Help
Short answers to the questions we hear most. Something missing? Email us.
How do I enter my hand?
Tap tiles on the keypad. The row above it chooses what the keypad shows: Bams, Craks, Dots, Honors, or All at once. Tap a tile in your hand to take it out, or drag it to another spot. Sort puts your hand in order, and Undo takes back the last tile you added or took out.
Clear empties your hand at once, and the table with it, ready for the next game. Nothing asks first: if you didn't mean it, tap Undo beside "Hand cleared", or the keypad's Undo, and everything comes back.
Can it read my rack from a photo?
Yes. On a phone, Camera takes a photo of your rack and Photos picks one you already have; on a computer there is one Photo button. Reading takes a few seconds. Check the tiles it puts in against your rack, and fix any it got wrong the usual way. The photo goes to Anthropic's Claude to be read, and we don't keep it — Privacy has the details.
What does "7 tiles to go" mean?
That you need seven more tiles to finish that hand. Jokers you hold already count, wherever the hand allows a joker. The closest hands come first, and Mahjong means the hand is complete. Early in a game, six to nine to go is normal. The ⓘ button above the results explains every mark on a result.
On a computer the results are grouped. Closest shows your best few hands in full, Also close lists the next few on a line each, and Show more opens the rest: hands further away, hands that need more jokers than you hold, and hands that can no longer be made.
What happens when I tap a result?
You see all fourteen tiles of that hand, marked: the ones you have, the ones you still need, and where a joker stands in. A hand that can be played in different numbers has a result for each set of numbers, at its own distance: Winds-Dragons #2 in 1234 and in 2345 are two results. The same numbers in other suits or dragon colours are that hand's variants: the result shows the one closest to your tiles, and opening it lists every variant, closest first.
On a computer the hand opens beside the results, with its variants listed under it: click one to see its tiles. The ↑ and ↓ keys move to the hand above or below, and Esc closes it.
What is the pass suggestion telling me?
With 13 or 14 tiles in your hand and nothing on the table yet, the strip above the results suggests three tiles to pass: the three whose loss costs your closest hands least, judged on the first three results — two of them can be one pattern in different numbers. It never passes a joker, and never passes both tiles of a pair. When a suggested tile is still used by one of your top hands, the line under it says so. If you'd rather decide for yourself, turn off Menu → Charleston suggestions.
If you've settled on a hand, open it from your results and tap Go for this hand. It is that result, in its numbers: to go for 2345 rather than 1234, open the 2345 result. The suggested pass then keeps what that hand needs first, and what the next two results need after it; once the Charleston is over, so does the suggested discard. The hand sits at the top of your results, tagged "Going for", and the strip names it. To stop, tap Stop on its page or choose another hand; Clear, or switching the card year, ends it too. If the table kills it, it stays at the top, marked Dead, and the suggestions go back to your top hands.
How do I record a pass?
Take the tiles out of your hand: tap each one, or tap Pass on the strip for all three at once. Once a pass has started, any tile you tap counts toward it, so you can pass your own choice instead. Then enter the tiles you receive on the keypad. Undo pass, under your hand, puts back a tile you took out by mistake. When your hand is full again, the strip suggests the next pass.
When the Charleston is over, tap Charleston's over. With 14 tiles the strip then suggests a tile to discard, and Discard moves it to the table. Menu → Discard suggestions turns that off.
What are "tiles on the table"?
The discards, and the groups the other players have exposed. Tap Table tiles above the results and tap them in on the keypad as they come out; on a computer, choose On the table above your hand. A hand that can no longer be made keeps its place in the list, marked Dead, with the missing tile struck through and the reason under it; on a computer it moves under Show more. The pass suggestions stop once there are tiles on the table, because the discarding starts after the Charleston. Clear empties the table, and Undo puts it back.
Why did some hands disappear?
The concealed hands are hidden. The Concealed button above the results says how many, and tapping it brings them back. It's also Menu → Concealed hands.
Which card is it using?
The 2026 NMJL card, unless you switch. The year button at the top switches between the 2025 and 2026 cards, and your hand stays as it is.
Where are the settings?
- Traditional or number tile faces: Menu → Tile faces.
- Dark, light, or following your device: Menu → Appearance.
- The order Sort puts your hand in: Menu → Sort order.
- Charleston and discard suggestions: Menu → Charleston suggestions and Discard suggestions.
When can I use a joker?
In any group of three or more of the same tile: a pung, kong, quint or sextet. Never in a single or a pair. The analyzer counts the jokers you hold wherever a hand allows them.
Why is the soap shown as 0?
The White Dragon — the soap — doubles as a zero on the card, as in the year hands, where 2026 is written 2, 0, 2, 6. The analyzer shows it as a 0 wherever the card prints one, so the hand reads the way the card does.
What is a concealed hand?
A hand you must finish without exposing any tiles: you can't call a discard, except for the tile that wins. The card marks these with a C, and so does the analyzer.
Is it free? Do I need an account?
It's free, and there are no accounts. Your hand and settings are saved in this browser on this device, so they're there when you come back. They don't follow you to another device, and clearing this site's data in your browser removes them.
Is this the official NMJL card?
No. Mahjong Hand Helper is independent, and isn't affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the National Mah Jongg League. Buy the official card each year: it supports the League, and it's the authoritative reference.