You type in your five-letter guess. Then the boxes change color. It’s a split-second revelation that either sends you into a spiral of panic or a quiet victory lap. But for the uninitiated, those colors can feel like a cryptic message from a alien language. Let’s decode the system so you aren’t just guessing in the dark.
The goal is simple. Find the hidden five-letter word. You have six attempts. The puzzle generates a fresh word every day, but the rules of engagement remain static. Here is how the game communicates with you, specifically how Wordle color codes work to guide your next move.
The Green Box: Correct Letter, Correct Spot
This is the only color that matters if you want to finish the puzzle quickly. If a letter turns green, two things have happened simultaneously: the letter is definitely in the word, and it is sitting in the exact position you guessed.
It’s a lock. You don’t need to move it. You keep it there for your next guess and use the remaining four slots to figure out the rest. If you get all five greens, you’re done. If you get three, you’re close.
The Yellow Box: Correct Letter, Wrong Spot
Often referred to as “gold” by players who don’t want to type the word “yellow” into a search bar, this status is tricky. The letter is part of the solution. It’s just not where you put it.
This creates a constraint. You cannot place that same letter in the same slot again; the game has already told you that’s wrong. You have to move it to a different column. If you have two yellow ‘E’s, for example, you know one is in the word twice, but not in the spots you guessed. It’s a puzzle within a puzzle.
“Letters that are in the puzzle but do not appear in the position that was guessed turn gold.”
The Gray Box: Not in the Word
This is the most brutal feedback. If a letter turns gray (or dark slate/black, depending on your theme), it’s gone. It is not in the word. Period.
This is actually good news in disguise. Most people guess common letters—E, T, A, O, N, R, I, S, L, C—early on. A gray box eliminates a possibility. It shrinks the universe of possible answers. If you guess “CRANE” and the ‘C’ and ‘R’ turn gray, you know for a fact those letters are absent. You can stop guessing words with ‘C’ or ‘R’ unless you’re trying to test a rare edge case.
Why This Matters for Your Strategy
Understanding these three states isn’t just about reading the UI. It’s about logic.
If you get a yellow ‘S’ in the first guess, you know ‘S’ is in the word, just not at the end. If you get a gray ‘Z’, you can throw out any word containing ‘Z’. This filtering process is what separates the daily winners from the people who hit six greens on the final attempt because they guessed “STARE” with no idea what was happening.
The game doesn’t tell you which letter is wrong if you have duplicates. If
