Closing a credit card does hurt your credit score, usually by 10 to 45 points, because it shrinks the total credit available to you and may raise the percentage of credit you are actively using.
The damage is not permanent — your score will recover over time as you continue to pay other accounts on time — but the hit is real and immediate. The size of the drop depends on how much credit you are closing relative to what you have open, and whether that card carried a balance.
If you are closing a card because you want to stop using it, there are ways to minimize the damage. If you are closing it because you are in financial trouble, the math changes. Understanding what happens to your score, and when, helps you decide whether closing the card is worth it.
Key Takeaways
- Closing a card reduces your total available credit, which raises your credit utilization ratio — the percentage of your credit limit you are using — and lowers your score.
- A card with a zero balance hurts your score less when closed than a card carrying a balance, because closing it does not change how much debt you owe.
- The score drop is temporary; your credit recovers as months pass and you maintain on-time payments on your remaining cards.
- Closing a card also removes its payment history from your active accounts, which can lower your average account age if it was one of your oldest cards.
- If you want to stop using a card without closing it, you can keep it open with a small recurring charge (like a streaming service) to maintain the account.
Why Closing a Card Lowers Your Credit Score
Credit scoring models weight two things heavily: your credit utilization ratio and your payment history. Closing a card damages both.
Credit utilization is the percentage of your total available credit that you are currently using. If you have three cards with $5,000 limits each ($15,000 total), and you carry $3,000 in balances, your utilization is 20 percent. If you close one of those cards, your total available credit drops to $10,000, and your utilization jumps to 30 percent — even though you still owe $3,000. Scoring models treat higher utilization as higher risk, so your score drops.
The second hit comes from account age and mix. When you close a card, it stops contributing to your average account age. If that card was old and had a long history of on-time payments, losing it weakens your credit profile. The effect is smaller if the card was new or if you have many other accounts, but it is still there.
How Much Your Score Will Drop
There is no single number — the drop depends on your specific situation. A person with a high credit score, many open accounts, and low utilization may see a 10-point drop. Someone with fewer accounts, higher utilization, or a lower starting score may see 30 to 45 points.
The damage is worse if the card you are closing carries a balance. Closing a card with a $0 balance removes unused credit but does not change your actual debt. Closing a card with a $2,000 balance removes both the credit and leaves the debt in place, which raises your utilization sharply.
If you are considering closing a card, pay off the balance first. Then close it. This way you lose the available credit but not the debt-to-credit ratio hit.
When the Score Drop Matters Less
If you are not planning to borrow money in the next 6 to 12 months, a temporary score drop may not affect you. Lenders care most about your score at the moment you apply for a mortgage, car loan, or new card. If you close a card today but do not apply for anything until next year, your score will have recovered by then.
The recovery is not automatic — it depends on your behavior with your remaining cards. If you close a card and then run up balances on your other cards, your utilization stays high and your score stays low. If you close a card and keep your remaining balances low, your score rebounds within 3 to 6 months.
The score drop also matters less if you have a high score to begin with. A 700-credit-score person dropping 30 points to 670 may lose access to the best interest rates. A 780-credit-score person dropping 30 points to 750 is still in the excellent range and will see little difference in the rates offered.
Closing a Card vs. Leaving It Open
If you do not want to use a card but do not need to close it, leaving it open costs you nothing and preserves your credit. The card will not hurt your score as long as you do not carry a balance on it. An unused card with a $0 balance actually helps your score by keeping your utilization low.
The risk of leaving a card open is that you might use it without meaning to, or that the card issuer might close it for inactivity. Some issuers close accounts that have had no activity for 12 to 24 months. If that happens, you lose the credit and the account age benefit anyway — but you did not choose it.
A middle path is to keep the card open and use it for one small recurring charge — a streaming service, a phone bill, or a subscription — and pay it off in full each month. This keeps the account active, preserves your available credit, and costs you nothing.
When You Must Close a Card
If a card carries an annual fee and you are not using it, closing it makes financial sense even if your score drops. A $95 annual fee costs you real money every year. A temporary score drop of 20 points is not worth paying that fee indefinitely.
If you are closing a card because you are struggling with debt and need to stop yourself from using credit, closing it is the right move despite the score hit. Your score will recover. Your debt will not recover if you keep the card open and use it again.
If a card issuer closes the account for inactivity or non-payment, you have no choice. The damage to your score is the same as if you closed it yourself, but you also have a negative mark on your credit report. In this case, the score damage is already done.
Steps to Minimize the Score Impact
If you have decided to close a card, take these steps in order to reduce the damage:
- Pay off any balance on the card to $0. Do not close it while it carries a balance.
- Wait one or two billing cycles after paying it off. This gives the card issuer time to report the $0 balance to the credit bureaus.
- Call the card issuer's customer service line and request to close the account. Ask them to confirm the account is closed and request written confirmation by mail or email.
- Do not close multiple cards at once. If you need to close more than one, space them out by several months so your score has time to recover between closures.
- Keep your remaining cards active and your balances low. This helps your score recover faster.
Do not close a card right before you plan to apply for a mortgage or other major loan. Wait at least 6 months after closing it before you apply, if you can.
What Happens to Your Account After Closing
Once you close a card, the account stops accruing new charges and new interest. Any balance you still owe (which should be $0 if you followed the steps above) remains your responsibility, and you will receive bills until it is paid.
The closed account stays on your credit report for 7 to 10 years, depending on whether it was in good standing when you closed it. During that time, it continues to show your payment history — which is good if you paid on time. After 7 to 10 years, it falls off your report entirely.
If you closed the card because you missed payments or defaulted, the negative mark stays on your report for 7 years from the date of the first missed payment. This is separate from the account closure itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will closing my oldest card hurt my score more than closing a new one?
Yes. Your average account age is part of your credit score. Closing an old card removes years of history and lowers your average. Closing a newer card has less effect. If you must close a card, close the newest one if you can.
What if I close a card and then the issuer reports it as closed by them, not by me?
Call the issuer and ask them to correct the report. Request that they mark it as "closed by consumer" rather than "closed by creditor." This distinction matters to some scoring models. Get written confirmation of the correction.
Can I reopen a card after I close it?
Some issuers will reopen a closed account if you ask within a short window — usually 30 to 60 days. After that, you would need to apply for the card again as a new account. Reopening does not restore the original account age, so it does not fully undo the damage.
Does closing a card hurt my score if I have no other cards?
Yes, and more severely. If you close your only card, your available credit drops to zero and your utilization becomes undefined or maxed out. You also lose all active payment history. Do not close your only card unless you have a very specific reason.
How long does it take for my score to recover after closing a card?
Most people see their score recover within 3 to 6 months if they keep their remaining balances low and make all payments on time. Full recovery — returning to the score you had before closing — can take 12 months or longer, depending on how much damage the closure caused.