How to Win at Wordle: 9 Strategies That Work?

Wordle gives you six guesses to find a five-letter word. Luck plays a part, but a few habits make a big difference to how often you solve it, and how quickly. Here are nine strategies that guide you how to win at Wordle?

1. Start with common letters

Open with a word that uses five different, common letters, such as AROSE, ALERT and ATONE. Our guide to the best Wordle starting words explains how we rank them.

2. Use guess two to test new letters

If your first guess gives you only one or two yellows, don’t rush to use them. A second guess of five new common letters usually tells you more. By the end of guess two you will have tested ten letters.

3. Move your yellows

A yellow tile means the letter is in the word but not in that position. Next time, try it somewhere else. In our Wordle solver, put yellow letters in the box for the position you played them in, and the solver rules that position out for you.

4. Think about letter positions

Some letters prefer certain positions. S often starts a word, E and Y often end one, and vowels tend to sit in the middle. If you have a yellow E, try it at the end first. Lists such as 5 letter words ending with E show how common these patterns are.

5. Watch for repeated letters

Answers can repeat a letter, as in words with a double L, O or E. If you are stuck with few options, consider whether a letter could appear twice. Our guide to repeated letters in Wordle explains how the colours work when a letter repeats.

6. Common endings save guesses

Endings such as -ER, -CH, -LY and -SE appear in many five-letter words. Once you know the first three letters, think about which endings fit before guessing.

7. Beware of word families

Some patterns have many answers. For example, _IGHT can be FIGHT, LIGHT, MIGHT, NIGHT, RIGHT, SIGHT, TIGHT and more. Guessing them one by one can cost you the game. Instead, play a word that tests several of the possible first letters at once, such as a word containing F, L, M and N.

8. Use Y when the vowels run out

If A, E, I, O and U have all turned grey, the answer almost certainly uses Y. See the list of 5 letter words with no vowels.

9. Let the solver do the checking

The most common mistake is guessing a word that breaks a clue you already have. Enter your clues in our solver and you will only ever see words that fit. Highlighted words are common words that are more likely to be the answer.

Bonus: hard mode

In hard mode, every guess must use the green and yellow letters you have found. It removes the “test new letters” strategy, so your first two guesses matter even more. Read our Wordle hard mode tips for more.