We believe everyone should be able to make financial decisions with confidence. While we don't cover every company or financial product on the market, we work hard to share a wide range of offers and objective editorial perspectives.
So how do we make money? Our partners compensate us for advertisements that appear on our site. This compensation helps us provide tools and services - like free credit score access and monitoring. With the exception of mortgage, home equity and other home-lending products or services, partner compensation is one of several factors that may affect which products we highlight and where they appear on our site. Other factors include your credit profile, product availability and proprietary website methodologies.
However, these factors do not influence our editors' opinions or ratings, which are based on independent research and analysis. Our partners cannot pay us to guarantee favorable reviews. Here is a list of our partners.
How to Get Your Free Credit Reports From the 3 Major Credit Bureaus
Use AnnualCreditReport.com to request your credit reports — you have free weekly access.
Amanda Barroso, Ph.D., is a writer and content strategist helping consumers navigate budgeting, credit building and credit scoring. Before joining NerdWallet, Amanda wrote about demographic trends at the Pew Research Center and earned a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University.
Her work has been featured by the Associated Press, Washington Post and Yahoo Finance.
Lauren Schwahn is a writer at NerdWallet who covers credit scoring, debt, budgeting and money-saving strategies. She contributed to the "Millennial Money" column for The Associated Press and managed a team of writers producing content for the series. Her work has also been featured by USA Today, MSN, The Washington Post and more. Lauren has a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is based in San Francisco.
Pamela de la Fuente is a managing editor of NerdWallet's personal finance content. She leads budgeting, money-making, consumer credit and and debt coverage.
Ask her and her talented team about why credit scores matter, how to save money on your grocery bill, finding the right side hustle, how to protect your identity for free and more.
Previously, she led taxes and retirement coverage at NerdWallet.
Pamela joined NerdWallet after working at companies including Hallmark Cards, Sprint Corp. and The Kansas City Star. She has been a writer and editor for more than 20 years.
Pamela is a thought leader in content diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, and finds ways to make every piece of content conversational and accessible to all.
She is a graduate of the Maynard Institute's Maynard 200 program, and the National Association of Black Journalists Executive Leadership Academy. She is a two-time winner of the Kansas City Association of Black Journalists' President's Award. She was also founding co-chair of NerdWallet's Nerds of Color employee resource group.
Updated
How is this page expert verified?
NerdWallet's content is fact-checked for accuracy, timeliness and relevance. It undergoes a thorough review process involving writers and editors to ensure the information is as clear and complete as possible.
You’re entitled to free weekly credit reports from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion through AnnualCreditReport.com, the only website authorized by federal law for this purpose.
As of 2026, free weekly access remains permanent. These reports were previously limited to once a year. Request all three at once or stagger them throughout the year to monitor more frequently. Reports don’t include a credit score. Checking your credit does not damage it.
Here’s how to get a free credit report from all three bureaus.
1. Go to the correct site
First, make sure you’re on the right site: AnnualCreditReport.com. Some other sites have similar-sounding names.
The one you want looks like this:
2. Enter your personal information
You'll need your name, Social Security number, address and birthdate. This, along with other personal data, will be matched against files for identification.
3. Request a credit report or reports
You can order your reports from one, two or all three of the major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
Question
Answer
Where do I get my free credit reports online?
AnnualCreditReport.com.
Which credit bureaus are included?
Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
How often can I get them?
Weekly (as of July 2026).
Do the reports include my credit score?
No. Credit reports don't include credit scores.
Can I request all three reports at once?
Yes. You can request them together or separately throughout the year.
Can I request my free reports by phone or mail?
Yes. Call 1-877-322-8228 or mail a request to Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. Reports will be mailed within 15 days.
How to get credit reports in SpanishHow to get credit reports in Spanish
🤓Nerdy Tip
You can request your credit report in Spanish directly from each of the three major credit bureaus: · TransUnion: Call 800-916-8800. · Equifax: Visit the link or call 888-378-4329. · Experian: Click on the link or call 888-397-3742. 🤓 Consejo Nerdy Usted puede solicitar una copia de su informe crediticio (gratis y en español) de cada una de las tres principales agencias de crédito: · TransUnion: Llame al 800-916-8800. · Equifax: Visite el enlace o llame al 888-378-4329. · Experian: Haga clic en el enlace o llame al 888-397-3742.
4. Successfully answer security questions
For each report request, you’ll be asked a few questions about your finances that presumably only you can answer — for instance, the approximate amount of your mortgage payment or who holds your auto loan and when you took it out.
Some consumers have reported difficulty using the site, particularly answering security questions about accounts that are several years old. If you can’t recall those details, you can request your reports by mail or phone; this process doesn’t require security questions.
Meet MoneyNerd, your weekly news decoder
So much news. So little time. NerdWallet's new weekly newsletter makes sense of the headlines that affect your wallet.
5. View your credit report online or get it delivered
You can save reports to your desktop or print them out so you’ll have access later.
If you need to request a report or reports by mail, send a request form to:
Annual Credit Report Request Service P.O. Box 105281 Atlanta, GA 30348-5281
Your report or reports should be sent within 15 business days.
You can also get your credit reports by calling 877-322-8228. Visually impaired consumers can also call this number to request audio, large-print or Braille reports.
Nerdy Perspective
Requesting your credit reports online is usually the fastest way to get them. I recently requested all three reports through AnnualCreditReport.com to compare what each one showed. Despite a couple of minor glitches, I was able to access and save all three reports in less than 12 minutes. One thing that surprised me: Two of my reports showed that my credit was frozen, but my TransUnion report didn't — even though my freeze was still in place with all three bureaus. It's a good reminder that these reports aren't always identical.
Accounts that aren’t yours or you didn’t authorize.
Incorrect, negative information.
Negative information that’s too old to be included. Most negative information, other than one type of bankruptcy, should be excluded after seven years.
These errors have the potential to hurt your credit score, says Chi Chi Wu, a senior attorney with the National Consumer Law Center. You might see other types of errors, such as out-of-date employment information, she says, but those aren’t factored into your score.
If you find errors, dispute them. Typically, the fastest way to file a dispute is online, but you can also call the credit bureaus or send a credit dispute letter by mail. The credit bureaus will investigate and must remove information that they can’t verify.
7. Monitor your credit regularly
Monitoring your scores and reports can tip you off to problems such as an overlooked payment or identity theft. It also lets you track progress on building your credit. NerdWallet offers both a free credit report summary and a free credit score, updated weekly.
Here’s how the information you’ll get from AnnualCreditReport.com differs from what free personal finance sites may provide:
AnnualCreditReport.com provides:
Reports (not scores)
Data from all three major credit bureaus
An extensive history of your credit use
Personal finance websites, including NerdWallet, provide:
Credit scores, sometimes credit report information
Unlimited access
Data from one or two credit bureaus
A recent history of your credit use
Additional information about building and protecting your credit
Is AnnualCreditReport.com safe?Is AnnualCreditReport.com safe?
Yes. AnnualCreditReport.com is authorized by federal law and safe to use — as long as you ensure you're on the correct site.
Double-check the URL when you type it, to be sure you have not made a typo. Some other sites have similar-sounding names, so check that the URL matches and the site looks as expected.
Be aware that your credit reports are free, but credit bureaus also use the AnnualCreditReport.com site to sell credit scores and promote paid services, such as credit monitoring. However, monitoring doesn’t keep your identity from being stolen; it just alerts you after the fact. For best protection, use a credit freeze.
“Just get your free credit report. Don’t get suckered by the upsell,” says Ed Mierzwinski, senior director of the Federal Consumer Program for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
What do I get when I request reports?What do I get when I request reports?
A record of your lines of credit and your payment history. The three bureaus use data from your creditors, including payments, credit applications, the percentage of available credit you’re using, and negative marks such as collections to build your reports.
A credit report is not the same thing as a credit score. Your credit score is derived from some of the information in your credit reports.
If you used the online portal to access your reports, we suggest saving them as PDFs or printing them out. Once you have them, read over them for mistakes.
When should I request my reports from AnnualCreditReport.com?When should I request my reports from AnnualCreditReport.com?
Now. Get all three credit reports from AnnualCreditReport.com if you’ve never done so, or it’s been at least a year since the last time.
It's also wise to check them if you've received payment modifications or other relief and need to see whether creditors are reporting those accounts correctly.
If you’re about to apply for a large loan, such as a mortgage, you should get and check your credit reports. That gives you a chance to fix score-lowering problems before applying, giving you a better shot at approval.