The first publication in print is usually the first certain record of the existence of a play, but most were written and first performed many years earlier. With only a few exceptions, the dates in such lists should be interpreted with an uncertainty margin of certainly a year or two, or six.
| Year | Title | Type | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1590 | Henry VI, part 1 | History | |
| 1590 | Henry VI, part 2 | History | |
| 1590 | Henry VI, part 3 | History | |
| 1592 | Richard III | History | |
| 1592 | The Comedy of Errors | Comedy | |
| 1593 | Titus Andronicus | Tragedy | 2738 |
| 1593 | The Taming of the Shrew | Comedy | |
| 1593 | Two Gentlemen of Verona | Comedy | |
| 1593 | Love's Labour's Lost | Comedy | |
| 1595 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Comedy | 2307 |
| 1595 | Richard II | History | |
| 1596 | The Merchant of Venice | Comedy/Tragedy | 2806 |
| 1598 | King John | History | |
| 1595 | Romeo and Juliet | Tragedy | |
| 1597 | Henry IV, part 1 | History | |
| 1597 | Henry IV, part 2 | History | |
| 1597 | The Merry Wives of Windsor | Comedy | |
| 1598 | Much Ado About Nothing | Comedy | |
| 1599 | Henry V | History | |
| 1599 | Julius Caesar | Tragedy | |
| 1599 | As You Like It | Comedy | 2810 |
| 1600 | Hamlet | Tragedy | 4289 |
| 1601 | Twelfth Night | Comedy | 2642 |
| 1602 | Troilus and Cressida | Comedy | |
| 1602 | All's Well That Ends Well | Comedy/Tragedy | |
| 1603 | Measure for Measure | Comedy | |
| 1603 | Othello | Tragedy | |
| 1604 | Macbeth | Tragedy | 2573 |
| 1605 | King Lear | Tragedy | 3753 |
| 1606 | Antony and Cleopatra | Tragedy | 3836 |
| 1607 | Coriolanus | Tragedy | |
| 1607 | Timon of Athens | Tragedy | |
| 1608 | Pericles, Prince of Tyre | Comedy | |
| 1609 | Cymbeline | Comedy | |
| 1610 | A Winter's Tale | Comedy | |
| 1611 | The Tempest | Comedy | 2429 |
| 1612 | Henry VIII | History |