Word search tips: how to find words faster

Last updated October 1, 2026

A word search hides a list of words in a grid of letters. You find each word, mark it and cross it off the list. It needs no special knowledge, but a few habits make it much quicker and kinder on the eyes. This guide covers the habits that help most, how words are laid out in the grid, and some simple ways to make a puzzle easier to see. To practise, today’s free Easy Word Search is a small 8 by 8 grid.

How it works on this site

You never drag. Tap the first letter of a word and then tap its last letter. If the letters between them spell a word on your list, the word is marked and crossed off. If not, nothing is lost and you can try again. Each found word gets a frame as well as a colour, so it stays visible in every theme.

Tip 1: search for first letters, not whole words

Do not read the grid line by line looking for a word. Instead choose one word, take its first letter and look for that letter all over the grid. Each time you find it, check the letters next to it in every direction. The picture shows a grid with the word ROSE on the list. Every R is circled, and only one of them is followed by O, S and E.

Tip 2: begin with the unusual letters

Letters such as J, K, Q, X, Z and V are rare, so they are easy to spot. A word like JUKEBOX has a J, a K and an X, so only a handful of places in the grid can hold it. Search for the words with rare letters first, and leave common letters such as E and S for later. Long words are often easier than they look, because a long run of matching letters is hard to miss once you have found the first two.

Tip 3: know which way words can run

Words can lie in up to eight directions. On the Easy level every word runs the way you read: left to right or top to bottom. Medium adds words that run backwards or upwards. Hard also adds diagonals. So on an Easy grid you can ignore the other directions, and on a Hard grid it pays to check all eight around each first letter.

Tip 4: look for the first two letters

When you find a first letter, glance at its neighbours for the second letter before reading further. LILAC, at the bottom of the grid above, starts with L and I, so look at each L and check whether an I is beside it. Most false starts end at the second letter, so you can skip them quickly. Words with a double letter, such as BUTTER or COOKIE, give you an extra landmark, because a doubled letter stands out.

Tip 5: mark as you go

On screen the game frames each word you find and crosses it off the list. On paper, draw a light line through the word and cross it off. Once a word is found you know its letters are taken, which can help you decide where a word you have not found could be. The word list has no order, so you can do the words in any sequence.

Tips for large print and tired eyes

• Make the letters bigger with the A+ button at the top of the page, or choose a high-contrast theme if the page glares.
• On paper, lay a ruler or a card under the row you are reading so your eye does not jump to the next one.
• Work in good light, and rest your eyes every few minutes.
• Say each word on the list aloud before you search for it. Hearing it helps you recognise it.
• If you are stuck, press Hint once to see where the next word begins, and press it again to see the whole word. Hints only change the stars you earn.

Easy is an 8 by 8 grid with six words, Medium is 9 by 9 with eight words, and Hard is 10 by 10 with ten words. Every word in the list appears in the grid exactly once. See all the large print word search puzzles and their five themes.

Prefer paper? free large print word search printables are ready to print.

More guides

Keep going with how to solve Sudoku, how to solve crossword puzzles, and how to solve a cryptogram. Or browse all the puzzle guides.