More than 200 strains of human papillomavirus (HPV) have been identified, and a handful of them produce the rough, raised, or thread-like skin growths we call warts. Cutaneous warts affect roughly 10% of the general population and up to one-third of school-age children at some point in childhood.[1]
If you have spotted a new bump on your finger, sole, eyelid, or knee and wondered which kind of wart it is, you are in good company. The visual differences between types are real, and they matter, because location, appearance, and viral strain all shape how a wart behaves, how long it sticks around, and which treatments are most likely to work.
This guide walks you through the seven main kinds of warts with pictures, identification cues, and a side-by-side comparison table. You will also learn what is not a wart, when to see a dermatologist, and where each type fits in the broader picture of viral skin infections. Because specific HPV strains tend to produce specific wart types, knowing which strain is involved helps clinicians predict how a wart will look and how it is likely to respond to treatment.
Key Takeaways
- There are 7 main kinds of warts, each linked to specific HPV strains.
- Location is the fastest clue: hands, soles, face, and nails each favor different types.
- Plantar and mosaic warts grow inward on weight-bearing surfaces and often hurt.
- Roughly two-thirds of warts clear on their own within 2 years in healthy people.
- Skin tags, corns, molluscum, and seborrheic keratoses are often mistaken for warts.
Table of Contents
What Are Warts? A Quick Overview
Warts are harmless skin growths that appear when certain strains of HPV infect the top layer of skin (the epidermis). The virus slips in through tiny breaks, like a paper cut you barely noticed, and settles into skin cells called keratinocytes, pushing them to multiply much faster than usual. The result is the thickened, rough bump you see on the surface.
Most warts are harmless and many simply disappear on their own. In healthy adults and children, around 65 to 78% of cutaneous warts (roughly 2 out of every 3) resolve without treatment within 2 years as the immune system catches up to the virus.[2] For a deeper dive into the biology, see our companion article on how warts develop from HPV infection.
This article focuses on the visual taxonomy: how to tell one kind of wart from another by location, shape, color, and texture.
📌 What you'll learn:
The 7 kinds of warts you are most likely to encounter, the HPV strains behind each, and how to tell them apart from look-alikes like skin tags, corns, and molluscum.
The 7 Kinds of Warts at a Glance
Use this table as a quick-reference map. Each row covers one type with its typical location, appearance, associated HPV strains, and usual pain level.
| Type | Typical Location | Appearance | HPV Strain(s) | Pain Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Common | Hands, fingers, knees, elbows | Rough, dome-shaped, grainy; black dots | 1, 2, 4, 7, 27, 57[1] | Usually painless |
| Plantar | Soles of feet | Flat, callus-like; grows inward | 1, 2, 4, 27, 57 | Often painful |
| Mosaic | Soles, heels, toes | Clusters of small plantar warts | 2, 27, 57 | Variable |
| Flat | Face, forehead, legs, hands | Small, smooth, flat-topped; clusters | 3, 10 (most common) | Painless |
| Filiform | Eyelids, lips, nose, neck | Long, thread-like projections | 1, 2, 4, 27, 57[3] | Painless |
| Periungual | Around fingernails, toenails | Cauliflower-like; can distort nail | 1, 2, 4, 7[4] | Often painful |
| Genital | Anogenital area | Soft, flesh-colored, cauliflower-like | 6, 11 (low-risk) | Usually painless |
Common Warts (Verruca Vulgaris)
Common warts are the ones most people picture when they hear the word "wart," and they account for the largest share of skin warts seen in clinical practice.[1] They are caused mainly by HPV types 1, 2, 4, 7, 27, and 57, with HPV-2 and HPV-27 showing up most often in everyday cases.[1]
How to Identify Common Warts
Visual identification cues:
- Texture: Rough, grainy, and dome-shaped, often with a cauliflower-like surface.
- Color: Skin-colored, gray-tan, or pink.
- Black dots: Tiny dark specks within the wart represent thrombosed capillaries, a near-classic sign.[5]
- Size: Usually 2–10 mm, but can be larger or merge into plaques.
Where They Typically Appear
Common warts favor the backs of the hands, knuckles, fingers, knees, and elbows, sites where minor cuts and scrapes give HPV an entry point. They are especially common in school-age children, with prevalence estimates ranging from 5% to 30% in pediatric populations depending on the cohort studied.[1]
Plantar Warts (Verruca Plantaris), Including Mosaic Warts on Feet
Plantar warts grow on the soles of the feet, and they behave differently from warts elsewhere because of one simple force: gravity. Every step you take presses them inward rather than letting them push outward, so they end up looking like flat, callused patches instead of raised bumps. Think of a stamp pressed into clay. HPV type 1 is the classic cause of solitary, deep plantar warts, with types 2, 4, 27, and 57 also contributing.
Transmission usually happens through direct or indirect person-to-person contact — sharing shoes, close contact with family members or classmates who have warts, and minor skin trauma that gives HPV an entry point.[1]
Single Plantar Warts
A single plantar wart shows up as a round, thickened patch on the sole, often with a central dimple and tiny black dots. Many people describe it as a constant "pebble in the shoe" feeling while walking, because each step squeezes the wart down against the deeper, more sensitive tissue underneath.[1]
Mosaic Warts: Clustered Plantar Warts
Mosaic warts are clusters of small plantar warts that fuse into a tile-like pattern, sometimes covering several square centimeters of the sole or heel. They tend to be less painful than solitary plantar warts but are notoriously stubborn to treat. This makes mosaic warts one of the most relevant kinds of warts on feet to recognize early.
Plantar Wart vs. Corn or Callus
🔍 How to tell them apart:
Pare the surface gently and look: a corn or callus shows uniform yellowish keratin and skin lines that run through the lesion. A plantar wart interrupts the skin lines and reveals pinpoint black dots (thrombosed vessels). Plantar warts also hurt more when pinched side-to-side, while corns hurt more with direct pressure.[5]
For self-care options, see our overview of over-the-counter wart treatments.
Flat Warts (Verruca Plana), Often on the Face
Flat warts, or verruca plana, look nothing like the classic rough, dome-shaped wart most people picture. They are small (1 to 5 mm), smooth-topped, and only slightly raised, in shades of pink, light brown, or skin tone. Their giveaway feature is the sheer number of them: they typically appear in clusters of 20 to 100 or more, sometimes marching across the cheek or forehead in tidy lines. HPV types 3 and 10 are the strains most often responsible.
What Flat Warts Look Like
Because they are flat and skin-toned, individual flat warts can be missed at first glance. Tilt your head under a bright light and you will often see dozens of small, slightly shiny bumps arranged in lines or patches. That linear pattern is a clue, because it reflects the Koebner phenomenon, the tendency of certain skin conditions to spread along sites of minor trauma such as scratches or shaving lines, almost like seeds dropped into a freshly tilled furrow.
Where They Appear (Face, Legs, Hands)
Flat warts favor the face (especially the forehead and cheeks), the backs of the hands, and the legs. In adults, they often appear on the lower legs of women after shaving or waxing, and on the beard area of men, both driven by Koebner spread. In children and teens, the face is the most common site, making flat warts a frequent form among types of face warts.
Why flat warts spread with shaving:
Each pass of a razor creates microscopic cuts that allow HPV to seed new sites. Treating one flat wart while continuing to shave through the area often results in new lesions appearing in linear streaks within weeks.
Filiform Warts: The Finger-Like Growths
Filiform warts are hard to miss. They look like a single thread, spike, or tiny finger sticking straight out of the skin, usually 1 to 5 mm long, almost like a stray eyelash glued in place. They grow quickly compared with other kinds of warts and strongly favor the face, particularly the eyelids, lips, nostrils, and neck.[3]
HPV types 1, 2, 4, 27, and 57 are typically responsible.[3] Their location at mucocutaneous junctions and thin skin areas makes them another important member of the types of face warts family. Filiform warts can be tender if irritated by glasses, jewelry, or shaving.
Periungual and Subungual Warts (Around and Under Nails)
Periungual warts grow around the edges of fingernails and toenails, while subungual warts grow underneath the nail plate itself. Both appear as rough, cauliflower-like thickenings that can lift, split, or warp the nail as they spread. Nail biters and people who pick at hangnails are especially prone, because the constant micro-trauma gives HPV a steady supply of entry points.[4]
These warts are especially common in people who experience repeated minor trauma around the nail, which creates breaks in the skin barrier that HPV needs to enter.
Why Periungual Warts Resist Treatment
Periungual warts are among the most treatment-resistant kinds of warts. The nail matrix protects the virus from topical agents, and the thickened keratin layer reduces drug penetration. Recurrence rates after standard treatments such as cryotherapy tend to be higher for periungual lesions than for warts elsewhere on the body, though direct comparative figures are limited.[6]
⚠️ When a nail growth is NOT a wart:
A pigmented streak under a nail, a non-healing nodule, or a growth that bleeds easily warrants prompt dermatology evaluation. Subungual melanoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the nail bed can mimic stubborn periungual warts.[7]
Genital Warts (Condyloma Acuminata): A Brief Overview
Genital warts, medically called condyloma acuminata, appear in the anogenital area as soft, flesh-colored or pinkish growths that may be flat, dome-shaped, or cauliflower-like. They are caused mainly by low-risk HPV types 6 and 11.
These low-risk strains rarely cause cancer and are biologically distinct from the high-risk strains (chiefly HPV 16 and 18) that drive most HPV-related cervical and anogenital cancers.
📚 Related Resource
For detailed coverage of transmission, treatment, and prevention, see our guide on genital warts and HPV transmission.
What's NOT a Wart? Common Look-Alikes
Many bumps that look like warts are actually something else entirely. Here are the most common warts look-alikes and how to tell them apart.
- Skin tags (acrochordons): Soft, narrow-stalked, flesh-colored growths that hang from the skin. Unlike warts, they are smooth, not rough, and not caused by HPV.
- Molluscum contagiosum: Small, dome-shaped papules with a tell-tale central dimple (umbilication). Caused by a poxvirus, not HPV, and most common in children.[8]
- Corns and calluses: Thickened skin from friction or pressure. No black dots, skin lines pass through the lesion, and there is no HPV involvement.[5]
- Seborrheic keratoses: Waxy, "stuck-on" tan-to-brown plaques common after age 50. Very common in older adults but completely benign and unrelated to HPV.
- Actinic keratoses: Rough, scaly pink patches on sun-exposed skin. These are pre-cancerous. Learn more in our guide to actinic keratosis.
- Moles and other pigmented lesions: Brown or black colored bumps deserve evaluation, especially if they change. See our guide to other common skin growths and rashes for orientation.
When to See a Dermatologist About a Wart
Most warts are harmless and can be watched or treated at home. See a dermatologist if any of the following apply:
⚠️ Red flags that warrant evaluation:
- Rapid growth, bleeding, or change in color of any "wart"
- Painful or treatment-resistant lesions, especially around nails
- Multiple recurrences after self-treatment
- Any new growth in the genital or anal area
- Warts in immunocompromised patients, where lesions can be widespread and aggressive[9]
- Long-standing "wart" on the foot or hand in an older adult, since verrucous carcinoma (a slow-growing form of squamous cell carcinoma) can closely mimic a stubborn plantar or hand wart[10]
For first-line self-care, salicylic acid for warts remains the best-studied at-home option. A dermatologist may add cryotherapy (freezing with liquid nitrogen), cantharidin (a blistering agent), curettage (scraping the wart off), or immunotherapy (treatments that prompt your immune system to attack the virus) depending on the type and location.
One quick note on scope: SmartLotion is a dermatologist-developed treatment for eczema and dermatitis and does not treat warts, which require entirely different therapies. You can read more about conditions SmartLotion does not treat for full transparency on its scope.
Frequently Asked Questions About Kinds of Warts
How do I identify what kind of wart I have?
Start with location: hands and knees suggest common warts; soles suggest plantar; face suggests flat or filiform; around nails suggests periungual; anogenital suggests condyloma. Then check texture and shape using the comparison table earlier in this article. If you are unsure, a dermatologist can confirm the type by clinical exam and, rarely, biopsy.
What are the five types of warts?
The five most commonly listed types are common, plantar, flat, filiform, and periungual. Many references add mosaic (a plantar sub-type) and genital warts to make seven kinds in total.
What can be mistaken for a common wart?
Skin tags, molluscum contagiosum, corns and calluses, seborrheic keratoses, actinic keratoses, and moles are the most common look-alikes. Molluscum has a central dimple; skin tags are soft and stalked; corns lack black dots; seborrheic keratoses look "stuck on" and are most common after age 50.
Are all warts caused by the same virus?
All warts are caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), but different HPV strains cause different kinds of warts. More than 200 HPV genotypes have been characterized, and specific strains have strong associations with specific wart types and body sites.
Do warts go away on their own?
In healthy people, most warts resolve without treatment as the immune system mounts a response. Natural-history studies estimate spontaneous clearance in roughly 65 to 78% of cases within 2 years, though some types (especially periungual and mosaic) are more persistent.[2] Treatment is often pursued to speed clearance, reduce spread, or relieve pain.
References
- Bristow I. "Paediatric Cutaneous Warts and Verrucae: An Update." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022. View Study
- Bruggink SC, Eekhof JAH, Egberts PF, van Blijswijk SCE, Assendelft WJJ, Gussekloo J. "Natural Course of Cutaneous Warts Among Primary Schoolchildren: A Prospective Cohort Study." The Annals of Family Medicine. 2013;11(5):437–441. View Study
- Lipke MM. "An Armamentarium of Wart Treatments." Clinical Medicine & Research. 2006;4(4):273-293. View Study
- Xie K, Cheng M, He B, Li W, Zhong W. "Photodynamic Therapy Combined with Liquid Nitrogen Cryotherapy and Curettage for the Treatment of Recalcitrant Periungual and Subungual Warts: Clinical Experience and Literature Review." Indian Journal of Dermatology. 2024. View Study
- Bakos RM, Leite LL, Reinehr C, Escobar GF. "Dermoscopy of skin infestations and infections (entomodermoscopy) – Part II: viral, fungal and other infections." Anais Brasileiros de Dermatologia. 2021. View Study
- Blandon V, Altamirano MJ, Alvarado A, Leyton TA, Zelaya I. "Quantitative Assessment of Intralesional Bleomycin for Periungual Warts in Nicaragua: A Retrospective Case Series." Cureus. 2026. View Study
- Haenssle HA, Blum A, Hofmann-Wellenhof R, Kreusch J, Stolz W, Argenziano G, Zalaudek I, Brehmer F. "When all you have is a dermatoscope—start looking at the nails." Dermatology Practical & Conceptual. 2014. View Study
- Singh A, Shakeel L, Ashraf T, Goyal P, Verma A. "Zelsuvmi for Molluscum Contagiosum: Clinical Evidence, Mechanisms, and Therapeutic Significance." Annals of Medicine and Surgery. 2025. View Study
- Reusser NM, Downing C, Guidry J, Tyring SK. "HPV Carcinomas in Immunocompromised Patients." Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2015. View Study
- Moraga R, Hopkins T, Sclamberg GS, Gallo ES. "Exploring the Oncogenic Potential of Human Papillomavirus in Subungual and Plantar Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Review of the Literature." Cancers (Basel). 2025. View Study