Alprazolam color tracks strength closely, and once you know the pattern most Xanax pills identify themselves at a glance.
The exception is the one people search for most. Blue alprazolam is 1 mg in the immediate-release line and 2 mg in the extended-release line, and nothing about the tablet announces which line it belongs to except the imprint.
How Xanax Color Maps to Strength
Alprazolam is made by more than a dozen manufacturers, and they broadly copied the color scheme brand Xanax established. That makes color a useful first filter, though never a final answer.
For immediate-release tablets, the pattern holds across nearly every generic. White tablets are 0.25 mg. Orange and peach tablets are 0.5 mg. Blue tablets are 1 mg. The 2 mg is a white rectangular bar.
Extended-release alprazolam runs on a different scheme. Most ER tablets are round, and the brand versions are polygonal, five-sided at 0.5 mg, four-sided at 1 mg and three-sided at 3 mg. The ER colors run white at 0.5 mg, yellow at 1 mg, blue at 2 mg and green at 3 mg, with enough exceptions that the color is a hint rather than an answer. Reading an ER tablet against the immediate-release pattern is how people arrive at the wrong dose.
Xanax Pill Colors and Imprints
White Xanax Pills
White covers both ends of the dose range, which is why it generates more search volume than any other color and answers the least on its own.
White 0.25 mg tablets include XANAX 0.25 (oval), 027 R (round), MYLAN A (round), GG 256, Y 1 8, G 3719, B704, S 900, 603, 2087 V, N A 0.25, BP 630, A 51 LL, and ALP 0.25 APO.
White 2 mg bars include X ANA X 2, GG 249, Y 2 1, 2 0 9 0 V, G 372 2, A L G 2, and A L P R A P O 2. Two immediate-release white 2 mg tablets are round rather than rectangular, MYLAN A4 and BP 633, and one is oblong, imprinted 1 1.
White also turns up at strengths the pattern does not predict. AL 1.0 G is a white oval at 1 mg. E197 is a white oval at 2 mg and EM 103 is a white round at 2 mg, both extended release. IP 13 is a white round at 3 mg, also extended release. The orally disintegrating tablets 111, 213 and 214 are white rounds at 0.5 mg, 1 mg and 2 mg.
Blue Xanax Pills
Blue is 1 mg in the immediate-release line. The blue ovals, the ones called footballs, carry XANAX 1.0, Y 2 0, GG 258, G 3721, B706, 2089 V, 605, N A 1.0, BP 632, and ALP 1 APO. The blue rounds at 1 mg are 031 R, MYLAN A1, and 1.0 N 131.
Blue also appears at 2 mg, and this is where the confusion starts. A blue 2 mg rectangle exists, imprinted B 7 0 7, and it is immediate release. Every other blue 2 mg product is extended release. The blue 2 mg rounds are G 2, 2093 V, 833, IP 12, b 493 2, cor 189, APO A2, X 2 and X 74. There is also one blue 2 mg oval, imprinted 93 5452, which is extended release despite having the shape people associate with the 1 mg football.
Orange and Peach Xanax Pills
Orange and peach mean 0.5 mg in the immediate-release line. The imprints include XANAX 0.5 (oval), R 029 (round), GG 257, MYLAN A3, MYLAN A2, G 3720, B705, 604, 2088 V, N A 0.5, BP 631, and ALP 0.5 APO.
One peach round tablet is not 0.5 mg. R 87 is a 2 mg extended-release tablet, and it is round rather than oval.
Green Xanax Pills
Green appears at two very different strengths. The green 2 mg rectangles are S 90 3 and A54 L L, both immediate release and both bars. S 902 is a green oval at 1 mg.
Green round tablets are extended release, and almost all of them are 3 mg, including X 75, R 86, 2094 V, 93 5453, 834, cor 190, APO A3 and EM 102. The 3 mg brand tablets X 3 and G 3 are green three-sided rather than round. One green round breaks the strength pattern, IP 9, which is 0.5 mg extended release.
Yellow Xanax Pills
Yellow is the least consistent color in the line. R 0 3 9 is a yellow 2 mg rectangle, one of the bars. S 901, A 52 LL, and AL 0.5 G are yellow ovals at 0.5 mg. A 53 LL and E196 are yellow ovals at 1 mg. AL 0.25 G is a yellow oval at 0.25 mg.
Yellow round tablets are usually 1 mg extended release, including R 84, 832, 93 5451, IP 10, b 492 1, cor 188, APO A1 and EM 104. The 1 mg brand tablets X 1 and G 1 are yellow four-sided rather than round. One yellow round breaks the strength pattern, E 198, which is 3 mg extended release.
Pink and Purple Xanax Pills
These are the rarest. M A24 is a pink round tablet at 3 mg extended release. M A23 is a purple round tablet at 2 mg extended release. No other pink or purple alprazolam product is listed.
What a Blue Xanax Pill Actually Tells You
This is the most common identification question about Xanax and the one most guides get wrong, usually by treating shape as decisive.
Blue round tablets split two ways. 031 R, MYLAN A1 and 1.0 N 131 are 1 mg immediate release. G 2, 2093 V, 833, IP 12, b 493 2, cor 189, APO A2, X 2 and X 74 are 2 mg extended release. Blue ovals mostly run 1 mg immediate release, including XANAX 1.0, Y 2 0, GG 258, G 3721, B706, 2089 V, 605, N A 1.0, BP 632 and ALP 1 APO, but 93 5452 is a blue oval at 2 mg extended release. Neither shape settles the dose on its own, and neither does the color. Only the imprint does.
The practical difference matters. Immediate-release alprazolam is dosed several times a day. Extended-release alprazolam is dosed once daily and releases over many hours. Taking a 2 mg extended-release tablet as though it were a 1 mg immediate-release football means twice the dose in a form that keeps working long after the person expects it to stop.
If a tablet is being sold or passed along as "blue 2 mg Xanax" with no imprint you can find, treat that as unidentified rather than as a strength.
Xanax Bars and What the Nickname Covers
A bar is a 2 mg alprazolam tablet in a rectangular shape, usually scored into four segments so it can be broken down into 0.5 mg pieces.
The bars come in four colors. White bars carry X ANA X 2, GG 249, Y 2 1, 2 0 9 0 V, G 372 2, A L G 2 and A L P R A P O 2. Green bars carry S 90 3 and A54 L L. The yellow bar is R 0 3 9. The blue bar is B 7 0 7. All four colors are the same 2 mg strength. The color reflects the manufacturer, not the dose.
The nickname "football" refers to the oval tablets instead, at 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg and 1 mg. A football is a lower dose than a bar in every case.
Brand Name Xanax and Xanax XR Imprints
Brand Xanax is only four products. XANAX 0.25 is a white oval, XANAX 0.5 is an orange oval, XANAX 1.0 is a blue oval, and X ANA X 2 is a white rectangle.
Brand Xanax XR is four more, and they are distinguished by having unusual geometry rather than being round. X 0.5 is a white five-sided tablet, X 1 is a yellow four-sided tablet, X 2 is a blue round tablet, and X 3 is a green three-sided tablet.
Niravam, the orally disintegrating form, is four round tablets. SP 321 0.25 and SP 322 0.5 are yellow, SP 323 1 and SP 324 2 are white.
Why 3 mg Alprazolam Only Comes as Extended Release
Immediate-release alprazolam stops at 2 mg. Every 3 mg product in the database is extended release. Most are green, and the rest are pink (M A24), yellow (E 198) and white (IP 13).
That single fact resolves a lot of misidentification. If someone describes a 3 mg Xanax bar, no such product exists. If a tablet is genuinely 3 mg, it is a once-daily extended-release tablet, and it is round or three-sided rather than rectangular.
When an Imprint You Cannot Find Is the Warning Sign
Counterfeit alprazolam is the specific reason imprint checking matters more for this drug than for most.
The DEA has seized fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills at scale, reporting more than 47 million in 2025, and its guidance on visual identification is blunt. The agency's warning is to never trust your own eyes to determine whether a pill is legitimate. Two milligrams of fentanyl is a potentially deadly dose, and fake pills are pressed to resemble Xanax, Adderall and oxycodone.
Pressed counterfeits copy real imprints, so a matching imprint is not proof of authenticity. What an imprint search does reliably is rule things out. If the code on a tablet returns nothing, or returns a different drug at a different strength, the tablet did not come from a legitimate manufacturer under that description.
What to Do With a Pill You Cannot Identify
If you think someone has taken an unidentified pill and they are unresponsive, breathing slowly, or blue around the lips, call 911 and give naloxone if you have it. Naloxone does not reverse alprazolam, but it does reverse the fentanyl that counterfeit tablets often contain, and it causes no harm if opioids are not involved.
When Identifying a Pill Turns Into a Different Question
People usually reach a page like this for one of two reasons. Either a refill looks unfamiliar, which is almost always a manufacturer change, or they found a pill that does not belong to anyone in the house.
If it is the second reason, alprazolam is worth taking seriously. It is described as habit-forming, and the guidance on stopping is unusually direct. Do not stop taking it or take fewer doses without talking to a doctor, because a prescriber will normally lower the dose gradually instead. Stopping abruptly can bring on seizures, among other symptoms, which is why coming off it alone is not the safe choice it appears to be.
Related Topics
Xanax Pill Questions People Ask Most
What do Xanax pills look like?
Immediate-release alprazolam is white at 0.25 mg, orange or peach at 0.5 mg, blue at 1 mg, and a white rectangular bar at 2 mg. Extended-release tablets are usually round, or polygonal in the brand versions, and run white at 0.5 mg, yellow at 1 mg, blue at 2 mg and green at 3 mg. Both lines have exceptions, which is why the imprint matters more than the color.
What is a blue round Xanax 2 mg?
Blue round 2 mg alprazolam is the extended-release form, sold under imprints including G 2, 2093 V, 833, IP 12 and X 2. Immediate-release 2 mg alprazolam is a white rectangular bar, not a blue round tablet.
How many milligrams is a Xanax football?
Footballs are the oval tablets. In the immediate-release line a white oval is 0.25 mg, an orange or peach oval is 0.5 mg, and a blue oval is 1 mg. Immediate-release alprazolam has no 2 mg oval, though one extended-release blue oval at 2 mg does exist, imprinted 93 5452.
How many milligrams is a Xanax bar?
Every alprazolam bar is 2 mg regardless of color. White, green, yellow and blue bars are all the same strength, and the color reflects which manufacturer made it.
What is the green rectangle pill marked S 90 3?
S 90 3 is alprazolam 2 mg, a green rectangular bar. It is the same strength as a white bar.
What is the white pill marked 2090 V?
2 0 9 0 V is alprazolam 2 mg, a white rectangular bar.
Is there a 3 mg Xanax bar?
No. Immediate-release alprazolam stops at 2 mg, and every 3 mg product is an extended-release tablet that is round or three-sided.
Can you identify Xanax by color alone?
No. Color narrows the strength but does not confirm the drug, and counterfeit tablets are pressed in the same colors. The imprint combined with color and shape is what identifies a pill, and a pharmacist can confirm it in a minute.
What does it mean if an imprint returns no results?
It means the tablet does not match any product listed under that description. That is the clearest indication available that a pill did not come from a licensed manufacturer, and it should not be taken.
References
Drugs.com. Alprazolam Pill Images and Imprint Database. drugs.com/imprints.php?drugname=alprazolam
Drugs.com. Pill Identifier Results for Imprint 031 R. drugs.com/imprints.php?imprint=031+R
Drugs.com. Alprazolam Dosage Guide. drugs.com/dosage/alprazolam.html
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. One Pill Can Kill. dea.gov/onepill
MedlinePlus. Alprazolam. U.S. National Library of Medicine. medlineplus.gov/druginfo/meds/a684001.html
