Hard credit inquiries, also known as hard pulls, stay on your credit report for up to two years. However, their impact on your credit score typically lasts for about one year. After that, while the inquiry remains visible on your report, it generally no longer affects your credit score

. Here are some key points about hard inquiries:

• Hard inquiries occur when a lender checks your credit as part of a loan or credit application, such as for credit cards, mortgages, auto loans, or personal loans

• A single hard inquiry may lower your credit score by a few points (around 5 points), but multiple inquiries in a short time can have a larger negative impact

• Credit scoring models like FICO typically consider hard inquiries from the most recent 12 months when calculating your score

• Certain types of inquiries, such as those related to mortgage or auto loan shopping, may be counted as one inquiry if they occur within a short window (usually 14 to 45 days), reducing their impact on your score

In summary, hard inquiries remain on your credit report for two years but usually only affect your credit score for the first year.