Short answer
Healthy stool is usually brown, soft, formed, and easy to pass. It looks like a smooth or slightly cracked sausage (Bristol types 3 and 4) and happens anywhere from about three times a day to three times a week. Blood, black tarry stool, pale stool, a lot of mucus, or a lasting change from your normal pattern are reasons to get advice.
What does healthy stool look like?
Healthy stool is usually brown, soft and formed like a smooth sausage, easy to pass, and passed anywhere from about three times a day to three times a week.
- Color: light to dark brown. See the stool color chart.
- Shape and texture: soft, formed and easy to pass. See the Bristol stool chart.
- Frequency: anywhere from about three times a day to three times a week.
- Smell: noticeable, but not unusually foul. A sudden, strong change in smell can go with infection or fat malabsorption.
- Blood and mucus: none, or only a little clear mucus.
Read more about what you are seeing
Bristol stool chart
Seven stool types, from constipation to diarrhea.
Blood in stool
Bright red, maroon or black, and when it is an emergency.
Mucus in stool
Clear, white, yellow or bloody mucus and what it can mean.
Loose or watery stool
Diarrhea causes, hydration and when to see a doctor.
Stool shape and size
Thin, ribbon-like and pellet stool, and what each can mean.
Stool consistency
Hard, soft, sticky or mushy, and what is normal.
Floating, greasy or oily stool
When floating is usually harmless and when it can point to fat malabsorption.
Stool smell
What makes stool smell, and when a change matters.
Stool softeners
What they are, label warnings, and questions to ask a pharmacist.
Stool color chart
Green, yellow, black, pale, red and more.
Baby poop color
A guide for newborns and infants.
When should you get advice about stool changes?
Get advice about a lasting change in stool shape, color or frequency. A lot of blood, black tarry stool or severe belly pain need care right away.
Call a doctor
- A lasting change in stool shape, color or frequency
- Ongoing diarrhea or constipation
- Thin, ribbon-like stool that persists
- Greasy, floating, foul-smelling stool that keeps happening
- More mucus than usual for more than a week
Get care now
- A lot of blood in stool, or black, tarry stool
- Severe belly pain, or a swollen belly
- Dizziness or fainting with bleeding
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