An anagram puzzle looks impossible until you know where to start. This guide shows how to unscramble words quickly, whether you hold a Scrabble rack or a single scrambled word, and how our word unscrambler can check your work.
Two different questions
- What words can I make? You have a rack of letters and may leave some unused. This is the Scrabble and Words With Friends question.
- What word is this? You must use every letter exactly once. This is the true anagram question, found in newspaper puzzles and word jumbles.
The unscrambler has a mode for each, so choose the one that matches your puzzle.
Five ways to unscramble a word by hand
- Look for common endings. Letters such as I, N, G, E, D, S and R often form -ING, -ED, -ER or -S. Set them aside and the rest is shorter.
- Group the vowels and consonants. Most English words alternate. Try pairing consonants with each vowel.
- Look for common pairs. TH, SH, CH, ST, QU and PL appear again and again.
- Write the letters in a circle. It breaks the order your eyes are stuck on.
- Move the first letter. Try each letter in turn as the first one and say the word aloud.
When a blank tile helps
A blank can be any letter. If your rack is stuck, add a ? to the unscrambler and see which words appear. The result tells you which letter to hope for or to draw.
Common mistakes
- Forgetting that a word can use the same letter twice only if you have two of them.
- Giving up on the longest word too early. Longer words score more.
- Typing a wrong letter. Check the spelling of the rack first.
Frequently asked questions
Is using an unscrambler cheating?
That depends on the game. It is fine for practice, for learning new words and for settling a stuck puzzle. In a ranked game or a tournament, follow the rules.
Can it solve a single scrambled word?
Yes. Type the letters and choose Exact anagrams.
Which words does it know?
Common words of 3 to 8 letters from a frequency-based list. Rare words may be missing.
Ready to try? Open the word unscrambler, or narrow a Wordle-style puzzle with the 5 letter word finder.
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