Word Puzzle Kit
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Word Search Solver

Type the grid, paste the word list, and every hidden word gets located and highlighted.

How to use it

  1. 1
    Type the grid

    One row per line. Spaces between letters are fine; every row must have the same number of letters.

  2. 2
    Add the words

    The list printed under the puzzle, one per line.

  3. 3
    Read the map

    Each found word is highlighted in the grid and listed with its row, column and direction.

How it searches

For each word you list, every cell in the grid is tried as a starting point in all eight directions. That is exhaustive — if the word is in the grid in any orientation a word search can use, it is found — and it is fast enough to be instant on any grid a human would attempt.

Getting the grid right

This is the only part that can go wrong, and it fails in a recognisable way. A single mistyped letter breaks exactly the words that pass through it, so if one or two words are missing while the rest are found, the problem is a letter, not the tool. If nothing is found, the rows are probably misaligned — check that every line has the same number of letters.

Reading the results

Found words are highlighted in the grid and listed with a starting row, column and direction. Rows and columns are numbered from one at the top left, which is how puzzle books number them.

Making them instead

If you want to build a puzzle rather than solve one, the word search generator takes any word list and produces a printable grid with an answer key.

Common questions

How do I get the grid in?
Type it row by row, one row per line. Spaces between letters are ignored, so both "CATDOG" and "C A T D O G" work. Every row must have the same length — the tool says so if they do not.
Can I photograph the puzzle instead?
No. There is no image reading here — the grid has to be typed. On a 15×15 that is about two minutes, which is usually still faster than finding the last three words by eye.
Which directions does it search?
All eight: across, down, both diagonals, and all four of those reversed. A word search cannot hide a word anywhere else.
A word was not found.
Almost always a typo in the grid — one wrong letter breaks exactly one word, which is why the failures are usually isolated. Re-check the rows the missing word would cross.
What if I do not have the word list?
Then this is the wrong tool: it looks for words you name rather than finding any word hidden in the letters. Puzzles almost always print the list; if yours does not, the grid is a different kind of puzzle.

Other ways to attack the same letters.

View all

Word Search Generator

Build a printable word search from your own list, with an answer key.

Word Scramble Worksheet

Scramble a spelling list into a worksheet with the key on page two.

Missing Letter Generator

Blank out letters to make fill-in-the-gap spelling practice.

Hangman Word Generator

Pick hangman words by category, length and difficulty.