How to Freeze Your Credit at All Three Bureaus

A breach notice arrived, and the link inside it lands on a page selling credit monitoring by the month. A freeze is a different thing and is not a product: it is a separate request at each of three bureaus, and the FTC page Credit Freezes and Fraud Alerts says there is no cost to place or lift one. A freeze at one bureau leaves the other two open, which is why that page says to contact all three.

Place the freeze at Equifax

The Equifax security freeze page says placing, temporarily lifting, or removing a freeze is free. It describes managing the freeze online with a myEquifax username and password after creating an account, which requires being 18. The page also lists (888) 298-0045 for phone requests.

Place the freeze at Experian

The Experian freeze center says a freeze is free to place, manage, and remove, and that a PIN is no longer used: a free Experian account manages it instead. It describes freezing and unfreezing online in real time, and lists 1-888-397-3742 for phone and a mail route that takes up to three days.

Place the freeze at TransUnion

The TransUnion credit freeze page says adding or accessing a freeze is free and will not affect the credit score, and that it is managed through a free TransUnion Service Center account. As of September 2026 the page says a freeze added online or by phone typically takes effect almost immediately, and a mailed request may take up to three business days. It lists 800-916-8800 for phone requests.

Lift the freeze before applying for credit

A frozen report cannot be pulled, so the freeze must come off before a credit application. The FTC alert Free credit freezes are here says a bureau must place a freeze within one business day of an online or phone request and must lift it within one hour of one. Each bureau page describes lifting through the same account used to place the freeze, so those three logins are the thing worth keeping. The Experian and TransUnion pages both describe a temporary lift with a start and end date, and TransUnion says one can be scheduled up to 15 days ahead. Ask the lender which bureau it pulls, and lift only that one.

Freeze a child's credit report

The FTC page above says a parent can request a free freeze for a child under 16, and that it stays in place until the bureaus are told to remove it. The Equifax page asks for a Minor Freeze Request form with proof of the child's identity and of yours, and the TransUnion page calls it a Protected Consumer Freeze and says it can be placed only by mail.

If the notice is pushing a paid subscription. The FTC page Is a credit freeze or fraud alert right for you says placing and lifting a freeze is free and will not affect the credit score or the use of existing credit cards.

If an online account will not verify you. All three bureau pages linked above also describe phone and mail routes that need no online account.

Sources. FTC credit freezes, FTC freeze or fraud alert, FTC free credit freezes, Equifax freeze, Experian freeze, TransUnion freeze.