In this guide
A soft inquiry never affects your score. A hard inquiry can, but for most people one takes less than five points off a FICO Score. Hard inquiries stay on your report for up to two years and count in FICO Scores for one year (myFICO). A lender checks your credit as part of a credit application for a hard inquiry. Checking your own credit, or an existing lender reviewing your account, is a soft one (CFPB).
| Soft inquiry | Hard inquiry | |
|---|---|---|
| Affects your score | No | Yes, small. FICO: under 5 points for most people |
| Typical trigger | Checking your own report or score, an existing lender reviewing your account, some pre-screened offers | Applying for a card, loan or mortgage |
| Counted in FICO Scores for | Never | 12 months |
| On your report for | Not counted in a score | Up to two years |
Rate shopping: the windows, by scoring model
Scoring models count several inquiries for the same kind of loan as one. The window depends on the model:
| Model | Window | Which inquiries |
|---|---|---|
| Older FICO versions | 14 days | Mortgage, auto and student loan inquiries (myFICO) |
| Newer FICO versions | 45 days | Mortgage, auto and student loan inquiries |
| All FICO versions | 30-day buffer | FICO ignores mortgage, auto and student loan inquiries made in the 30 days before scoring |
| VantageScore | 14 days | All hard inquiries within a 14-day period count as one, whatever the account type (VantageScore guide). |
The CFPB sums it up as 14 to 45 days depending on the model (CFPB, shopping for an auto loan). For mortgages the CFPB says multiple lender checks within a 45-day window are recorded as a single inquiry.
Rule to apply: finish all applications for one loan within 14 days. That is inside the window of every model above, so you do not need to know which one a lender uses.
How many inquiries your shopping counts as
This table applies the published windows to a sample case: two auto loan applications. It is arithmetic on the rules above, not a score prediction.
| Gap between the two applications | Older FICO (14 days) | Newer FICO (45 days) | VantageScore (14 days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 days | 1 inquiry | 1 inquiry | 1 inquiry |
| 14 days | 1 inquiry | 1 inquiry | 1 inquiry |
| 30 days | 2 inquiries | 1 inquiry | 2 inquiries |
| 50 days | 2 inquiries | 2 inquiries | 2 inquiries |
Only gaps of 14 days or fewer give one inquiry in every column. Protection also ends at the type of loan: the FICO windows cover mortgage, auto and student loans. Several credit card applications in one fortnight are not rate shopping under that FICO rule, so plan card applications separately.
What triggers which pull
| Action | Usually |
|---|---|
| Checking your own report or score | Soft. The CFPB says checking your own credit does not affect your scores. |
| Existing lender reviewing your account | Soft |
| Lender prescreening you for an offer | Soft, according to the CFPB ("sometimes") |
| Submitting a full credit application | Hard |
| Credit limit increase request | Varies by issuer. Ask before you request. |
Pre-qualification tools are typically soft, but the lender decides, so ask. Any pre-qualified terms are an estimate: the formal application is where the hard inquiry and final terms come in. See what credit score you need for a mortgage for how lenders use your file.
How much is one inquiry worth?
New credit, which includes inquiries, is 10% of a FICO Score (what moves your FICO score). For most people, one additional inquiry takes less than five points off. A late payment is a much larger event. FICO's own simulation shows one 30-day late payment costing a clean file 63 to 83 points. Do not skip a better card or loan to avoid an inquiry, and do not let a string of inquiries pile up before a mortgage.
Planning around a big application
- Months before: stop opening accounts. Inquiries count for 12 months in FICO Scores.
- Weeks before: get reported balances down. See the utilization guide and the statement close optimizer.
- Application period: do all quotes for one loan inside 14 days.
- Before closing: open no new credit. Lenders can check your file again.
Frequently asked questions
Does checking my own credit score hurt it?
No. The CFPB says checking your own credit does not affect your scores, and myFICO says the same.
How many points does a hard inquiry take off?
myFICO says one additional inquiry takes less than five points off a FICO Score for most people. VantageScore's guide says a hard inquiry drops a score by a few points.
How long does a hard inquiry stay on my credit report?
Up to two years. FICO Scores only count it for the first 12 months.
How long is the mortgage rate shopping window?
14 days in older FICO versions and 45 days in newer ones. The CFPB says multiple mortgage lender checks within 45 days are recorded as one inquiry, but 14 days is the safe limit when you do not know the model.
Do multiple credit card applications count as one inquiry?
Not under FICO's shopping rule, which covers mortgage, auto and student loans. VantageScore counts all hard inquiries within 14 days as one, whatever the account type, but a lender may use FICO.
Is pre-qualification a hard inquiry?
It is usually a soft inquiry. The formal application afterward is what triggers the hard one, so confirm with the lender first.
Why do some inquiries not count at all?
FICO ignores mortgage, auto and student loan inquiries made in the 30 days before it calculates your score, so a lender checking within the last month does not show up in the number.
Sources
- Credit Checks: What are credit inquiries and how do they affect your FICO Score?, myFICO. Checked October 2026.
- What happens when a mortgage lender checks my credit?, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Checked October 2026.
- How will shopping for an auto loan affect my credit?, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Checked October 2026.
- The Guide to Your VantageScore Credit Score, VantageScore. Checked October 2026.
- How Credit Actions Impact FICO Scores, myFICO. Checked October 2026.
Written by
Teja PagidimarriTeja Pagidimarri built 43dots to answer money questions with numbers you can check. He is a software developer, not a licensed financial advisor, so every guide here is built the way an engineer would: figures pulled from the primary source, math shown in the open, and the calculators built from the actual published formulas.
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