Mood Tracker

Track mood changes, emotions, and triggers to understand your mental health patterns.

The best mood tracker app helps you log daily moods, track emotional states, and identify triggers that influence how you feel. Whether tracking anxiety, depression, or general wellness, our free mood tracking app reveals patterns that support better mental health decisions.

Mood tracker app check-in screen with 1-10 rating scale from terrible to great using emoji faces and emotion tag options for logging daily mood and mental health

Mood Scale
1-10 Rating

Emotion Tags
15+ Feelings

Trigger Detection
Pattern Analysis
4.7/5 ★ rating • 500K+ users
Download mood tracker on App StoreGet mood tracking app on Google Play

Track with Mood Scale

Understanding your emotional health starts with a simple rating system used by mental health professionals worldwide. This mood monitoring app provides a standardized 1-10 scale with emoji faces for quick, accurate mood logging.

Our emotion tracker app incorporates visual mood ratings from terrible (1) to great (10). You simply tap the emoji that matches how you feel right now. Add emotion tags like anxious, happy, calm, or stressed. This mental health tracker helps you log mood patterns, timing, and triggers that influence your emotional state.

Mood tracker app displaying visual bar chart with mood ratings from terrible to great showing weekly emotional patterns and average mood statistics
Mood tracker timeline displaying daily mood entries with ratings and notes showing emotional patterns across multiple days for mental health tracking

Identify Emotional Triggers

Here is how mental health issues sneak up on you: gradual mood changes become your new normal. Before you know it, anxiety controls your decisions. This mood logger app catches these shifts early. This is crucial when 1 in 5 adults experience mental illness annually.

Without mood logs in your feelings tracker, you are trying to understand patterns with faulty memory. The app reveals connections: anxiety always spikes before meetings, or depression worsens during winter months. Track mood alongside sleep, stress, and activities to identify what drives your emotional state.

Your mood diary becomes a visual timeline that reveals what triggers anxiety, improves depression, or stabilizes emotions. This daily mood tracker turns simple check-ins into real insights that improve your mental health care.

Track with Mood Scale

Mood tracker app displaying visual bar chart with mood ratings from terrible to great showing weekly emotional patterns and average mood statistics
Understanding your emotional health starts with a simple rating system used by mental health professionals worldwide. This mood monitoring app provides a standardized 1-10 scale with emoji faces for quick, accurate mood logging.

Our emotion tracker app incorporates visual mood ratings from terrible (1) to great (10). You simply tap the emoji that matches how you feel right now. Add emotion tags like anxious, happy, calm, or stressed. This mental health tracker helps you log mood patterns, timing, and triggers that influence your emotional state.

Identify Emotional Triggers

Mood tracker timeline displaying daily mood entries with ratings and notes showing emotional patterns across multiple days for mental health tracking
Here is how mental health issues sneak up on you: gradual mood changes become your new normal. Before you know it, anxiety controls your decisions. This mood logger app catches these shifts early. This is crucial when 1 in 5 adults experience mental illness annually.

Without mood logs in your feelings tracker, you are trying to understand patterns with faulty memory. The app reveals connections: anxiety always spikes before meetings, or depression worsens during winter months. Track mood alongside sleep, stress, and activities to identify what drives your emotional state.

Your mood diary becomes a visual timeline that reveals what triggers anxiety, improves depression, or stabilizes emotions. This daily mood tracker turns simple check-ins into real insights that improve your mental health care.

Why Track Your Mood Daily

Your mood fluctuates throughout the day. You notice highs and lows, but connecting them to specific causes is harder without tracking. Most people miss patterns that drive anxiety, depression, or stress because they rely on memory alone. A mood logger captures what you felt, when it happened, and what triggered the change, turning scattered observations into actionable insights for better mental wellness.

Self-Care Research Evidence

Research from the University of Massachusetts titled “The Role of Self-Care in Improving Quality of Life” (M. Ramdas, D.J. Greenfield, S.C. Dearing) demonstrates that people who engage in structured self-care practices report fewer doctor visits, better mental health outcomes, and significantly improved quality of life. Mood tracking serves as a foundational self-care technique that helps you understand emotional patterns, identify triggers, and make data-driven decisions about your mental health treatment and daily wellness routines.

What Moods and Emotions to Track

Effective emotional tracking extends beyond simple happy or sad ratings. Your morning coffee, yesterday’s argument, that stressful deadline. Each influences today’s mood reality. This mood tracking app helps you document these connections.

Positive Emotions

Log happy, calm, content, grateful, confident, inspired, and peaceful feelings. Track positive emotion patterns to understand what improves your mental state and builds emotional resilience.

Negative Emotions

Track sad, anxious, frustrated, lonely, overwhelmed, stressed, disappointed, and worried feelings. Identify emotional triggers that drive negative states and patterns that need intervention.

Anxiety Levels

Monitor anxiety intensity from mild worry to panic attacks. The anxiety tracker helps you log triggers, observe patterns, and track treatment effectiveness for generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder.

Depression Symptoms

Log low mood, lack of interest, fatigue, and hopelessness. The depression tracker monitors symptom severity and helps identify treatment effectiveness for major depressive disorder or seasonal affective disorder.

Mood Swings & Episodes

Track rapid mood changes for bipolar disorder, cyclothymia, or borderline personality disorder. The bipolar mood tracker helps monitor cycling patterns, episode frequency, and mania or depression phases.

Stress Levels

Monitor daily stress intensity and identify stressors. Log work pressure, relationship tension, financial worry, and other stress triggers that impact your mental health and physical wellbeing.

Energy & Motivation

Track energy levels from exhausted to energized. Monitor motivation fluctuations that impact productivity and daily function, especially important for ADHD or depression management.

Seasonal Patterns

Log mood changes related to seasons and weather. Track seasonal affective disorder symptoms during winter months, low-light periods, or weather changes that affect your emotional state.

Triggers & Life Events

Identify what drives mood changes. Track work stress, social interactions, sleep quality, medication changes, hormonal cycles, and life events that influence emotions and mental health.

Social Interactions

Monitor how social situations affect your mood. Log feelings after spending time with friends, family conflicts, or isolation periods to understand your social needs and boundaries.

Sleep & Mood Connection

Track how sleep quality impacts your emotional state. Correlate poor sleep with irritability, low mood, or anxiety using the sleep tracker to identify patterns.

Medication Effects

Monitor mood changes after starting antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications, or mood stabilizers. Track medication adherence with the medication tracker and observe treatment effectiveness.

Understanding Mood Tracking Tools

Mental health professionals use standardized tools to help you identify and articulate complex emotions. The feelings wheel and mood map provide visual frameworks that transform vague emotional states into specific, trackable data points for your mood diary app.

The Feelings Wheel

The feelings wheel is a visual mood-tracking tool used to identify and track emotions with precision. The outermost circle contains specific emotions, while the innermost circle indicates intensity on a scale of 1-5.

The 7 Core Emotions: Happy, Sad, Disgusted, Angry, Fearful, Bad, and Surprised. Each breaks down further into nuanced variations.

Example: “Bad” expands into Bored, Busy, Stressed, and Tired. Use this emotional tracker to explain moods to yourself, therapists, or loved ones with clinical precision.

The Mood Map

The mood map is a grid divided into four quadrants based on emotional valence (positive/negative) and arousal (high/low energy).

Quadrant 1: Happy emotions (joy, love, contentment)
Quadrant 2: Negative moods (anger, sadness, fear)
Quadrant 3: Mixed emotions (anxiousness, excitement)
Quadrant 4: Neutral emotions (calmness, boredom)

Place an ‘X’ in the quadrant representing your current emotion. Track daily to visualize emotional patterns and fluctuations over time in your mental health tracker app.

How to Use These Tools

If you struggle to identify emotions, these visual tools provide structured guidance. Research published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology shows that participants using emotion wheels demonstrate 34% better emotional granularity compared to free-form journaling. Better emotion identification leads to more effective mood tracking, clearer communication with therapists, and improved mental health outcomes.

How the Mood Tracker Works

1. Rate Your Mood

Choose your mood rating from 1-10 using visual emoji faces. Rate how you feel right now from terrible to great, capturing your emotional state in seconds.

2. Tag Your Feelings

Select specific emotion tags like happy, anxious, calm, stressed, or overwhelmed. Capture the nuance behind your mood rating for richer data and better insights.

3. Discover Patterns

View mood charts, correlations, and trends over time. Identify triggers, see what improves your mental state, and share reports with your therapist or psychiatrist.

Why Mood Monitoring Matters for Mental Health

Without mood tracking, you miss early warning signs as stress builds and depression creeps in. A mood diary captures what you felt, when it happened, and what triggered the change. The app reveals patterns memory cannot capture, showing how sleep affects anxiety or how medication timing influences emotional stability for better treatment decisions.

Mental Health Treatment Support

Share mood logs with your therapist or psychiatrist. Show medication effectiveness, identify triggers, and track therapy progress with data instead of memory. Essential for cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT).

Bipolar & Mood Disorders

Track mood swings, episode frequency, and cycling patterns for bipolar disorder, cyclothymia, or persistent depressive disorder. Monitor mania and depression phases to prevent severe episodes and adjust treatment timing with your psychiatrist.

Daily Wellness & Self-Care

Even without a mental illness diagnosis, emotional tracking helps you understand yourself better. Identify what makes you happy, what drains energy, and what improves your day. Build better self-awareness and emotional intelligence.

Mood insights dashboard showing PHQ9 depression score trends, symptom impact analysis with measurements and mood correlation data for mental health tracking
Mood trends analysis showing best day of week with horizontal bar chart and feelings distribution chart displaying emotional patterns across weekdays for mental health insights

Using Mood Trackers & Journals

Start simple: rate your mood from 1-10, add emotion tags (happy, anxious, calm, stressed), and write quick notes if needed. Overall, the entire mood tracking process takes just 30 seconds. Furthermore, log at consistent times daily for better insights. For instance, morning check-ins capture baseline mood, mid-day tracking catches stress peaks, and evening logs show how events affected you. As a result, this builds reliable data that reveals real patterns in your mood diary app.

Add context to your mood log when it matters. Specifically, track sleep quality, meals, medication timing, conflicts, or stressors to connect mood changes to specific causes. Over time, you’ll identify which lifestyle factors consistently impact emotions. Use the feelings wheel or mood map from your feelings tracker for deeper self-awareness, helping identify complex emotions and understand emotional intensity beyond simple ratings for better mental health treatment.

Using CBT with Mood Tracking

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a evidence-based approach that changes negative thinking patterns to improve mood and mental health. When combined with systematic mood tracking, CBT becomes significantly more effective at identifying and challenging distorted thoughts that drive anxiety and depression.

Recording Thoughts & Patterns

Identify distorted thinking: Write down thoughts and feelings to spot negative patterns like “I always fail” or “People are out to get me.” Track these alongside mood ratings.

Challenge assumptions: Instead of assuming failure, remind yourself of past successes. Replace “always” with evidence-based thinking using your mood log history.

Track progress: Monitor how challenging negative thoughts impacts your mood ratings over weeks. CBT research shows 42% response rates in anxiety patients, with 36% achieving complete remission.

CBT Techniques to Track

Positive affirmations: Track statements like “I am doing my best and I am valuable” alongside mood. Document correlations between affirmations and improved emotional states.

Reframing situations: Instead of dwelling on job setbacks, focus on growth opportunities. Log reframing attempts and resulting mood changes to identify what works.

Gratitude practice: List things you are grateful for daily. Focus on health, family, friends, and pets. Research shows gratitude shifts focus from negative to positive, improving baseline mood scores over time.

Medical Grade Toolkit

Beyond basic mood tracking, access evidence-based mental health assessments, structured care pathways, and therapeutic journaling tools designed to support your complete mental wellness journey.

Mental Health Assessments

Complete validated PHQ9, GAD-7, and other clinical assessments to track depression and anxiety severity over time alongside mood logs.

Care Pathways & Plans

Pre-made care plans for depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and other mental health conditions designed by clinicians to get started quickly.

CBT & DBT Journal Prompts

Evidence-based therapeutic prompts for cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy to guide self-reflection and emotional processing.

Expert-Designed Templates

Access structured mood tracking templates, gratitude journals, and mental wellness routines created by mental health professionals.

When to Track Your Mood

Timing matters for emotional tracking. The best mood tracker apps remind you to check in at optimal times throughout your day to capture accurate mood patterns and identify triggers.

Morning Baseline

Log mood within 30 minutes of waking to capture your baseline emotional state before daily stress accumulates. Morning mood tracking in this mood monitor reveals sleep quality impact and natural circadian patterns.

Mid-Day Check-In

Track emotions during lunch or afternoon breaks to catch stress peaks, energy crashes, or mood shifts triggered by work and social interactions in your feelings tracker app.

Evening Reflection

Log end-of-day emotions before bed to reflect on how the day affected you. Evening mood logs in this mental health tracker show cumulative stress, emotional processing, and help with gratitude practice.

After Triggering Events

Log emotions immediately after stressful situations, conflicts, therapy sessions, or significant events to capture acute emotional responses and triggers in your mood diary.

Choosing the Best Mood Tracker App

Choose a mood tracker that fits your mental health needs. Basic apps offer emoji ratings, while advanced tools provide trigger analysis, pattern recognition, and therapy integration.

The best apps help you identify patterns, share data with healthcare providers, and understand how lifestyle factors affect your mental health.

Key Features to Look For

  • Multiple emotion tags and mood rating scales (1-10)
  • Daily reminder notifications for consistent tracking
  • Visual mood charts and trend analysis over time
  • Trigger logging and pattern identification
  • Correlation with sleep, medications, and activities
  • PDF mood journals for therapist sharing
  • Built-in mental health assessments (GAD-7, PHQ-9)
  • Private and secure with HIPAA compliance
Mood comparison dashboard showing therapy correlation and symptom time analysis with cognitive behavioral therapy and factor impact charts for mental health tracking

Start Tracking Your Mood Today

Start tracking your emotions today with the best free mood tracker app. Join thousands who log moods daily to identify triggers, reduce anxiety, and support mental health treatment.

iOS & Android App
HIPAA Compliant
Private & Secure

Track Your Complete Mental Health

Track multiple aspects of your health alongside mood for complete insights into what affects your emotional wellbeing and mental health.

Anxiety Tracker

Monitor anxiety levels, panic attacks, and stress triggers to identify patterns and track treatment effectiveness for GAD, panic disorder, or social anxiety.

Therapy Tracker

Log therapy sessions, CBT techniques, and mental health progress to support your treatment journey and track what works best for you.

Sleep Tracker

Track sleep quality and duration to see how rest affects your mood and mental health. Correlate sleep deprivation with anxiety and depression symptoms.

Medication Tracker

Log antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and anti-anxiety medications to correlate with mood changes and track treatment effectiveness over time.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best mood tracker app?+
The best mood tracker apps let you rate emotions on a scale, tag specific feelings, log triggers, and view mood patterns over time. Look for features like daily reminders, visual mood charts, correlation with sleep and medications, built-in mental health assessments, and the ability to share reports with therapists.
How do I track my mood daily?+
Rate your mood from 1-10 using the visual scale, select emotion tags that describe how you feel (happy, anxious, calm, stressed, sad, frustrated, etc.), and add quick notes about what triggered the mood. Do this at consistent times like morning, mid-day, and evening for the best insights in your mood diary.
What is the difference between a mood tracker and an emotion tracker?+
A mood tracker focuses on your overall emotional state rated on a scale (good to bad, 1-10). An emotion tracker captures specific feelings like happiness, sadness, anxiety, or anger. The best apps combine both - a mood rating plus emotion tags for complete emotional tracking and better pattern recognition.
What is a mood diary and how do I keep one?+
A mood diary logs your emotions, moods, and triggers over time using journal entries alongside ratings. Rate your mood, tag feelings, and write notes about what happened. The best mood diary apps organize this data into charts showing patterns, correlations with sleep and activities, trigger analysis, and trend visualization for therapy.
How do mood tracking apps help with mental health treatment?+
Mood monitoring apps provide data that helps therapists and psychiatrists understand your emotional patterns, identify triggers, measure treatment effectiveness, and adjust medications. Share mood logs and charts during appointments to guide better medication dosing, CBT or DBT techniques, and lifestyle adjustments for improved mental health outcomes.
What emotions should I track in a mood app?+
Track both positive emotions (happy, calm, grateful, confident, inspired, peaceful, content) and negative emotions (sad, anxious, frustrated, lonely, overwhelmed, stressed, angry, worried, disappointed). Use specific emotion tags beyond simple good or bad ratings for richer data and better pattern recognition in therapy.
Can I use a mood tracker for anxiety and depression?+
Yes. Log anxiety levels, depression severity, and specific symptoms like panic attacks, low energy, hopelessness, or lack of interest. Track medication effectiveness, therapy progress, and identify triggers that worsen symptoms. Share mood logs with your therapist or psychiatrist for better treatment decisions and adjustments.
How do I share mood logs with my therapist?+
The best mental health tracker apps generate PDF reports with mood charts, trends, correlations, and trigger analysis. Export these reports and share via email or print them to bring to therapy sessions. Some apps allow therapists to access your mood data directly with your permission through care team features.
What is the feelings wheel and how do I use it?+
The feelings wheel is a visual tool showing core emotions (happy, sad, angry, fearful, bad, disgusted, surprised) with nuanced variations. Use it to identify complex emotions you struggle to name. Select the emotion on the wheel and rate intensity (1-5). It helps track mood with more accuracy than simple good/bad ratings.
Can I track medication effects on my mood?+
Yes. Log antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and anti-anxiety medications alongside your mood ratings. Track when you take medications, dosage amounts, and how you feel afterward. Charts will show correlations between medication timing, dosage changes, and mood improvements or side effects. Essential for finding optimal treatment with your psychiatrist.
How do I track mood for bipolar disorder?+
Use a bipolar mood tracker app to log mood ratings multiple times daily, track manic and depressive episodes, monitor sleep patterns, and record medication changes. Look for apps that show cycling patterns over weeks and months to identify triggers, track episode frequency, and adjust treatment timing with your psychiatrist.
What is a mood check-in and how often should I do it?+
A mood check-in is a quick log of how you feel at a specific time using ratings and emotion tags. Check in at least once daily for baseline data. For better insights, log morning baseline mood, mid-day stress levels, and evening reflections. Check in more frequently during depressive or manic episodes, mood swings, or treatment changes.
How long does it take to see mood patterns?+
After two weeks of consistent tracking, the app generates charts showing your typical mood patterns and common triggers. One month reveals medication effectiveness and lifestyle impacts. Three months shows seasonal trends and therapy progress. Six months of data helps therapists and psychiatrists optimize treatment for depression, anxiety, or bipolar disorder.
How does weather affect mood and how do I track it?+
Weather affects mood through barometric pressure, sunlight exposure, temperature, humidity, and seasonal changes. Track mood alongside weather conditions using apps that automatically log environmental data. This reveals if low pressure triggers migraines, lack of sunlight causes seasonal depression, or heat affects anxiety levels.
Can stress and anxiety affect my mood tracking?+
Yes. Stress directly impacts mood through cortisol and the gut-brain axis. Track stress levels alongside mood to see correlations. The app reveals if work stress causes evening anxiety, if relationship tension triggers depression, or if financial worry worsens mood swings. Use this data to identify stressors and develop coping strategies.
Is there a free mood tracker app?+
Yes. CareClinic offers a free mood tracking app available on iOS and Android. Core features include mood ratings (1-10), emotion tags, trigger logging, mood charts, correlations with sleep and medications, mental health assessments (GAD-7, PHQ-9), and PDF reports. Download from the App Store or Google Play to start tracking free.