How Long Does It Take To Unfreeze Credit Equifax. Here’s a rundown of how it works at all three major credit bureaus: In most cases, if you request to remove the freeze (also known as thawing your credit report) online or by telephone, your experian credit file can be unfrozen within a matter of minutes—although you should allow up to an hour.

If you’re wondering how long it takes to unfreeze your credit, here’s some good news: While it can take one business day for a credit freeze to take effect, the credit bureaus are required to lift it within one hour if you make your request by phone or online. However, unfreezing your credit only at equifax may cause a new credit application to fail if your experian or transunion credit files are still frozen.