Every time someone looks at your credit report, the bureaus log it. Some of those lookups affect your score. Most don’t. The line between the two has nothing to do with who’s looking — it has to do with why.
Hard inquiries
A hard inquiry is what happens when a lender pulls your credit because you’ve applied for new credit — a credit card, a mortgage, a car loan, a business loan, sometimes an apartment lease. The lender is making a real lending decision, with real exposure, and the bureau records it.
Hard inquiries:
- Lower your score, usually by 5–10 points.
- Stay on your report for two years.
- Stop affecting your score after about a year.
A few hard inquiries within a 14- to 45-day window for the same product (mortgage shopping, auto-loan shopping) are typically counted as one — the scoring formulas don’t want to penalize you for comparison shopping on a single decision.
Soft inquiries
A soft inquiry is everything else: you checking your own score, a lender pre-approving you for an offer, an employer running a background check, an existing creditor reviewing your account. There’s no lending decision behind a soft inquiry, so there’s no risk being assessed, and the bureaus don’t treat it as a signal of trouble.
Soft inquiries:
- Don’t affect your score.
- Stay on your report for a year or two.
- Are visible only to you (not to other lenders).
Common cases
| What you did | Inquiry type | Affects score? |
|---|---|---|
| Checked your own score | Soft | No |
| Applied for a new credit card | Hard | Yes |
| Got pre-approved for a card in the mail | Soft | No |
| Shopped for a mortgage at three banks in two weeks | Hard (counted as one) | Yes, once |
| A new employer ran a background check | Soft | No |
| An existing card issuer reviewed your account | Soft | No |
| You opened an apartment lease | Hard (usually) | Yes |
If a hard inquiry shows up that you don’t recognize, it’s often the first sign of identity theft. Our walkthrough on disputing a credit-report error covers what to do.
Sources & further reading
- 01What is a credit inquiry?. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau · 2024
- 02Fair Credit Reporting Act. Federal Trade Commission · 2024