Even though your credit score will continue to include account history from all closed and open accounts that remain on your credit report, the 3 big credit bureaus will typically remove closed accounts that were in good standing after about 10 years.
Removing a closed account yourself can only be done in certain situations. For example, if an account is actually open but incorrectly reported as closed, you could go through the dispute process to have it properly listed as open.
You may also be able to use a “goodwill letter” to request that a creditor remove a closed account from your credit report. While a creditor is not obligated to do so, there are some situations where they will end up removing the information from your report.
If you have an account that is closed with a balance remaining, there is a strategy referred to as “pay for delete” that could help you remove the account from your credit report.
Pay for delete can be a good option if you have a debt that can’t be disputed because you still owe on it. In this case, as its name implies, you can ask the creditor to remove the account from your credit report in return for you paying off the balance.