Did you find a pill on the floor and aren't sure what it is? Or maybe you just picked up your new prescription from the pharmacist and want to confirm it's the right drug. There are ways a pill can be identified by imprint code, color, or shape. This can ensure that you don't mistakenly take the wrong medication, take it the wrong way, or end up throwing out a prescription because you don't know what it is,
This article explains simple ways to identify pills, tablets, and capsules by using online resources and tools.
Pill Attributes
Unless the drug is a good counterfeit, the identification process is very straightforward. By law, every pill, tablet, or capsule approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must look unique from all others. This is done specifically to make identifying each pill easier.
A pill's attributes are related to:
Imprint code
Shape
Color
Form
Scoring
Imprint Code
Each type of medication will also be imprinted with a unique code. These codes can include a combination of numbers and letters or the name of the drug. In some cases, you might also see a logo.
Some of the letters and numbers can be hard to distinguish, especially on very small pills. If needed, use a magnifying glass.
Shape
Medication comes in all sorts of shapes. You might be most familiar with round or oblong pills and capsules. However, some medication is unusually shaped in the form of squares, rectangles, diamonds, triangles, pentagons, hexagons, heptagons, and octagons.
Color
Each type of pill has a standard color. Some are very familiar like brown Advil tablets or blue Viagra pills.
Capsules, pills, tablets, and caplets do not need to be one solid color, though. Pills might be one color on one side and a different color on the other side, or capsules might be made up of two different colored pieces. Pills and caplets might also have a colored pattern such as specks of red on a solid white background.
Different forms of a medication might come in different colors. For instance, it might be white in pill form and green in capsule form.
Form
The form refers to whether the medication is a tablet, capsule, or other type of oral medication.
Pills may have scores, which are like light lines cut into them. There may be one, multiple, or none, depending on the medication. They can appear with the imprint code or on the reverse side.
Tools to Help Identify Pills
Once you have identified these elements of the drug in question, you can use a number of online tools to find out which medication you're holding.
Options include:
MedSnap: With this iPhone app, you can identify a pill by taking a photo of it.
Poison Control Pill Identifier: This National organization offers an interactive search tool that lets you find a medication-based imprint code, shape and color, or drug name.
FDA's Drug Identification: The Food and Drug Administration will identify a pill if you email them a picture of it.
Medscape Pill Identifier: This site is aimed at healthcare professionals, but offers a free online search tool that you can use to find medication based on attributes.
Inability to Identify Pills
In some instances, the tools and services above may not be able to recognize the pill you have. Most likely, this is because it's not an FDA-approved drug. This means that you may be looking at an illegal drug, a counterfeit, or even an alternative remedy.
You may want to take it to your pharmacist to ask for help. Never take any medication you cannot positively identify.
What to Do With Unused Pills
If you can't identify a pill and, thus, cannot take it, do not just let the medication sit on your shelf. Whether it's an over-the-counter pill or prescription treatment, leaving unused medication around the house is unsafe and unnecessary.
Disposal
You will need to dispose of the unused drugs. However, do not just toss them in the trash. It could be found and consumed by a person or an animal, which could make them ill.
Do not flush unused medication down the toilet because it then pollutes drinking water or natural bodies of water, which can affect fish, plants, and animals.
Follow proper disposal methods to safely get rid of unknown pills. If your community offers a drug take-back program, bring medication there on the designated day. You may also have a local U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) collection site near you. Use the DEA online location service to find a controlled substance disposal location.
If you're unable to take medication to one of these collection sites, check with your pharmacy. They may be able to take back any unused medication to dispose of it.
Summary
It's not uncommon to have a medication and not know what the pill or capsule is for. A number of online tools and services are available to help you identify medication based on the imprint code, color, and shape.
Never take any medication you cannot identify. And follow recommended guidelines for disposing of unused medication in a way that won't affect other people or the environment.
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Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
By Trisha Torrey Trisha Torrey is a patient empowerment and advocacy consultant. She has written several books about patient advocacy and how to best navigate the healthcare system.
If your pill has no imprint it could be a vitamin, diet, herbal, or energy pill, or an illicit or foreign drug. It is not possible to accurately identify a pill online without an imprint code.
Who Can I Call to Identify a Pill? If you've mixed up your pills and you need to sort them out, your best option is to call your pharmacist. They should be able to look up the pills by their color, shape, and imprint code. They also have access to your medication records to help.
Methods used to identify various substances may include Spectrophotometry, GC, LCMS, HPLC, and/or GC/MS. Identify unknown drugs present in pills, powders, or liquids. Analysis of syringes or IV fluids. Unidentified Substance: Send pill, powder, or liquid in a clean plastic vial or the original container.
FDA's Drug Identification: The Food and Drug Administration will identify a pill if you email them a picture of it. Medscape Pill Identifier: This site is aimed at healthcare professionals, but offers a free online search tool that you can use to find medication based on attributes.
Pill Identifier and Drug List – Patient Care Edition is a FREE tool that helps you identify Brand and Generic drugs by name. This is a Drug Reference Guide that provides information about 60,000 + drugs.
What are Imprint Codes? All approved prescription and over-the-counter solid, oral dosage form medications in the U.S. are required by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to have an imprint.
Small pills, usually oval though can be other shapes. They come at different strengths (0.25mg, 0.5mg and 1mg being the most common) and in a range of different colours (white, orange and pink most often) and the colour is usually linked to the strength of the pill. They are also found (rarely) in capsule form.
The color coding is: 0.5 mg Klonopin pill: Orange, round and scored.1 mg Klonopin pill: Blue, round, and scored.2 mg Klonopin pill: White, round and scored.
What's the difference between Percocet and oxycodone-CR products? Both Percocet and oxycodone-CR products relieve pain, but while Percocet gives relief for about five hours, the effects of oxycodone-CR last for about 12 hours, when taken as prescribed.
Gabapentin is not a narcotic. It's not classified as a controlled substance in most states. (Kentucky, West Virginia, Michigan, Tennessee, and Virginia have reclassified gabapentin as a Schedule V controlled substance). Gabapentin is not an opioid.
Structures of unknown compounds can be determined by comparing physical properties, performing functional group tests, and checking melting points of derivatives against those of known compounds reported in the literature. Solubility properties and chemical reactivity become apparent during these qualitative tests.
If the drug is unfamiliar, consult a drug book or pharmacist prior to administering the medication. Right Dose – Compare the dose in the order to the dose on hand.
For officers out in the field, there are various portable testing solutions to choose from. Many portable drug detection tests rely on reagents, or "reactive agents," to determine the presence or absence of a substance in a sample. During a test, reagent is combined with a very small amount of the substance.
Tramadol's physical appearance tends to be round or oblong in shape, and mostly in white. Rarely is it yellow. Usually numbers or letters are printed on one side. Sometimes the number gives a clue to its strength.
Lorazepam Tablets, USP are available in the following dosage strengths: 0.5 mg white, round, flat face, beveled edge tablets, debossed “EP 904” on one side and plain on the other side. 1 mg white, round, flat face, beveled edge tablets, debossed “EP 905” and scored on one side and "1" on the other side.
It's a white, round pill with “8 05” imprinted on one side with a score. Common side effects of trazodone include drowsiness, dry mouth, dizziness, headache, blurred vision, nausea or vomiting, constipation, fatigue, fainting, nervousness, confusion, changes in blood pressure, and changes in weight.
Drugs.com's Pill Identification Wizard uses drug pictures to help consumers identify pills by their appearance, using a database of over 10,000 images of prescription drugs. The drug identification pictures are sourced from Micromedex, a leading provider of health and medical information.
2-milligram tablet: White, round, has a vertical line at the middle, a V-shaped hollow, and an imprint of “2 Valium” and “Roche Roche.” 5-milligram tablet: Yellow, round, has a vertical line at the middle, a V-shaped hollow, and an imprint of “5 Valium” and “Roche Roche.”
Ondansetron orally disintegrating tablets USP, 4 mg (as 4 mg ondansetron base) are white, circular, flat faced, uncoated tablets with 'G' engraved on one side and '4' on the other side in unit dose packs of 30 tablets (NDC 68462-157-13).
Many generic manufacturers also have their own marking or symbol that they put on the generic drug. Even though a generic drug may look different than the brand name drug, it is still bioequivalent, and it will still act the same way in the body as the brand name drug.
Pill with imprint A is White, Round and has been identified as Almotriptan Malate 12.5 mg. It is supplied by Patriot Pharmaceuticals LLC. Almotriptan is used in the treatment of Migraine and belongs to the drug class antimigraine agents.
Introduction: My name is Terence Hammes MD, I am a inexpensive, energetic, jolly, faithful, cheerful, proud, rich person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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