The best Wordle tips are to open with a word that tests common letters such as E, A, R, T, S and L, use your second guess to try five new letters, keep every yellow letter but move it, and watch out for double letters. If you are stuck, list the words that still fit before guessing.
These tips work for Wordle and for the many similar five-letter guessing games. You have six guesses to find a hidden five-letter word. After each guess, a green tile means the letter is right and in the right place, yellow means the letter is in the word but in a different place, and grey means it is not in the word at all.
Choose a good starting word
A first guess cannot be clever, because you know nothing yet. Its job is to test as many common letters as possible. In five-letter English words, the letters E, A, R, O, T, L, I, S and N turn up most often, so a starting word with five different letters from that set gives you the most information.
Popular choices include CRANE, SLATE, TRACE, STARE and RAISE. Some players prefer vowel-heavy openers such as ADIEU or AUDIO to find the vowels first. There is no single perfect word; pick one or two you like and use them consistently so you learn what each result tells you.
Use your second guess to explore
If your first guess shows only one or two yellows, use the second guess to test five completely new letters rather than trying to solve straight away. A pair such as SLATE followed by CORNY, or CRANE followed by MOIST, covers ten common letters between them. After two guesses you usually know most of the vowels and several consonants.
Read the colours carefully
- Green: lock it in. Every later guess should keep it in place.
- Yellow: the letter is in the word, but not there. Keep it and move it to a new position.
- Grey: rule it out. Do not spend another guess on it.
The most common mistake is putting a yellow letter back in the same place it was yellow in.
Watch for double letters
Many answers repeat a letter, as in SPOON, LLAMA, FLOOR or EERIE. If you have most of the letters but nothing fits, try doubling one you already have. A repeated letter in your guess also tells you something: if one copy is green and the other grey, the word has only one of that letter.
Think in patterns
Common five-letter shapes include a consonant blend at the start (ST, CR, SH, TR), a vowel pair in the middle (EA, OU, AI), and endings such as -ER, -LY, -CH and -ED. When you have, say, _ A _ E _, list the shapes that fit before guessing. Writing the pattern down helps you see options your eye skips over.
Using a word finder when you are stuck
The word finder lists every word that fits what you know, with common words first:
- Type the green letters in their places with a question mark for each unknown square, for example ?a??e.
- Put yellow letters in Must include.
- Put grey letters in Must not include.
Example: after two guesses you know A is second and E is last (green), R is in the word (yellow) and S, L, T, C and N are grey.
Type the pattern ?a??e, put R in Must include and SLTCN in Must not include. The list starts with BARGE, PADRE, MARGE and BARRE, followed by rarer words. BARGE is a strong next guess: it is a common word and tests B and G at the same time. Open the word finder with ?a??e and add the letters to try it.
If several words remain, choose the guess that tests the most untried letters, not the one you think is most likely. Narrowing down is usually faster than guessing word by word.
Hard mode
In hard mode, every guess must use all the green and yellow letters you have found. That stops you playing “exploring” guesses with fresh letters, so the starting word matters more and traps such as _IGHT (EIGHT, FIGHT, LIGHT, MIGHT, NIGHT, RIGHT, SIGHT, TIGHT) become harder. In those cases, think about which letter is most likely and accept that you may need several goes.
Build the habit
Playing daily is the best practice. Afterwards, look back at your guesses: did each one use what you knew? Did you repeat a grey letter? Small habits like these save a guess or two every game. It also helps to learn which letters are rare in five-letter words, such as J, Q, X and Z, so you do not waste early guesses on them.
Questions and answers
What is a good first word for Wordle?
Choose a word with five different common letters, such as CRANE, SLATE, TRACE or RAISE. Vowel-heavy words like ADIEU help find vowels but test fewer common consonants.
What do the colours mean?
Green means the right letter in the right place, yellow means the letter is in the word but in another place, and grey means the letter is not in the word.
Can Wordle answers have double letters?
Yes. Words such as SPOON, FLOOR and LLAMA repeat a letter. If nothing fits, try doubling a letter you already have.
How does hard mode change things?
In hard mode, each guess must use every green and yellow letter already found, so you cannot use a guess purely to test new letters.
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