Opt-out guide

How to opt out of Equifax and remove your name

10 minutes medium difficultyLast verified August 1, 2026

Equifax splits its consumer controls between an online privacy portal and a written request, and the written one is the piece people miss. Removing yourself from prescreen lists is handled jointly with the other bureaus; getting off Equifax's own direct-marketing lists is a separate letter.

Equifax's opt-out requests are processed on OptOutPrescreen, jointly run by all four credit bureaus's system, so one request can cover more than one site. Check both afterwards rather than assuming.

Wondering whether Equifax is even legitimate first? Read our honest Equifax check for what it is, what regulators have said about it, and what it exposes.

What Equifax exposes

Credit account and payment history
Name, address history and date of birth
Marketing list membership
Prescreen eligibility lists sold to lenders and insurers

Step-by-step removal

1
Start with the joint prescreen opt-out
Go to optoutprescreen.com or call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT. This is run by Equifax, Experian, TransUnion and Innovis together, so one request covers all four and is the single most effective step.
2
Pick your duration
Five years completes online. Permanent needs the signed Permanent Opt-Out Election form returned by post after you start online.
3
Open Equifax's own privacy portal
Go to myprivacy.equifax.com for Equifax's individual privacy choices, which are separate from the joint prescreen request.
4
Send the direct-marketing letter
Equifax's own marketing lists are widely documented as requiring a written request, sent to Equifax at P.O. Box 1025, Atlanta, GA 30301, stating your full name and current address and asking to be removed from all marketing lists.
5
Consider a freeze separately
If your concern is fraud rather than junk mail, place a security freeze. It is free, separate from all of the above, and is the control that actually stops new accounts being opened.

Open Equifax's opt-out page

Good to know

This is a marketing opt-out, not a security freeze. It does not stop new accounts being opened in your name, and it does nothing to the contents of your credit report. A freeze is a separate, free request made to each bureau.
We could not verify the P.O. Box 1025 marketing-list address against an Equifax-published page from here. It is consistently reported across privacy publishers, so it is included, but treat it as reported rather than confirmed and keep a copy of anything you send.
Equifax also operates Teletrack. Removal from Teletrack marketing lists is documented as a separate mailed request to Teletrack, PO Box 740008, Atlanta, GA 30374.
Freezing your file and opting out of marketing are unrelated. Doing one tells you nothing about the other.

The joint prescreen opt-out lapses after five years unless you completed the permanent form, and marketing-list suppression does not stop Equifax collecting new data about you.

Equifax opt-out questions

How do I remove my name from Equifax?

Open Equifax's opt-out page at myprivacy.equifax.com, find the listing that matches you, and submit the removal request. No separate confirmation step is required. The whole process takes about 10 minutes and costs nothing. The step-by-step version is above.

How long does the Equifax opt-out take?

Submitting the request takes about 10 minutes. After that, Equifax typically removes the listing within processed within five days, though offers can keep arriving for weeks. If your profile is still visible after that window, search your name again - you may have a second listing that needs its own request.

Is the Equifax opt-out permanent?

Not reliably. The joint prescreen opt-out lapses after five years unless you completed the permanent form, and marketing-list suppression does not stop Equifax collecting new data about you. Treat removal as maintenance rather than a one-time fix: re-search your name every few months and repeat the opt-out for anything new.

Do I need an account to opt out of Equifax?

No. Equifax's opt-out works without registering or signing in, and you never need to pay. If something asks you for card details to remove your data, you are not on the real opt-out page.

Is it free to remove my information from Equifax?

Yes. Equifax's opt-out is free, and so is every other major US people-search opt-out. Paid removal services are worth considering for the volume of sites they cover and the re-checking they do, but they file these same free requests on your behalf - they do not unlock anything you cannot do yourself.

What does Equifax show about me?

A typical Equifax listing can include credit account and payment history, name, address history and date of birth, marketing list membership, and prescreen eligibility lists sold to lenders and insurers. Exactly what appears varies by person and by how much of it has reached public records.