How to Play Jigsaw Puzzles Online
If you have ever spread a box of cardboard pieces across the kitchen table, you already know how to do a jigsaw puzzle. Doing one online is the same quiet pleasure, with a few nice extras: the pieces never fall on the floor, the box lid never goes missing, and you can stop in the middle and pick up exactly where you left off. This guide walks you through our free online jigsaw puzzles one step at a time, and points out the handful of helpers you can use whenever you like.
What You See on the Screen
Once you start a puzzle, the screen has four parts, from top to bottom:
- The progress box. It says how many pieces are in place, for example "18 of 24 pieces placed", with a bar that fills up as you go. Below it is a short message about your last move.
- The buttons. Hint, Edge Pieces Only, Show Picture and Undo. Each one is explained further down.
- The table. A green tabletop with a light frame in the middle. The frame is the board, where the finished picture goes. The pieces start out spread around the frame on a computer, or underneath it on a phone.
- More buttons under the table: Tidy Up Pieces, New Picture and Settings.
By default the board shows a very faint copy of the picture, like the picture printed on the bottom of some puzzle trays. It helps you see roughly where a piece belongs. If you prefer a bigger challenge, you can turn it off in Settings.
Step 1: Choose a Picture
The game opens with a list of pictures: a red barn at sunset, a lighthouse, an autumn lane, a flower garden, a patchwork quilt, a stained glass window and more. Each picture shows its title, its theme and whether you have finished it before. Tap any picture to choose it.
At the top of the list is Today’s Daily Jigsaw. It is one picture with one particular cut, and it is the same for everyone who plays that day. It is a nice way to share a puzzle with a friend.
Step 2: Choose How Many Pieces
Next you choose the number of pieces. The picture is the same size whichever number you pick; more pieces simply means each piece is smaller.
| Pieces | Grid | Piece size | Best on |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 4 across, 3 down | Extra large | Any screen, including small phones |
| 24 | 6 across, 4 down | Large | Phones and tablets |
| 48 | 8 across, 6 down | Medium | Tablets and computers |
| 100 | 10 across, 10 down | Smaller | Computers and large tablets |
If you are new to online puzzles, start with 12 or 24. You will get used to moving pieces with a mouse or your finger, and you can move up whenever you feel like it. The game remembers the number you chose last time.
Step 3: Move the Pieces
Dragging
With a mouse, press the button on a piece, move the mouse, and let go. On a phone or tablet, put your finger on the piece, slide it, and lift your finger. The piece follows you, and it is drawn with a soft shadow while you move it so you can see it is "picked up".
Tap, then tap
If dragging feels fiddly, there is another way. Tap a piece once. Its outline turns dashed orange to show it is picked up. Then tap the spot on the board where you think it goes, and the piece jumps there. Tap the same piece again if you change your mind.
Snapping into place
You don’t have to put a piece in exactly the right spot. When you let go of a piece close to where it belongs, it snaps into place, flashes briefly and stays put. Pieces that are in place can’t be moved again by accident, so you can’t undo your good work with a slip of the finger.
Example: you pick up a piece with the top of the barn roof on it. You know the roof is left of center, a little above the middle of the picture. Drop the piece roughly there. If it is the right spot, it clicks in. If not, it simply stays where you dropped it, and you can try somewhere else.
Step 4: Join Pieces Together
Pieces also snap to each other. If you put two pieces that belong side by side next to each other anywhere on the table, they lock together. From then on they move as one group, just like a section of a cardboard puzzle that you slide across the table.
Example: you find three pieces with parts of a red hot air balloon. You put them together in the tray, below the board. They join into one balloon. Now you drag the whole balloon up to its place on the board, and all three pieces click in at once.
When you drop a group into a gap, it can join several neighbors in one go. And if you happen to join every piece together off the board, the puzzle is still finished: the picture slides into the frame by itself.
Step 5: Use the Helpers (Whenever You Like)
Every helper is free and you can use them as often as you want. Nothing is counted against you.
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Edge Pieces Only | Hides the middle pieces so only border pieces show in the tray. Tap it again to see everything. A check mark shows when it is on. |
| Show Picture | Shows the finished picture above the board. Tap the small picture to make it bigger, and again to make it smaller. |
| Hint | Makes one piece glow and draws a dashed outline where it goes. Choose Put It There for Me and the piece moves into place by itself. |
| Undo | Takes back your last move. Press it again to go back further. |
| Tidy Up Pieces | Puts loose single pieces back in neat rows in the tray. Groups you have built stay where they are. |
| Settings | Turn the faint picture on the board on or off, reduce motion, replay the walkthrough, or type a puzzle number. |
Hints pick a sensible piece: at the start they suggest a corner or edge piece, and later a piece that fits next to pieces already on the board.
Step 6: Finish the Picture
When the last piece goes in, the joins between the pieces fade away and the whole picture is shown, along with how long you spent on it. From there you can choose another picture, replay the same puzzle, try the same picture with more pieces, or just sit back and look at it.
Saving and Coming Back Later
Your puzzle is saved in your browser after every move. Close the page, turn off the tablet, come back tomorrow: when you open the game again it asks whether you want to Continue. Saving happens on your own device, so you don’t need an account, an email address or a password. One puzzle is saved at a time, so starting a new picture replaces the one in progress.
Good to know: the save lives in the browser on that device. If you start a puzzle on the computer, it won’t appear on your phone. Clearing your browser history may also clear the saved puzzle.
The Puzzle Number
Every puzzle has a number, shown next to the title, for example "Puzzle #48213". The number decides the exact shape of every piece and where the pieces start in the tray. Replay This Puzzle at the end uses the same number, so you get the very same cut again. You can also type a number in Settings, and a friend who types the same number for the same picture and piece count gets the same puzzle you had.
Doing Jigsaw Puzzles on a Phone
- On a phone the pieces wait below the board. Scroll down to see them all by swiping on the green table between pieces.
- When you drag a piece near the top or bottom of the screen, the page scrolls along with you, so you can carry a piece from the tray up to the board.
- If carrying is tiring, use tap, then tap: tap the piece, scroll up, tap its spot.
- Choose 12 or 24 pieces on a phone. The pieces stay big enough to see and to grab.
- Turning a tablet sideways gives you a wider table with pieces on both sides of the board.
Quick Answers
Do pieces need to be turned?
No. Every piece is already the right way up. You only need to work out where it goes.
Is there a time limit?
No. The game notes how long you spent, just for interest, and only tells you at the end.
Can I lose?
No. Every piece has a home and nothing is ever hidden or lost. If you get stuck, Hint will always find a piece for you.
What if a piece won’t snap?
Then it isn’t quite in its spot. Check the picture with Show Picture, or try the piece in the gap next door. Remember that the knobs and holes must match: a piece with a knob on its left side needs a neighbor with a hole on its right.
Ready for some tips? Our jigsaw strategy guide covers sorting, edges and the tricky sky pieces, and piece counts and puzzle types explains the different kinds of jigsaw puzzles. If you enjoy calm puzzles, have a look at our other puzzle games.