Easy Sudoku

Your easy Sudoku stats

Finished easy puzzles are recorded in your browser (your last 25 games), so you can watch yourself improve. Nothing leaves your device.

See every level, your streaks and your recent games on the Sudoku stats page.

How difficult is Easy Sudoku?

Easy Sudoku is the most approachable level. Each puzzle starts with about 45 of the 81 cells already filled in, which leaves roughly 36 empty cells. With so many numbers on the board, almost every empty cell is constrained by several givens at once, so the next move is usually easy to find.

That does not make it trivial. It is still a real logic puzzle where one wrong number can cost you several moves later. Easy simply means the reasoning steps are short: you rarely need to hold more than one or two possibilities in your head.

Times vary a lot from player to player; treat them as a rough guide, not a target. For a deeper comparison, see Sudoku strategies for every level.

How Easy Sudoku works

The rules are the same as in every Sudoku: fill the grid so each row, each column and each 3×3 box contains the digits 1 to 9 exactly once. The full rules are on our Sudoku rules page, and what is Sudoku covers the basics and history.

1. Start with the numbers you are given. They never change, and every one of them rules out that digit in its row, column and box.
2. Find a cell that can only be one number. Rule out every digit already in its row, column and box. If one digit remains, write it in.
3. Repeat. Each new number removes possibilities elsewhere, which creates the next cell with only one option.

Every puzzle here has exactly one solution, so you never need to guess. If a number would make a digit appear twice in a row, column or box, it is wrong.

Tips for solving Easy Sudoku

• Scan one digit at a time. Pick a digit that already appears many times, such as 5, and trace its rows and columns through each box. If only one cell is left free in a box, the digit goes there. This is called scanning (or cross-hatching).
• Start where the grid is fullest. A row, column or box that is nearly complete has the fewest options. Finish those first.
• Look at all three units for each empty cell. Check its row, its column and its box before deciding what fits.
• Use the highlights. Select a cell with a number and every matching digit lights up on the board, which makes it easy to see where that digit is already placed.
• Work in loops. After each number you place, re-check its row, column and box, since new single options often appear there.
• Do not rush. Accuracy beats speed. A careful 10-minute solve teaches more than a sloppy 4-minute one.

Want the full toolbox? Read Sudoku techniques explained for scanning, naked singles, hidden singles and what comes next, or the step-by-step how to play Sudoku tutorial with a worked example.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Guessing. A guess that fits today can break the grid twenty moves later. Easy puzzles never need one.
• Forgetting the box. Beginners check the row and column but miss a digit already inside the same 3×3 box.
• Tunnel vision. If one area stalls, move to another. A number placed elsewhere often unlocks the stuck area.
• Placing a number without checking. Before you write a digit, make sure it does not already appear in that row, column or box.
• Leaning on hints too early. Hints are best used after you have scanned every digit once. Then ask yourself why the hinted number is correct.

Hints, notes, timer and other tools

Everything in the game above is free and available at every level:

• Hints: three per game. A hint fills in one correct cell. Press H as a shortcut.
• Notes: turn on pencil notes to mark possible digits in a cell. You will rarely need them on easy puzzles, but they are great practice for medium and above. Press N to toggle.
• Undo and erase: take back any move as many times as you like with Undo or Ctrl+Z.
• Timer: your solving time is shown above the board. Select it or press Pause to stop the clock while you take a break.
• Mistake counting: switch it on to end the game after three wrong numbers, a good challenge once you are comfortable.
• New puzzle: press New Puzzle for a fresh easy grid whenever you like.
• Autosave: close the tab mid-game and your puzzle is waiting when you come back.
• Keyboard: arrow keys to move, 1–9 to enter a number, Backspace to erase.

Prefer to check a puzzle from a newspaper or book? The Sudoku solver solves any grid you type in.

Print easy Sudoku

Like solving with a pencil? Generate a free sheet of easy Sudoku puzzles on our printable Sudoku page, choose the layout and paper size, and print or save it as a PDF.

Ready for another level?

Once you can solve easy puzzles without hints in about ten minutes, step up one level at a time:

Want a fresh puzzle everyone plays? Try the Daily Sudoku, or switch to a different grid size with Sudoku variants such as 4×4 and 6×6.