Word Search Tips: How to Find Every Word Faster
How to find words faster in any word search: start with the rarest letter, look for letter pairs, find long words first and scan one direction at a time.
Sunroom Games · Updated
A word search looks like a jumble of letters, but there's a method to finding words quickly. Good solvers don't stare at the grid hoping a word jumps out. They look for something specific, one step at a time. Here are the habits that make the biggest difference, whether you play on screen or on paper.
If you'd like the basics first, see how to play Word Search.
How the words hide
In our word searches, every word runs in a straight line in one of three directions: across from left to right, down from top to bottom, or diagonally down to the right. Words never run backwards or upwards, and each word appears exactly once. Knowing that cuts down the places you need to look by more than half.
The rest of the grid is filled with ordinary-looking letters, chosen to appear about as often as they do in everyday English. That's deliberate: it means the hidden words don't stand out just by looking different.
1. Start with the rarest letter
Every grid is full of E, A, R and S, so hunting for a word by its first letter can take a long time. Instead, pick the least common letter in the word. Letters like K, W, Y, V, F and B turn up far less often, so there are only a handful of places to check.
Once you find the rare letter, check the letters on either side of it in each direction until the rest of the word lines up.
2. Look for two letters together
A single letter appears everywhere; a pair of letters side by side is much rarer. If you're looking for GRAVY, look for G next to R rather than every G. Choose a pair that's unusual, like "VY" in GRAVY or "QU" in QUILT, and the word is often found in seconds.
3. Double letters stand out
Two of the same letter in a row, like the LL in BELL or the OO in BOOK, catch the eye easily. When a word on the list has a double letter, scan for the pair first.
4. Find the long words first
Long words are easier to spot, because they cross more of the grid and have more chances to catch your eye. Once they're crossed off, the letters they used are out of the way, and the short words have fewer places to hide. Save three- and four-letter words for the end.
5. Scan in one direction at a time
Rather than letting your eyes wander, sweep the grid in order: every row from left to right, then every column from top to bottom, then the diagonals. On paper, a ruler or a folded sheet of paper under the row you're reading keeps your place. On screen, run a finger along the row as you read.
6. Use the word list as a checklist
Work through the list in order instead of jumping around, and cross off each word as you find it. On our site, found words are crossed off for you. On a printed sheet, a light pencil line through the word keeps the list easy to read, and a highlighter or a loop around the word in the grid makes sure you don't find the same word twice.
7. Take a break when you're stuck
If one word just won't appear, put the puzzle down for a few minutes. Looking again with fresh eyes often shows a word you've passed over a dozen times. If you'd rather keep going, the Hint button lights up the first letter of a word you haven't found yet. Then all you need is the direction.
8. Choose the size that suits you
Our online word searches come in two sizes. The 10 × 10 grid hides 9 words with extra-large letters, and the 12 × 12 grid hides 12 words for a longer puzzle. You can switch in Settings, and the text size buttons at the top of every page make everything on the site larger. For more ways to make the screen easier to read, see our guide to making games easier to see on a tablet.
Word searches on paper and in groups
Every puzzle on the site can be printed as a large-print sheet with an answer key, and there are themed sheets for every season in our printables. They work well for a quiet afternoon at the kitchen table, and just as well for a group. If you run activities for a club, a classroom or a care home, our guide to large-print puzzles for groups has ideas for making a session go smoothly.