What Is a Credit Freeze and How Does a Security Freeze Work?

Last updated October 7, 2026 · 1,417 words · Credit Freezes

A credit freeze, also called a security freeze, restricts other parties from accessing your credit report at the three nationwide credit reporting agencies. It limits new creditors from seeing your file while it is in place. It does not change your credit score, and it does not stop every kind of fraud.

This guide is general educational information for U.S. readers. It is not financial advice and does not describe your individual credit file. Figures such as score ranges and timeline estimates are typical examples, not promises.

Key takeaways

A credit freeze and a security freeze are the same tool; the term security freeze is the one used in federal law.
A freeze limits access to a credit report rather than changing the information inside it, so existing accounts continue to report activity.
Security freezes are managed separately at Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, so a freeze at one agency does not apply to the other two.
Under federal law, a security freeze is free to place, temporarily lift, or remove.
A freeze differs from a fraud alert, which does not block access but tells businesses to take reasonable steps to verify identity before extending credit.
An initial fraud alert lasts 1 year, an extended fraud alert lasts 7 years, and a freeze lasts until it is lifted or removed.

A credit freeze — also called a security freeze — is a restriction placed on your credit report that limits who can access it. It is available at each of the three nationwide credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Once a freeze is in place, most lenders and other third parties cannot pull your credit report to evaluate a new application, while the underlying information in the report stays exactly as it was.

The term is often confused with a credit lock, which is a similar-sounding feature offered by private companies. The two overlap in purpose but not in origin: a security freeze is a right under federal law, while a lock is a product governed by a company's own terms. The sections below explain what a credit freeze does, what it does not do, how long it lasts, and how it relates to credit reports and credit scores.

What a credit freeze does

A freeze works by limiting access to the credit file rather than by altering it. When a lender, landlord, insurer, or utility checks your credit as part of an application, it requests your report from one or more of the nationwide agencies. With a freeze in place, that request is generally declined unless the freeze has been lifted or the requester falls within an exception.

It blocks most new credit checks. An application for a new card, auto loan, or mortgage typically cannot be evaluated until the freeze is lifted or the specific party is granted access.
It covers the report, not the accounts. Existing accounts continue to report balances, payments, and status whether or not a freeze is active.
It can be lifted temporarily. A freeze can be opened for a set window so a particular party can review the file, then closed again.
It lasts until it is removed. A freeze does not expire on its own schedule; it stays in place until the consumer lifts or removes it.

What a credit freeze does not do

The limits of a freeze matter as much as its purpose. A freeze is one layer of control over a credit file, not a complete barrier around a person's identity.

It does not delete, correct, or change information already reported.
It does not stop activity on accounts a consumer already holds.
It does not prevent forms of identity theft that never involve a new credit application, such as misuse of an existing account or tax-related fraud.
It does not change the way a credit score is calculated. The Federal Trade Commission states that a credit freeze does not affect a credit score.

The same Federal Trade Commission article explains that some parties may still see a frozen report, including companies the consumer already has accounts with, debt collectors working on those accounts, and government agencies acting under legal authority.

Security freeze, credit freeze, and credit lock: sorting out the terms

Credit freeze and security freeze describe one tool; federal law and the nationwide agencies generally use security freeze. A credit lock is different. Locks are commercial features offered by credit reporting agencies and other companies, and the terms — duration, cost, and how quickly access is restored — are set by the company offering them rather than by statute. Because the label is a marketing term rather than a legal category, the terms attached to a lock can vary between providers. Our page on credit locks covers that distinction in more detail.

Freeze compared with a fraud alert

Both tools sit in the same part of the Fair Credit Reporting Act — section 605A, codified at 15 U.S.C. section 1681c-1 — but they operate differently. A fraud alert does not block access to a credit report. It tells businesses to take reasonable steps to verify identity before extending credit. An initial fraud alert lasts 1 year, and an extended fraud alert lasts 7 years. The Federal Trade Commission notes that an extended fraud alert follows an identity theft report.

Protection	What it controls	How long it lasts	Where it comes from
Security freeze (credit freeze)	Access to your credit report at the three nationwide agencies	Continues until lifted or removed	Federal law; free to place, temporarily lift, or remove
Initial fraud alert	Requires businesses to take reasonable steps to verify identity before extending credit	1 year	Federal law
Extended fraud alert	The same identity-verification step, over a longer period	7 years	Federal law
Credit lock	Access to your credit file at the company offering the feature	Set by the company	A product offered by that company

Placing, lifting, and removing a freeze

Freezes are managed separately at each nationwide agency. A freeze placed with one company does not carry over to the others, so a complete freeze involves three separate requests. Under federal law, a security freeze is free to place, temporarily lift, or remove. Each agency runs its own process for establishing, thawing, and removing a freeze, and the identity verification used to set one up is generally required again to open it.

A temporary lift is the mechanism that allows a single application to move forward. Once the designated window ends, the freeze closes again. Removal is permanent until a new freeze is requested. The statutory text behind these rights is published at Legal Information Institute.

How a freeze relates to credit reports and credit scores

A freeze changes who may see a credit report, not what the report contains. That distinction matters because scores are calculated from report data. Most credit scores, including FICO and VantageScore, use a range of 300 to 850, and both are built from the same underlying files that a freeze controls access to.

FICO describes approximate weights for the factors it considers: payment history 35%, amounts owed 30%, length of credit history 15%, new credit 10%, and credit mix 10%. VantageScore uses its own factor weighting and does not publish fixed percentages. The mechanics are covered in our guides to how credit scores are calculated and FICO versus VantageScore.

Because a freeze can stop a new-credit inquiry from being recorded at all, it can prevent an inquiry that would otherwise appear in the new credit category. The factors that carry the most weight, such as payment history and amounts owed, are untouched by a freeze because the freeze does not modify reported account data. Our guide to credit score ranges explained describes how those factors translate into score bands, and the credit reports hub covers what appears in a file in the first place.

Freezes, fraud alerts, and identity theft blocking

Federal law provides a third tool for consumers whose identities have been used to open accounts. Section 605B of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, codified at 15 U.S.C. section 1681c-2, covers blocking information that resulted from identity theft. A freeze limits access going forward; a block addresses fraudulent information that has already been reported. Identity theft can be reported at IdentityTheft.gov, and tax-related identity theft can be reported to the IRS using Form 14039. Our identity theft section explains how those reports fit together with a freeze.

The legal background

The Fair Credit Reporting Act was enacted in 1970 and amended by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act in 2003. Section 605A of the act, at 15 U.S.C. section 1681c-1, covers fraud alerts, and section 605B, at 15 U.S.C. section 1681c-2, covers identity theft report blocking. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created by the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010 and began operating in 2011, and it publishes consumer-facing material on credit reporting rights at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Where monitoring fits alongside a freeze

A freeze and credit monitoring address different problems. A freeze controls access at the point of a new application; monitoring observes activity across accounts and reports over time. Because a freeze does not prevent every form of misuse, the two are often used together. Reports requested through the FCRA right to a free report from each nationwide agency every 12 months — currently weekly through AnnualCreditReport.com — show what is being reported, while credit monitoring tracks changes between those requests. Our credit check overview explains when a file is pulled and what an inquiry looks like, and the credit freeze hub collects the related pages in this cluster.

A freeze does not protect every part of a financial life, and it does not change what a credit report says. It controls who can look. This page is published for education only and is not financial advice.

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Frequently asked questions

What is a credit freeze in simple terms?

A credit freeze, or security freeze, restricts access to your credit report. While it is in place, most lenders and other third parties cannot pull the report to evaluate a new application, but the information inside the report does not change.

Is a credit freeze the same as a security freeze?

Yes. The two terms describe one tool. Federal law and the nationwide credit reporting agencies generally use the term security freeze, while credit freeze is the more common everyday phrase.

Does a credit freeze affect your credit score?

The Federal Trade Commission states that a credit freeze does not affect a credit score. A freeze changes who may see a report, while scores are calculated from the report's contents, such as payment history and amounts owed.

How long does a credit freeze last?

A freeze stays in place until it is lifted or removed; it does not expire on its own. A temporary lift opens the file for a set window and then closes it again.

Do you have to freeze your credit at all three credit bureaus?

Each nationwide agency manages its own freeze, so a freeze at one does not apply to the other two. A complete freeze involves a separate request at Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

What is the difference between a credit freeze and a fraud alert?

A freeze blocks most access to the credit report. A fraud alert does not block access; it tells businesses to take reasonable steps to verify identity before extending credit. An initial fraud alert lasts 1 year, and an extended fraud alert lasts 7 years.