Word Search Solver

What Is a Word Search Solver?

A word search solver takes the letter grid from any word search puzzle and finds where the hidden words are. Paste the grid as plain text, and the solver checks every possible straight-line placement. If you paste the puzzle’s word list, it pinpoints each word’s exact row, column, and direction. If you don’t have the list, it switches to dictionary mode and reports everyreal English word hidden in the grid — often including bonus words the puzzle maker never intended.

How the 8-Direction Scan Works

Word searches hide words along straight lines only — that’s what makes them solvable by machine so quickly. For each word, the solver visits every cell that matches the word’s first letter, then walks outward in each of the 8 directions (right, left, down, up, and the four diagonals), comparing letter by letter. A 10×10 grid has at most 800 starting positions per word, so even a 30×30 grid with a long word list solves in a few milliseconds.

Dictionary mode inverts the search: instead of looking for specific words, it reads every straight-line run of letters from every cell in every direction and checks each prefix against the public-domain ENABLE word list (the Words With Friends base list). Results are deduplicated, capped at 500, and sorted longest first. Note this is different from Boggle, where words snake through adjacent cells and change direction at every letter — for that, use the Boggle solver.

Tips for Hard Word Searches

• Scan for rare letters first. If the word contains Q, X, Z, or J, find those letters in the grid — there are usually only a few, and one of them starts or contains your word.
• Look for pairs. Double letters (OO, LL, EE) are easy to spot and instantly narrow down where a word like BALLOON can sit.
• Check backwards words. Harder puzzles love right-to-left and bottom-to-top placements. Read each row and column both ways.
• Sweep methodically. Run your finger along each row, then each column, then each diagonal, rather than jumping around the grid.
• Mark as you go. Circle found words and cross them off the list — the last few words hide in the unmarked regions.

Worked Example

Click Try an exampleabove to load a small space-themed puzzle. The word GALAXY sits in row 3 reading left to right, while STARS runs across row 4. MOON is hidden backwards in row 5 (reading right to left), and if you clear the word list and run dictionary mode with a minimum of 4 letters, you’ll also catch bonus words the grid contains by accident. Hover any result to see its exact path light up.

Frequently Asked Questions

Want to Make a Word Search Instead?

This page solves word searches. If you want to create one — for a classroom, a party, or a KDP puzzle book — use the free word search maker instead: type a word list, pick a size, and download a printable puzzle with an answer key.