What is it?
Sliding Tile Puzzle is the classic puzzle of mixed-up tiles in a frame with one empty space. Slide them back into order 1, 2, 3… with the gap at the bottom right. Choose 3 × 3 (eight tiles), the famous 4 × 4 with fifteen, or up to 6 × 6, with numbers or a photo of your own. Every shuffle is checked to be solvable.
Who is it for?
Puzzle lovers, children practising planning and patience, and families who want to turn a favourite photo into a game.
How to use it
- Choose a size: 3×3, 4×4, 5×5 or 6×6. Press Shuffle for a new mix.
- Tap a tile next to the gap, or further along the same row or column, to slide it. You can also swipe, or use the arrow keys.
- Watch Moves, Time and your Best. When solved you see Puzzle solved.
- For a picture puzzle tap Use your own photo (or drop a picture) or press Try a sample. Keep Show numbers on photo tiles ticked for help; Numbers only goes back to plain tiles.
A method that always works
- Solve the top row, then the second row, until two rows are left.
- Finish the last two rows column by column from the left.
- The last two tiles of a row go in as a pair: park one in the corner and bring the other beneath it, then rotate them in.
Your photo is cut into tiles inside your browser and never uploaded.
Errors and how to fix them
- “That file could not be opened as a picture.”: use a JPG, PNG or WebP. Some HEIC photos from iPhones do not open in every browser; share or save the photo as JPG first.
- A tap moved several tiles: tapping a tile further along a row or column slides all tiles between it and the gap, and counts as several moves.
- Swipes scroll the page: swipe inside the puzzle frame, or tap tiles instead.
- My game, best time or score has gone: it is kept only in this browser on this device. Private windows, clearing site data, or another browser or phone start fresh.
Open the tool: Sliding Tile Puzzle
Still stuck?
Contact support. Tell us which tool or page you were using, what you tapped, what you saw, and your phone or computer and browser (for example: Android phone, Chrome). We reply by email.
Questions, or an error not listed here?
Tell us in the comments: what you were doing, the exact message you saw, and your device and browser. We read every comment and add new fixes to this article.