Easy Sudoku
Easy sudoku is where the game teaches you its own logic. Every puzzle on this page falls to two skills: scanning digits into boxes, and spotting cells that have only one possible value. You will never need pencil marks here, and you will never need to guess.
New to the game entirely? Read the rules and setup first. It takes three minutes, and everything below will make more sense.
What makes a puzzle easy
We grade difficulty by technique, and only by technique. Clue count says little on its own: a 40-clue puzzle can be nasty and a 25-clue puzzle gentle. So our generator solves every candidate puzzle using human techniques and records the hardest one it needed. A puzzle lands on this page only if scanning and singles finish it, start to end.
You feel the difference when you stall. On an easy puzzle here, some cell on the board is always directly solvable. Your job is to find it, and the two skills below are how.
Scanning
Take one digit and sweep its rows and columns to see where it can still fit inside a box. In the board below, the two placed 7s block the top two rows of the upper-right box. The bottom row of that box has one free cell left, so the 7 must go there.
Start your scans with whichever digit appears most on the board. Selecting any digit highlights every copy of it, so tap a 7 and the board shows you all of them at once. The full scanning guide breaks the sweep down further, worked boards included.
Naked singles
A naked single is a cell whose row, column and box already contain eight of the nine digits. Whatever digit is missing goes in. In this position, the highlighted cell can see 1, 3 and 4 in its row, 2, 8 and 9 in its column, and 5 and 6 in its box. Eight digits accounted for. The cell must be 7.
Cells like this hide in plain sight. Check any region that looks crowded: a box with seven digits placed, a row with only two gaps.
Hidden singles
A hidden single works from the digit’s point of view instead of the cell’s. Within one box, ask: how many cells can still take a 4? Placed 4s elsewhere knock out one row and two columns of the middle-left box below. One cell survives, so the 4 is forced, even though that cell could hold other digits on its own.
Scanning finds most hidden singles for you. When a box refuses to give one up, move to the next digit rather than staring; easy puzzles always offer another open door.
Pace, and when to move up
A first easy puzzle might take 15 minutes. A comfortable solver finishes in 5 to 10. Nothing counts at you while you work: the clock runs out of sight and reports on the completion card at the end. Switch the timer on under the gear icon if you would rather watch it, and it will pause itself whenever you leave the tab.
Two settings worth knowing while you learn. Mistake checking defaults to instant feedback, flagging any wrong digit in red the moment you place it. If you would rather solve on your own terms, the gear icon lets you switch to rule check, which only flags direct conflicts, or turn checking off entirely. And if you ever want a nudge, the hint button fills in the cell a logical solver would tackle next:
When easy puzzles stop making you pause, you are ready for medium sudoku. It introduces pencil marks and the first real candidate techniques, and the step up feels earned rather than steep.
Frequently asked questions
How long should an easy sudoku take?
Most people finish an easy puzzle in 5 to 10 minutes. Under 5 minutes is quick, and regular players get under 3. Your time is tracked on the completion screen, so you can watch it drop as scanning becomes automatic.
Do I have to use notes on easy puzzles?
No. Every easy puzzle here is solvable with scanning and singles, so you never need pencil marks. Turn them on anyway if you like the habit; the pencil icon toggles note mode.
Where should I start on an easy sudoku?
Find the digit that appears most on the board and scan each 3x3 box for where it can still go. Boxes that already contain 7 or 8 digits are also quick wins, since the missing digits have few places left.
Is easy sudoku good for beginners?
Yes. Easy puzzles teach the two skills everything else builds on: scanning rows and columns into boxes, and spotting cells with only one possible digit. Once those feel routine, medium puzzles are the natural next step.
Other difficulties
- Medium sudokuIntroduces pencil marks, locked candidates and naked pairs.
- Hard sudokuHidden pairs, triples and X-wings. Full pencil marks recommended.
- Expert sudokuXY-wings, swordfish and coloring. Logic all the way, no guessing.
- Master sudokuForcing chains. The hardest puzzles we generate.