered inside a bundle can be paired with monitoring, a score product, and an automatic renewal, and the freeze is available to you without any of that. Our guide to identity theft protection services covers what the paid bundles add and what they do not.

If you want the freeze and the app convenience, you can place the freeze and keep using each bureau’s own online account to lift and replace it. That is the free path to the same result for most people.

What a freeze does not stop

A freeze protects the credit file. It does nothing about fraud that never touches a credit report, which is a large share of what actually happens to people.

It does not stop someone from using an existing card or draining an existing bank account, which is why transaction alerts and statement reading still matter. It does not stop a fraudulent tax return, which is the IRS territory and an area where an Identity Protection PIN is the corresponding tool. It does not stop misuse of a Social Security number for employment or benefits, which the SSA Office of the Inspector General takes reports on. It does not stop medical identity theft, account takeover of your email, or a SIM swap at your phone carrier.

It also cannot cover a credit file you do not know exists. Some lenders and screening companies use specialty consumer reporting companies rather than the big three. If a specific screening matters to you, ask which company will be checked.

None of that is a reason to skip the freeze. It is the cheapest strong protection available, it costs nothing, and it is reversible in under an hour. It is just not the only lock on the house.

Credit freeze FAQ