How do I wire an outlet?

Turn the breaker off and prove the outlet is dead. With one cable in the box, connect the black wire to a brass screw, the white wire to a silver screw and the bare ground to the green screw. With two cables, join the incoming conductor, the outgoing conductor and a short pigtail under a wire connector for each of the hot, the neutral and the ground, and put each pigtail on one screw. Follow the instructions printed on your device.

Which wire goes on the brass screw and which on the silver?

The hot (black) wire goes on a brass screw and the white neutral wire goes on a silver screw. The bare or green ground goes to the green screw. On a standard duplex receptacle the two brass screws are joined inside the device and so are the two silver screws.

How do I wire an outlet with 2 wires?

A 14/2 cable has a black wire, a white wire and a bare ground. If it is the only cable in the box, black goes to a brass screw, white to a silver screw and the bare ground to the green screw. See the end of the run diagram above.

How do I wire an outlet in the middle of a run?

Join the black wires from both cables and a short black pigtail under a wire connector, and put the pigtail on a brass screw. Do the same for the white wires and a silver screw, and for the grounds and the green screw. Every screw then carries one conductor and the next receptacle keeps its power if you remove this one.

Can I put two wires under one screw on an outlet?

Not on the standard side screws shown here. Use a wire connector and a pigtail so each screw terminal holds one conductor, unless the device instructions say a terminal accepts two. The wrong diagram on this page shows the mistake and the checker rejects it.

How do I wire a light switch with an outlet?

Bring the supply to the switch box. The black hot goes to one brass screw of the switch and the other brass screw sends the switched hot to the receptacle. The white neutral is spliced through the switch box and goes straight to the receptacle. For an outlet that is half switched, use a split receptacle and a three-conductor cable.

What is a split receptacle and when do I use one?

A split receptacle has the brass-side tab broken off, so its two brass screws are separate. One outlet is fed constant hot and the other switched hot, so one outlet is always on and the other follows the wall switch. The silver-side tab stays in place. It needs a three-conductor cable (black, red, white and bare) from the switch box.

What do the wire colors mean in an outlet diagram?

Black is hot, white is neutral and bare or green is ground in standard NM-B cable. A red wire in a three-conductor cable is a second hot, for example a switched hot. Insulation color is not phase, so check the screw colors on the device: brass is hot, silver is neutral and green is ground.

What does outlets in series mean?

It means several receptacles wired one after another in a chain on one circuit. Electrically the receptacles are in parallel on the same hot and neutral. Each middle box uses the pigtail diagram and the last box uses the end of the run diagram.

Can I rely on an AI-generated outlet wiring diagram?

No. Treat it as a picture. Image models often put two wires on one screw or swap the brass and silver screws. That is why the diagrams above are exact diagrams drawn in code. Check every AI picture against them and against the markings on your device.

Is the outlet wiring diagram generator free?

Reading the exact diagrams on this page is free. The AI illustration tool starts free with 2 image credits, valid for 7 days, no card required. Image credit packs start at $4.99 (Lite, 8 image credits), and the credits do not expire.

Engineering Tool

Outlet Wiring Diagram Generator End of Run, Middle of Run, With a Switch

Exact outlet wiring diagrams: end of run, middle of run with pigtails, switch-controlled and split receptacles. Brass hot, silver neutral. Planning drawings.

Exact diagrams: end of run, middle of run, switch-controlled, splitBrass = hot, silver = neutral, green = groundOne conductor per side screw, pigtails shownAI illustration tool for your own outlet drawings

Planning diagrams, not installation drawings. Follow the instructions printed on your device and the electrical code in your area. Turn the breaker off and prove the circuit is dead before you open the box, and let a licensed electrician decide what gets installed.

Outlet Wiring Diagrams

Exact diagrams drawn in code from reviewed scenes. Each shows the panel, the receptacle, the cables and the screw each conductor lands on. Click a diagram to open it full size.

Exact wiring diagram of a duplex receptacle at the end of a run: one 14/2 cable from the panel breaker, the black hot wire on the brass screw, the white neutral on the silver screw and the bare ground on the green screw — Receptacle at the end of the run: one cable in the box
The simplest case, and the answer to "outlet wiring 2 wires": one cable enters the box. The black hot goes to a brass screw, the white neutral to a silver screw, and the bare ground to the green screw. Nothing leaves the box, so only one pair of screws is used.
**Cables:** 14/2 NM-B from the panel (black, white, bare).

Exact wiring diagram of a duplex receptacle in the middle of a run: the incoming and outgoing hot, neutral and ground conductors are joined with wire connectors and a short pigtail goes to each screw of the receptacle, so each side screw carries one conductor — Receptacle in the middle of the run: pigtails
Two cables enter the box: one from the panel and one that continues to the next receptacle. Join the incoming conductor, the outgoing conductor and one short pigtail under a wire connector for the hot, again for the neutral and again for the ground. Each pigtail lands on one screw, so each side screw carries one conductor and the receptacles downstream keep their power if this one is removed or replaced.
**Cables:** 14/2 NM-B from the panel and 14/2 NM-B on to the next receptacle.

Exact wiring diagram of a switch-controlled receptacle: panel hot to one brass screw of a single pole switch, the other brass screw to the brass screw of the receptacle, neutral straight to the silver screw of the receptacle, ground to the switch and the receptacle — Switch-controlled outlet: power at the switch box
The light switch with outlet wiring diagram: the supply cable enters the switch box. The black hot goes to one brass screw of the single pole switch and the other brass screw sends the switched hot to the receptacle in a second cable. The neutral goes straight to the receptacle and never touches the switch. Both outlets of the receptacle turn off with the switch.
**Cables:** 14/2 NM-B from the panel to the switch box, 14/2 NM-B from the switch box to the receptacle.

Exact wiring diagram of a split receptacle: the brass-side tab is broken off, constant hot on one brass screw, switched hot from the wall switch on the other brass screw, neutral on a silver screw with the silver-side tab left in place, fed by a three-conductor cable from the switch box — Split receptacle: one outlet always on, one on the switch
For one outlet that is always on and one that follows the switch, break off the tab between the two brass screws only. The constant hot goes to one brass screw and the switched hot from the switch goes to the other. The silver-side tab stays in place, so one neutral serves both outlets. The run from the switch box needs a three-conductor cable: black, red, white and bare.
**Cables:** 14/2 NM-B from the panel, 14/3 NM-B (black, red, white, bare) from the switch box to the receptacle.

Wrong Example: Two Wires Under One Screw

A deliberately wrong drawing for comparison. The checker rejects it.

Deliberately wrong wiring diagram for comparison: the cable to the next receptacle shares the same hot screw and the same neutral screw of the receptacle as the incoming cable, two conductors under one screw terminal — The cable to the next receptacle shares the hot screw and the neutral screw of this receptacle with the incoming cable. A side screw takes one conductor unless the device is marked for two: join the conductors under a wire connector and use a pigtail, as in the middle of the run diagram.

Receptacle Terminal Table: What Goes Where

Screw	Conductor	Note
Brass	Hot (black)	The two brass screws are joined by the brass-side tab. Break it off only for a split receptacle.
Silver	Neutral (white)	Never through a switch. Leave the silver-side tab in place.
Green	Ground (bare or green)	Joined with the other grounds by a wire connector and a pigtail when more than one ground is in the box.

One conductor per side screw unless the device is marked for two. Screw positions differ between makers, so the markings on the device win over the drawn positions.

Need GFCI protection? See the GFCI outlet wiring diagram generator. For a light on a single pole switch, use the light switch wiring diagram generator. For other circuits, use the Wiring Diagram Maker.

AI illustration of your outlet wiring

Describe an outlet hookup to get a quick picture. AI images can put two wires on one screw or swap the brass and silver screws, so use the exact diagrams and the table above for the real connections and check every screw of an AI picture.

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Exact wiring diagram of a duplex receptacle at the end of a run, one 14/2 cable with black on brass, white on silver and ground on green

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AI diagrams are drafts. Check every screw color, every ground and the one-conductor-per-side-screw rule against the device markings.

Source (checked October 2026): the screw colors (brass hot, silver neutral, green ground), the pigtail ground and the break-off tab rules follow manufacturer receptacle instruction sheets. Other makers use the same ideas, but screw positions and methods differ, so read the sheet packed with your device. Which wiring methods are allowed depends on the electrical code in your area.

What an outlet wiring diagram shows

An outlet wiring diagram shows which conductor lands on which screw of a receptacle. A standard duplex receptacle has two brass screws for the hot (black) conductor, two silver screws for the neutral (white) conductor and one green screw for the ground. The two brass screws are joined inside the device by a metal strap, and so are the two silver screws. That is why a receptacle can pass power on to the next one, and why only one pair of screws is used when the receptacle is the last on the run. The diagrams above are drawn in code from reviewed scenes, so each screw carries the conductor the device instructions name for it.

Wire colors: black, white, bare, and red

In standard NM-B cable the black conductor is the hot, the white is the neutral and the bare (or green) conductor is the ground. A 14/2 cable holds black, white and ground. A 14/3 cable adds a red conductor. That is the usual answer to "outlet wiring diagram 4 wires": black, white, red and bare, used when a switched hot is carried to a receptacle.
Insulation color is not phase. A white wire can be re-marked as a hot in a switch loop, and a black wire in a different circuit can be a different hot. The screw colors on the device are the guide: brass is hot, silver is neutral, green is ground.
The wire size follows the breaker. The sample diagrams use 14/2 on a 15 A circuit; use the cable size that matches your breaker.

End of the run or middle of the run

Count the cables in the box. With one cable, the receptacle is at the end of the run. Land the black on a brass screw, the white on a silver screw and the bare ground on the green screw, as in the first diagram.
With two cables, the receptacle is in the middle of the run. One cable comes from the panel side and one continues to the next receptacle. The diagram with pigtails joins the incoming and outgoing conductors with a short pigtail under a wire connector for each of the hot, the neutral and the ground, so every screw carries one conductor.
Many receptacles also have push-in (back-wire) holes and a strap that carries power through the device. The diagrams on this page use the side screws and pigtails. If you use a different method, follow the instruction sheet that came with your device.

Why one conductor per side screw

Two conductors folded under one screw can loosen and overheat, and when one of them works loose everything downstream loses power. With a pigtail, the receptacle takes one conductor at each screw, and the other conductors stay connected even if the receptacle is removed for replacement. Some devices have clamp terminals marked for two conductors; follow the device instructions. The checker behind these diagrams has a rule for the side screws shown here: it rejects a drawing with more than one conductor on a screw terminal of a receptacle or a switch. The wrong diagram above is rejected by that rule.

Light switch with outlet wiring diagram

To control an outlet from a wall switch, bring power to the switch box first. The hot goes through the single pole switch and on to the receptacle. The neutral is spliced through the switch box and goes straight to the receptacle: only the hot is switched, and the neutral never lands on the switch.
A plain receptacle wired this way switches both outlets. For one outlet that is always on and one that follows the switch, use the split receptacle diagram: break off the tab between the two brass screws only, feed one brass screw with the constant hot and the other with the switched hot, and keep the silver-side tab so the neutral reaches both outlets. That needs a three-conductor cable from the switch box.
For a light on a single pole switch, with no receptacle involved, see the light switch wiring diagram generator.

Outlets in series: how several receptacles are wired

Several outlets on one circuit are wired in a chain, often called in series, although the receptacles are in parallel electrically: each receptacle is fed from the same hot and neutral. Each box in the middle of the chain is the middle of the run diagram. The first box takes the cable from the panel, every middle box has a cable in and a cable out with pigtails, and the last box has one cable and uses the end of the run diagram. If you want some of the outlets protected by a ground-fault interrupter, see the GFCI outlet wiring diagram generator.

Common outlet wiring mistakes

Two conductors under one screw. This is the mistake the wrong diagram shows. Use a wire connector and a pigtail.
Hot on the silver screw or neutral on the brass screw. The silver screw is for white conductors and the brass screw for hot conductors. Reversed polarity is a shock hazard even when the outlet seems to work.
The neutral run through a switch. In a switch-controlled outlet only the hot goes through the switch.
A missing ground. Connect the bare ground to the green screw. In a metal box, the box needs a bond too, as the device sheet and local code require.
Both brass screws used when you wanted a split receptacle. If the brass-side tab is still in place, the two brass screws are one node and both outlets get the same hot.
Working with the power on. Turn the breaker off and test the wires before you touch them.

Exact diagrams vs AI drafts

The four diagrams above are exact diagrams. They are drawn in code from reviewed netlists, and a checker compares every drawing with a reference table: brass takes the hot, silver takes the neutral, green takes the ground, the switch carries only the hot, and no side screw carries two conductors. The checker also rejects the deliberately wrong diagram. We do not show AI-generated wiring images as examples, because image models often put two wires on one screw or swap the brass and silver screws. The generator on this page still produces an AI illustration from your prompt. Treat it as a rough picture, compare it with the exact diagrams and with the markings on your device, and let a licensed electrician decide what is installed. A diagram from this page is a planning picture. It is not a permit drawing and it does not replace the device instructions or the electrical code in your area.