Every Plug Type From A to N, Explained

You land in Lisbon with the adapter that worked perfectly in Bangkok last month, and it just sits there in your hand, useless against the wall. Three trips, three plug shapes, one drawer full of adapters you are not sure you still need. Fourteen letters, A through N, cover almost every outlet on Earth, and once you understand what each one actually is, you stop guessing before every trip.

Why the world ended up with 14 plug shapes

Electrification rolled out country by country in the early 1900s, long before any international body agreed on a standard. Engineers in Berlin, London and New York solved the same problem, get power safely into a wall, with the tools and safety rules they had at the time. By the time the International Electrotechnical Commission catalogued the results, dozens of incompatible shapes were already wired into millions of buildings. Replacing them was never realistic, so the IEC named what existed instead: fourteen types, lettered A through N.

The fourteen types, one by one

Type A

• Two flat parallel pins, no ground pin.

• Found in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Japan.

• Fits straight into a Type B socket, since B adds only a ground pin below the same two flat pins. For Japan-specific detail, see our guide to Japan's plug types.

Type B

• Same two flat pins as Type A, plus a round ground pin that sits slightly longer so the device grounds before power connects.

• Standard in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

• A Type A plug fits into a Type B socket, but not the other way around, since the ground pin needs somewhere to go.

Type C

• Two thin round pins, no ground, built for low current draw. This is the "Europlug."

• Used across most of continental Europe, plus large parts of South America and Asia.

• The most widely inserted plug shape on the planet. It fits Type E, F, H, J, K, L (10A version) and N sockets, which is why so many phone chargers ship with a Type C plug already molded onto the cord.

Type D

• Three thick round pins arranged in a triangle, grounded.

• Standard in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

• Resembles Type M, but the pins are noticeably thinner and set closer together, so the two are not interchangeable despite the family resemblance.

Type E

• Two round pins, with the ground pin fixed into the socket itself rather than the plug.

• Used in France, Belgium, Poland, Slovakia and Tunisia.

• Accepts Type C and Type F plugs, since the socket's ground pin lines up with the F plug's side ground clips.

Type F

• Two round pins with two spring ground clips on the sides instead of a separate pin. Widely known as the "Schuko" plug.

• Standard across Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden and Russia.

• Accepts both Type C and Type E, the overlap behind our single adapter for Europe strategy.

Type G

• Three rectangular pins in a triangle, grounded, and the only type on this list with a fuse built into every plug.

• Standard in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Malta and Singapore, plus much of the Arabian Peninsula.

• Bulkier than the round-pin types, which is why UK-style adapters eat more suitcase space than anything else here.

Type H

• Three round pins in a distinctive spread pattern, grounded.

• Used almost exclusively in Israel and the West Bank.

• One of the least forgiving shapes on this list. A slim Type C plug can sometimes be forced in, but the fit is unreliable, so pack a dedicated Type H adapter rather than counting on overlap.

Type I

• Two flat pins angled into a V shape, with a third vertical ground pin on grounded versions.

• Standard in Australia, New Zealand and Argentina, with China using a similar but not identical variant.

• Do not assume an Australian adapter works in China. The angle and spacing differ enough that plugs from one rarely seat properly in sockets built for the other.

Type J

• Three round pins in a row, grounded, laid out similarly to Type K but with different spacing.

• Used in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

• Accepts Type C plugs directly, so a basic Europlug charger works without any adapter in most Swiss hotel rooms.

Type K

• Three round pins, grounded, with the earth pin sitting below and between the two power pins.

• Standard in Denmark and Greenland.

• Accepts Type C plugs cleanly. Type E and F plugs sometimes force into a Type K socket, but the fit is loose and not something to rely on.

Type L

• Three round pins in a straight line with the ground pin centered. It exists in two ratings: a slimmer 10A version and a larger 16A version for heavier appliances.

• Standard in Italy and Chile.

• The 10A version accepts Type C plugs. The bulkier 16A version does not, so pack an actual Type L adapter for anything with a higher draw than a phone charger.

Type M

• Three thick round pins in a large triangle, grounded, essentially an oversized relative of Type D.

• Standard in South Africa, Eswatini and Lesotho.

• Rated for higher current than most types on this list, which is one reason appliances built for it tend to run bulkier than their European counterparts.

Type N

• Three round pins, grounded, developed later than most of the others as an attempt at a more universal design.

• Used in Brazil, and rolled out across South Africa alongside the older Type M.

• Accepts Type C plugs directly. South Africa now runs two grounded standards side by side, so check which one a specific building actually installed before assuming either will work.

Which plugs actually share a socket

Type C is the pattern worth remembering. Its two thin pins slot into Type E, F, H, J, K, L and N sockets, which is why so many chargers and laptop bricks arrive with a Type C plug already attached, no adapter needed, once you leave North America or the UK-pattern countries. Type A and B share the same overlap in reverse: a Type A device works in a Type B socket, never the other way around.

Outside that family, treat "it kind of fits" as a warning sign, not a solution. Forcing a Type E plug into a Type K socket, or a Type D plug into a Type M socket, can work by brute force, but it risks bent pins, a loose connection that arcs, or a ground pin that never makes contact. If a plug will not slide in without resistance, use the correct adapter instead.

The plug shape doesn't fix the voltage

None of this touches voltage. A travel adapter changes the shape of the plug so it fits the wall, nothing more. Pack a US hair dryer built for 120 volts, plug it into a 230-volt German socket through a Type C adapter, and the adapter does its job perfectly while the hair dryer still fails, sometimes dramatically. That is a separate problem with a separate fix. See voltage converters versus travel adapters if you are unsure which one your device needs.

Which adapters to actually pack

You do not need fourteen adapters. Three cover almost everywhere: a Type C/E/F adapter for continental Europe plus much of Asia and South America, a Type G adapter for the UK, Ireland, Malaysia and the Gulf states, and a Type I adapter for Australia, New Zealand and Argentina. Add your own home plug type if you are not starting from Type A or Type C, and that short list handles the bulk of a long-term travel itinerary.

If carrying one item beats carrying three, a universal travel adapter folds several pin configurations into one housing, at the cost of being bulkier and, on cheaper models, less securely seated than a dedicated adapter. For occasional trips that trade-off is fine. For months on the road switching countries every few weeks, three slim dedicated adapters tend to survive daily abuse better than one adapter carrying all the mechanical stress.

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