Word Search: free online puzzles

A word search is a square grid of letters with a list of words hidden inside it. Every word on the list is spelled out in a straight line somewhere in the grid, and the rest of the squares are filled with random letters. Your job is to find each word and mark it. Anyone can learn it in seconds.

The puzzle above is a medium game: a 10×10 grid with ten everyday words. Words run across, down and diagonally, and two words may cross and share a letter. Find every word and you can start a new puzzle straight away. The game is free, works in any modern browser on a phone, tablet or computer, and needs no account and no download.

1. Pick a word

   Choose a word from the list and look for its first letter in the grid. Words with unusual letters are a good start.

2. Drag across it

   Press on the first letter and drag to the last one, with a finger or a mouse. You can also tap the first letter and then the last. A correct word gets a colored highlight and is crossed off the list.

3. Find them all

   Keep going until every word is crossed off. The result screen shows how many words you found, how many hints you used and, if the timer is on, your time.

In this small example, CAT and DOG are already found and FISH is being selected diagonally, from the F down to the H:

The How to play page covers every direction, hints and keyboard controls, with more examples like this one.

Each level changes three things: the size of the grid, the number of words and the directions the words can run in. Medium is the default and is what you play on this page.

Easy suits children and first-time players, because every word reads normally from left to right or top to bottom. Hard adds backwards words, which is where most players slow down. Switch levels at any time with the level buttons at the top of the game; your unfinished puzzle on each level is kept.

• Daily puzzle

  One themed puzzle a day, new at midnight in your time zone. Missed one? The archive lets you play earlier days.

• 30 themes

  Animals, food, sports, space, Christmas and more. Each theme has its own page with the full word list and all four levels.

• Printable puzzles

  Print any puzzle on A4 or US Letter paper, with an answer key on a second page if you want one. See printable word searches.

• Word search maker

  Type your own words, choose a size and get a puzzle to play, print or send by link. Try the word search maker.

Stuck on a word? Tap or click it in the word list. The first tap makes the word's first letter flash in the grid. Tap the same word again and the game also shows the second letter, so you know which way the word runs. Every hint is counted and shown on the result screen, so you can always tell a clean solve from an assisted one.

The timer is optional. Switch it on in Settings if you like to race the clock, or leave it off and play at your own pace. Your statistics record games played and completed, your best and average times, how many puzzles you solved without a hint and your daily streak. They are kept separately for each level, for themes and for the daily puzzle, and they are stored in your browser on your device: nothing is uploaded, and there is nothing to sign up for.

Your current puzzle is saved as you play, so you can close the tab and finish it later.

A word search asks for a particular kind of attention: holding a word in mind while your eyes sweep across rows of letters. It is calm enough for a coffee break, there is always a clear next step, and every word you find is visible progress.

The puzzle also keeps spelling in front of you. To find a word you need to know exactly how it is written, which is why teachers use word searches for spelling lists and new vocabulary. Our page word search for kids has ideas for home and the classroom.

If you want to get faster, the word search tips page collects the scanning tricks that experienced players use, and our short history of the word search tells how the puzzle is usually traced back to a free want-ad flyer in Oklahoma in 1968.

You can play in English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Turkish, Swedish, Indonesian, Ukrainian, Romanian, Czech, Hungarian, Danish, Norwegian and Finnish. Each language has its own word lists, made from everyday words in that language rather than translations of the English ones, and the grid uses that language's alphabet, accents included. Choose a language from the menu at the top of the page. Your statistics are kept separately for each language.