Word Search Solver — Find Every Hidden Word

Paste or photograph the letter grid, type the words you're hunting for, and every match lights up instantly — forwards, backwards, up, down and diagonal. Everything runs in your browser, nothing is uploaded.

Beta — OCR fills the grid box; always check the letters before solving.

How to Use the Solver

Type or paste the puzzle grid into the left box, one row of letters per line — spaces between letters are fine. Put the words you're looking for in the right box, one per line. Click Solve and every word that exists in the grid is highlighted in its own colour, with the direction and start/end coordinates listed beside it. Have a paper puzzle? Tap Read grid from a photo to OCR it, then check the letters before solving.

How the Solver Works

For each word, the solver checks every starting cell and scans in all eight directions — across, down, both diagonals, and each of those reversed. That covers every way a word can be hidden in a standard word search, so if a word is in the grid, it will be found. It runs entirely on your device, so even large grids solve instantly and your puzzle never leaves the browser.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does it find backwards and diagonal words?
Yes. The solver searches all eight directions — left, right, up, down, and all four diagonals — so reversed and diagonal words are found just like straight ones.
Can I solve a word search from a photo or book?
Yes — click "Read grid from a photo" to run on-device OCR on a picture of the puzzle. OCR isn't perfect on small or slanted letters, so the grid drops into an editable box for you to correct before solving.
Do I need to know the word list?
Yes, this tool finds words you supply. Enter the puzzle's word list (or your own guesses) and it locates each one. It doesn't invent words that might be hidden without a list to check against.
What if a word isn't found?
It's listed with a grey ✗. Usually that means a mistyped letter in the grid or the word — double-check both. If you used a photo, an OCR misread is the most common cause.
Is anything uploaded?
No — the grid, the word list and any photo you load are processed entirely in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server, and closing the tab clears everything.

Related Word Tools

Want to build a puzzle instead of solving one? Use the Word Search Generator. Need a themed list of words? Try the Word Generator, or solve loose letters with the Word Unscrambler.