Free online solver for picture-cross puzzles. Type the row and column clues from any book or app and get the full grid. No download, nothing leaves your browser.
Notation: numbers are the block lengths in order: 2 1 3 means a block of 2, then 1, then 3, with at least one gap between. Use 0 (or an empty line) for a row or column with nothing filled.
The solver works on any source: newspaper puzzles, puzzle books, apps, printouts. Because the clues describe the puzzle completely, nothing else is needed, no image, no app connection.
Nonograms are solved by line logic. For every row and every column, the solver lists every placement of blocks that is still consistent with what is already known. Any cell that is filled in every remaining placement gets inked; any cell left empty in every placement gets crossed out. Each new mark shrinks the placements of the crossing lines, so the deductions cascade until the grid is complete.
That is how the overwhelming majority of published puzzles are meant to be solved. No guessing at any point. When a puzzle is not line-solvable (rare in books, common in hand-made grids), the solver says so honestly: it finishes with a clearly-labeled limited search instead of pretending the answer was forced. And if the clues describe more than one valid picture, it warns you: a solver that stays silent about ambiguity is hiding the most important fact about your puzzle.
Everything runs locally in your browser. There is no server round-trip: your clues are yours, and the answer appears in well under a second for typical sizes.
Tick Step by step above the Solve button and the solver will replay its entire deduction, one move at a time. Each step names the row or column it examined and exactly which cells were forced filled or crossed out: the same moves a skilled human solver makes, in the same order. When a puzzle needs search, those steps are labeled honestly as Search instead of being dressed up as logic. Use ← Prev / Next → to walk through it, or Show full solution to jump to the end.
This is also the fastest way to learn line logic: load the example, step through it, and watch how a single half-determined row cascades across the whole board.
After every successful solve, the clues are encoded into the page address. Press 🔗 Copy link and the URL you paste anywhere (a forum reply, a message to a friend, your own notes) reopens this exact puzzle, already sized and solved. Nothing is uploaded anywhere: the clues ride along in the link itself.
The clue set is contradictory. No grid can satisfy it. Nine times out of ten that means a typo: 3 1 instead of 1 3, a 4 typed as a 1, or a clue entered in the wrong row. Check the lines the solver highlights, then re-read every clue against the original.
The clues are consistent but not unique: several different pictures fit them. Books sometimes ship ambiguous puzzles by accident. If you are stuck between two candidate cells, the solver's answer tells you which way the puzzle can go; either solution you draw will satisfy the clues.
Pure line logic stalled, so the solver finished with a small amount of trial-and-error. The answer is still checked against every clue. Nothing is invented. Puzzles like this are simply harder than the guessing-free norm.
New to nonograms? Play our free Nonogram game. It generates puzzles with built-in hints that teach line logic as you go, from 5×5 up.
Yes — completely free, no account, no download. The solver runs entirely in your browser: your clues never leave your device.
Type the numbers exactly as they appear beside the puzzle. Each line of the box is one row (or one column), and the numbers are the block lengths in order, separated by spaces or commas. Use 0 or leave the line empty for a row or column with no filled cells — for example 2 1 3, or 0.
Almost always a typo or an order slip: a clue typed as 3 1 instead of 1 3, a block written in the wrong row, or a line missed entirely. The solver checks every clue against every other clue, so one wrong number breaks the whole board. Re-read the clues against the original puzzle, top to bottom.
It means the clues you entered describe more than one valid picture. That is a property of the puzzle, not an error — hand-made puzzles in some books and apps are not always uniquely solvable. The solver shows the first solution it finds and warns you so you know a guess may be involved.
Not yet. This solver handles classic two-color nonograms — black and white, which is what the vast majority of books and apps use. Colored puzzles, where adjacent blocks of different colors may touch, need a different solver.
Yes — tick "Step by step" before pressing Solve. The solver replays its entire deduction one line at a time: which row or column it examined, which cells were forced filled or crossed out, and whether any step needed search. Puzzles solvable by pure line logic — the vast majority — show zero search steps, so you can follow along or verify the answer yourself.
Yes — after a successful solve the clues are saved into the page URL. Press "Copy link" and anyone who opens that link sees your exact puzzle, already solved. It is the fastest way to ask for help in a forum or show a friend a puzzle that has you stuck.
