Word Search Tips: How to Find Words Faster
Updated
The fastest way to find a word in a word search is to look for its rarest letter, not its first one. Spot a Q, Z, X or J, check the eight letters around it for the next letter of the word, then follow that line. When no word list is given, read every row, column and diagonal both forwards and backwards.
How a word search works
A word search hides a list of words in a grid of letters. Each word runs in a straight line, and your job is to find and mark every one. Many puzzles share a theme, such as animals or food, and harder ones do not show the list at all.
Words can run in eight directions.
| Direction | How it reads |
|---|---|
| Left to right | Forwards along a row |
| Right to left | Backwards along a row |
| Top to bottom | Down a column |
| Bottom to top | Up a column |
| Four diagonals | Down-right, down-left, up-right and up-left |
Not every puzzle uses all eight, so the first few words you find show you the pattern. Word Safari hides words forwards, backwards and diagonally, in any direction.
Scanning strategies that work
Start with the rarest letter
Pick a word from the list and find its least common letter. Q, J, X and Z stand out in a grid of capitals, and K, V, W and Y are rare too. A word like ZEBRA is easier to find from its Z than from its E, which appears all over the grid.
Look for double letters
Two identical letters side by side are easier to spot than two different ones. For words such as BALLOON, COFFEE or KITTEN, scan for the LL, OO, FF or TT pair first.
Check all eight neighbors
When you find a candidate letter, look at the eight letters around it for the second letter of the word. Only then follow the line, and stop the moment a letter does not match.
Go long before short
Long words cross more of the grid and are easier to catch. Find them first; by the end, the short words are often hiding in the few spots that are still unmarked.
Sweep in strips when there is no list
Read each row forwards and backwards, then each column, then the diagonals. It is slow, but it finds every word.
Use the leftover letters
When most of the grid is marked, the unmarked letters are where the last words must be. Some paper puzzles even spell a hidden message with the letters no word uses.
Directions you are likely to miss
If you read left to right by habit, the words you miss will tend to be the backwards, upward and diagonal ones. When you are stuck on the last few, stop scanning rows and check only those directions: right to left, bottom to top, and the four diagonals.
In drag-to-select games, the order of the drag can matter. Word: Online Hunt asks you to drag over the letters in the correct order, so start on the first letter of the word, even when the word reads backwards on screen.
Themed grids
A theme tells you what kind of word to expect, which helps most when the list is long or hidden.
- Word Search Universe Animals has 45 levels of animal words: mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, insects, farm animals and ocean creatures.
- Word Search Universe 2 spreads its levels across categories such as science, history, food and nature.
- Cosmic Hunt has eight space categories, from planets and stars to astronauts and space tech.
- Car Word Hunt shows a list of car names on the left, and you drag across the grid to find each one.
When a game hides its list, the theme is your list. In an animal grid, any run of letters that starts to spell an animal name is worth following to the end.
Timed puzzles and hints
Some games add a clock. Cosmic Hunt has a Hard Mode against the clock and a Normal Mode where you take your time, and Word: Online Hunt asks you to find every word before time runs out. With a timer, go for the long words and the ones with rare letters first, and leave the short words for the end.
Hints are worth saving for the last one or two words. Word Search Universe Easter and Cosmic Hunt both offer hints when you are stuck.
Play word search online
All of these are word search games: find the hidden words in a grid of letters. Several of them, such as Word Search Universe 2, ask you to swipe or drag across the letters to mark a word.
More word puzzles are in the word games collection. If you like spotting things in a busy picture as well, see hidden object games tips.
Word search FAQ
What is the easiest way to find words in a word search?
Search for the rarest letter in the word, check its eight neighbors for the next letter, and follow the line. Repeat for each word on the list, longest first.
Can words in a word search go backwards?
In many puzzles, yes. Word Safari, Cosmic Hunt and Word: Online Hunt all hide words in more than one direction, and backwards is one of them in Word Safari.
Can two words share a letter?
Yes. Words can cross, and where they cross they share that letter, so do not skip a letter just because it is already marked.
Who invented the word search?
Wikipedia's word search article credits Norman E. Gibat, who published one in the Selenby Digest in Norman, Oklahoma, on March 1, 1968, though it notes earlier claims too.
Rare letters first, all eight directions, and long words before short ones: that order finds most words in any grid.
