The Phillips drive is designed to cause the driver bit to slip out of the head of the fastener being driven once the torque required to turn the screw exceeds a certain amount. It is a recessed, +-shaped socket in the head of the fastener.

Phillips drive sizes (different from the screw size) are designated 0000, 000, 00, 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 (by order of increasing size.)

The slot screw drive has a single slot in the fastener head and is driven by a flat-bladed screwdriver. It was the first type of screw drive to be developed, and for centuries it was the simplest and cheapest to make. The slotted screw is common in simple woodworking applications, but is not often seen in applications where a power tool would be used because a power driver tends to slip out of the head and potentially damage the surrounding material. The tool used to drive a slot is called a standard, flat-blade, slot-head, flat-tip, or flat-head screwdriver.

Flat-head in particular can sometimes be confusing, because the term flat-head is also used to describe a screw with a flat top, designed to be installed in a countersunk hole; such a flat-headed screw may have a slotted, cross, square recessed, or combination head, causing further confusion about the terminology.

Combo drives are most commonly found on machine screws, drywall fasteners, and other small fasteners. A Combo drive is two or more of a single drive combined into the head of a fastener. The most common combinations are Phillips drive combined with a slotted drive and a Phillips drive combined with a square drive. Both examples are as shown below.

Square drive combined with a phillips drive

Flat drive combined with a phillips drive

Torx (pronounced “torks”), is the name for the type of drive characterized by a 6-point star-shaped pattern. A popular generic name for the drive is star. Torx fasteners are commonly found on automobiles, computer systems and consumer electronics and are also becoming increasingly popular in construction industries.

The hex drive has a hexagonal recess and may be driven by a hex wrench, also known as a hex key, as well as by a hex screwdriver (also known as a hex driver) or bit.