According to UK doctors, who devised the test, anyone who regularly drinks more than three or four bottles of wine a week, for example, is at significant risk.
Often damage is only noticed at a late stage as the liver starts to fail, the 'BBC News' reported.
Green light in the test means damage is unlikely, amber means there is a 50:50 chance it is there, and red means the liver is most probably damaged and potentially irreversibly.
"It is a powerful tool and message for people. We can say, Amber means we can't be absolutely sure but there is at least a 50:50 chance that you have a scarred liver, and there is a significant possibility that you could die of it within 5 year," Dr Nick Sheron, Liver expert at the University of Southampton, said.
The test combines a routine liver test doctors already use with two others that measure the level of scarring, also known as fibrosis.
To try it out, the University of Southampton researchers tested more than 1,000 patients at their liver clinic.
Although the liver can heal itself to some extent, repeated onslaught will cause irreparable damage.
By the time the patient reaches hospital, the liver can be very scarred and even when they stop drinking entirely, in many cases it is too late and they will die of liver complications over the next 12 months.
The findings are published in the British Journal of 'General Practice'.
