How Does the Home Depot Military Discount Work in 2026?

Published: 8 October 2026 · Last updated: 8 October 2026 · Author: Jia, Editor in Chief, ShopBack

In the US in 2026, the Home Depot military discount takes 10% off select in-stock purchases for eligible service members, veterans, retirees and their spouses, up to a $400 maximum discount each calendar year, according to The Home Depot. You verify once through SheerID in your Home Depot account, then the discount applies automatically online and when you scan your Virtual ID in store. Appliances, lumber and some other items are excluded.

That $400 cap means the discount covers about $4,000 of eligible spending a year. For a renovation or a big tool purchase, it is worth knowing what counts before you plan the order.

ShopBack US is a free cashback app and website. Before you pay on homedepot.com, open Home Depot on ShopBack, tap through and shop as normal, and part of what you spend on eligible items comes back as cash you can withdraw. Join ShopBack US free here before your next order.

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How does the Home Depot military discount work?

The Home Depot military discount is an account benefit: you enroll and verify once, and Home Depot then takes 10% off eligible items each time you buy, until you have saved $400 in that calendar year. Here is how it works, step by step, according to Home Depot's Military Discount page at the time of writing.

What you want to know	The fact (according to Home Depot)
Discount	10% off the price of select in-stock purchases
Annual limit	$400 maximum discount, which resets each calendar year
Where it works	Online and in store
How you verify	Through SheerID, Home Depot's third-party verification service
How long verification takes	Typically a few minutes
How often you verify	Once; your status is then saved to your account
Who can enroll	Active, reservist, veteran and retired members of eligible branches, plus spouses
Combine with other promotions	No; also not on clearance items or prior purchases
Use	Personal use only

The cap is the number most people miss. At 10% off, $400 is reached after about $4,000 of eligible purchases. If you are planning a large project late in the year, it can make sense to check how much of your $400 you have left, because it resets on January 1.

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Home Depot military discount 2026: who is eligible

Home Depot's military discount is open to active and reservist members, veterans and retirees of eight US uniformed services, plus their spouses. According to Home Depot, the eligible branches are:

• Army
• Navy
• Air Force
• Marine Corps
• Coast Guard
• Space Force
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
• US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (USPHS)

Spouses of eligible service members, including Gold Star spouses, can enroll. Home Depot says the service member and spouse need separate personal accounts on HomeDepot.com and must enroll separately, so you cannot share one account.

Not eligible, according to Home Depot: non-spousal dependents of active military and veterans, dishonorably discharged veterans, non-military members, auxiliary members and civilian employees of the military.

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How to enroll and verify with SheerID

You enroll on Home Depot's Military Discount Benefit page or in The Home Depot app, and SheerID checks your status, usually in a few minutes. The steps Home Depot lists are:

1. Log in to your personal Home Depot account, or create one.
2. Go to the Military Discount Benefit page and select "Get Started".
3. Follow the on-screen steps to verify your military status through SheerID.
4. Check your account: once you finish, it shows your enrolled Military Discount status.

One detail trips people up. Home Depot says SheerID cannot accept Military IDs from currently serving personnel or from Federal Government employees to verify military status. If you are asked for a document, upload a different one. For enrollment problems, Home Depot points you to SheerID's help contact page.

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How to use the discount online and in store

Online, log in and the discount is applied to eligible items at checkout; in store, scan your Virtual ID from The Home Depot app or give your registered phone number at the register. Home Depot says you only need to verify once, and after that the discount applies to all eligible purchases on that account.

A few practical points:

• Shop logged in. The discount is tied to your account, so a guest checkout will not show it.
• Watch the cart line. Online, the discount appears on eligible items in the cart during checkout. If an item does not get it, it is probably on the exclusion list below.
• Keep the app handy in store. The Virtual ID in The Home Depot app is the quickest way to apply it at the register.

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What the Home Depot military discount excludes

The military discount does not apply to everything: Home Depot lists commodity products, appliances, special orders, rentals, labor, gift cards and delivery among the exclusions. According to Home Depot, the exclusions include, but are not limited to:

• Some commodity products, including lumber, wire and building materials
• Value priced merchandise
• Appliances (most in-store and online appliances)
• Special order items
• Tool rental fees
• Labor items
• Gift cards
• Services, including freight and delivery

Home Depot also says the discount cannot be combined with other promotions, cannot be applied to clearance items or prior purchases, and cannot be used together with national account benefits.

Appliances through the Military Exchanges

For appliances, Home Depot points eligible shoppers to the Military Exchanges instead. According to Home Depot, active-duty service members, dependents, retirees, Department of Defense civilians and retirees, and honorably discharged veterans can buy Home Depot appliances through a partnership with the Military Exchanges, with special military pricing and tax-free purchases. The places to look are ShopMyExchange.com and MyNavyExchange.com.

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Home Depot's wider support for veterans

Beyond the discount, The Home Depot Foundation says it has invested more than $650 million in veteran causes since 2011 and improved more than 70,000 veteran homes and facilities. The Foundation has also pledged to invest $750 million in veteran causes by 2030, according to Home Depot's Serving Veterans page at the time of writing. Home Depot's Military Discount page also says the company employs over 35,000 active, reservist and retired military personnel and runs a $50 million Path to Pro programme for skilled trades training.

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Does Home Depot have a student discount in 2026?

We could not find a student discount programme published on homedepot.com at the time of writing. Home Depot publishes a dedicated page and full terms for its Military Discount, but we found no matching page or official terms for students, so there is no student eligibility to check.

Home Depot official student discount terms

Because Home Depot does not publish a student discount, there are no official student discount terms to follow. Be careful with "Home Depot student discount" codes on coupon sites: a code that is not issued by Home Depot or featured on the Home Depot page on ShopBack can also stop a ShopBack order from earning, according to that page's terms.

What students can do instead:

1. Shop Home Depot's own sales. Home Depot runs a Savings Center page with its current offers, and seasonal sales around holidays such as Memorial Day, Labor Day and Black Friday.
2. Use offers in your Home Depot account, which come with their own terms.
3. Go through ShopBack before you check out so part of what you spend on eligible items comes back as cash.

If you are comparing student and military discounts across stores, our guide to whether Best Buy has a student or military discount covers Best Buy.

Other US home improvement and household stores on ShopBack US include Lowe's, Ace Hardware, Walmart and Target.

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How ShopBack lowers what you pay at Home Depot

ShopBack works like an automatic cash discount on your online Home Depot order. Home Depot is a merchant on ShopBack US. Before you check out, go through ShopBack to get a post-purchase discount on the order: open the Home Depot page on ShopBack, tap through, shop on homedepot.com as normal and pay in the same session. Once the order is confirmed, cash comes back to your ShopBack account.

Cashback lowers what you actually pay for an order. It comes back as cash, so it works like a discount on the price, not like points or miles. A store discount lowers the price at checkout; cashback lowers it after the order is confirmed.

The habit is the same across the big shopping and travel sites. For merchants like Booking.com, Trip.com, Agoda and Expedia, going through ShopBack is an essential step before you book or check out, so you pay less on the same booking or order. The Home Depot works the same way.

A worked example

Here is how the two can fit together on an online order, with an illustrative rate only:

Step	Amount
Eligible items in your cart	$600
Military discount at 10% (Home Depot)	minus $60
You pay (before tax)	$540
Comes back at an illustrative 4% rate through ShopBack	$21.60
Effective price	$518.40

The rate is illustrative. Check the live rate on the ShopBack Home Depot page, because rates and terms change and differ by category. Whether a given order earns depends on the terms on that page and on how Home Depot treats the order, so read both before you buy.

A few things keep tracking on track, according to the Home Depot page on ShopBack at the time of writing:

• Start from the ShopBack Home Depot page each time, and pay in the same session.
• Use codes from Home Depot itself or ones featured on the Home Depot page on ShopBack. Other codes can stop an order from earning.
• Gift cards, memberships, alcohol, tires, tobacco and pharmacy items are listed as not earning.

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Frequently asked questions

How does the Home Depot military discount work?

According to The Home Depot, eligible US service members, veterans, retirees and their spouses get 10% off select in-stock purchases, up to a $400 maximum discount each calendar year. You verify your military status once through SheerID in your Home Depot account, then the discount applies automatically to eligible items online and when you scan your Virtual ID in store.

Who is eligible for the Home Depot military discount?

Home Depot says active and reservist members, veterans and retirees of the US Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Space Force, NOAA and the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps are eligible. Spouses of eligible service members, including Gold Star spouses, can also enroll with their own account.

Who is not eligible for the Home Depot military discount?

According to Home Depot, non-spousal dependents of active military and veterans, dishonorably discharged veterans, non-military members, auxiliary members and civilian employees of the military are not eligible.

Is the Home Depot military discount capped?

Home Depot says eligible participants receive a $400 maximum annual discount that resets each calendar year. At 10% off, you reach that cap after about $4,000 of eligible purchases in a year.

What is excluded from the Home Depot military discount?

Home Depot lists exclusions that include some commodity products such as lumber, wire and building materials, value priced merchandise, appliances, special order items, tool rental fees, labor items, gift cards and services including freight and delivery. It also says the discount cannot be combined with other promotions or applied to clearance items or prior purchases.

Can I use the Home Depot military discount on appliances?

Most in-store and online appliances are excluded from the military discount, according to Home Depot. Instead, eligible shoppers can buy Home Depot appliances through a partnership with the Military Exchanges, at ShopMyExchange.com or MyNavyExchange.com, which Home Depot says offers special military pricing and tax-free purchases.

Can a military spouse use the Home Depot military discount?

Home Depot says spouses of eligible service members, including Gold Star spouses, can enroll. The service member and the spouse need separate personal accounts on HomeDepot.com and must each enroll in the military discount separately.

Does Home Depot have a student discount in 2026?

We could not find a student discount programme published on homedepot.com at the time of writing, unlike its Military Discount, which has its own page and terms. Students can still lower what they pay with Home Depot's own sales and by going through ShopBack before they check out online.

Can I use ShopBack with the Home Depot military discount?

Before you check out on homedepot.com, go through ShopBack to get a post-purchase discount on the order. The military discount is applied to your Home Depot account rather than typed in as a code, but what earns on ShopBack is set out on the Home Depot page on ShopBack US, so check its terms and exclusions before you buy.

How do I use the Home Depot military discount in store?

According to Home Depot, go to the register and scan your Virtual ID from The Home Depot app, or enter the phone number registered to your Home Depot account. The discount is then applied to eligible items at checkout.

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Key takeaways

• Home Depot's military discount is 10% off select in-stock purchases, up to $400 a year, resetting each calendar year.
• Active, reservist, veteran and retired members of eight US uniformed services qualify, plus spouses with their own accounts.
• Verify once through SheerID; the discount then applies online when logged in and in store with your Virtual ID.
• Appliances, lumber and building materials, special orders, rentals, labor, gift cards and delivery are excluded; for appliances, Home Depot points to the Military Exchanges.
• We found no student discount programme on homedepot.com at the time of writing.
• Before you check out online, go through ShopBack US and check the Home Depot page for what earns.

One last step before you pay: open Home Depot on ShopBack, tap through and check out in the same session, so part of what you spend on eligible items comes back as cash. Setup takes about two minutes at shopback.com/signup.

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Related articles

• Home Depot Promo Code That Works Online? A US Guide for 2026
• When Is the Next Lowe's Sale? Is Lowe's Black Friday 2026 Worth It?
• Does Best Buy Have a Student or Military Discount? (US 2026)

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Disclaimer

The views and recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author.

Military discount eligibility, limits and exclusions are set by The Home Depot, which says it can change eligibility requirements and terms. The figures here come from Home Depot's own pages at the time of writing. Cash back rates, categories and exclusions on ShopBack vary by store and over time and are shown on each store's ShopBack page. Please check current terms with Home Depot and on ShopBack before making any decisions.

This article is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be considered professional or financial advice.