Minesweeper Online
One square, one clue, one good decision at a time. Play a familiar game of Minesweeper here, then stay for another board when you have a few minutes to spare.
How to play Minesweeper online
Open your first square
Choose a difficulty and click or tap a square. Your first square and its immediate neighbours contain no mines, giving you an opening to work from. The timer starts with that reveal, not when you load the page.
Read the numbers
Each number counts the mines in the eight surrounding positions, including diagonals. A 1 means one adjacent mine, not one mine in the whole row. Blank areas open automatically until they reach numbered edges.
Flag, then clear
Right-click a covered square to flag it, or choose Flag on a phone. Flags are reminders, not proof. Click an open number when its surrounding flag count matches it to reveal the other neighbours. A wrong flag can make this move hit a mine.
Reveal every safe square
You win when every non-mine square is open; you do not have to flag every mine. Opening a mine ends the attempt. Review the revealed board and any incorrect flags, or try the same board again for practice.
Choose your kind of challenge
| Difficulty | Board size | Mines |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 9 × 9 | 10 |
| Intermediate | 16 × 16 | 40 |
| Expert | 30 × 16 | 99 |
Beginner
A compact 9 by 9 board with 10 mines. A good place to learn how neighbouring clues work together.
Intermediate
A 16 by 16 board with 40 mines. More space to explore, and more numbered edges to compare.
Expert
A 30 by 16 board with 99 mines. Use the board's own scroll area on a phone instead of shrinking every square into a tiny target.
Custom
Set the rows, columns and mine count yourself. Start sparse when learning, or increase the density when you want more tightly connected clues.
Daily puzzle
The daily 9 by 9 board changes at midnight UTC. Everyone starts from the marked square with the same mines. Replays are labelled and do not set preset best times.
Two clues worth learning first
If a revealed 1 touches only one unopened square, that square must contain a mine. Flag it. The same idea works when a 2 has exactly two unknown neighbours.
If a revealed 1 already touches one correctly flagged mine, the other covered squares around it are safe. Check shared neighbours before clicking: every nearby number must agree.
Comfortable with a mouse, keyboard or touch
Click to reveal and right-click to flag on a computer. On touch screens, use the Reveal and Flag switch; scrolling the board does not reveal a square. With a keyboard, Tab to the board, move with the arrow keys, press Enter or Space to reveal, and F to toggle a flag. Enter on an open number performs a chord.
Pause hides the board and stops your active-play timer. Switching away from the tab pauses a running game too. Resume when you are ready. These are personal practice times, not independently verified competitive records.
A little help, without taking over your game
A logic hint highlights a useful numbered area and explains the deduction. It does not peek at hidden mines or solve the board for you. Sound is optional, larger squares are available in settings, and fullscreen keeps the game in view. On a wide board, scroll within the board to reach the remaining columns.
Same board, another attempt
Share a board after the first reveal to give someone the same mine layout and starting square. The link includes the board seed, dimensions and opening position, not your records. Shared and replayed attempts are labelled so a practised board does not replace a fresh-board best time.
Your game stays in this browser
Minesweeper runs on your device without an account. We save the unfinished board, preferences and recent results in local browser storage. Returning to an unfinished board resumes in a paused state. Clearing site data, private browsing or changing devices can remove or separate those saves. ClockTools does not host a global Minesweeper leaderboard.
Watch your moves, or keep a picture
After a recorded game finishes, press Play beneath the board to watch it unfold again. Drag the slider to a move, pause, or change the playback speed. Moves play at a steady pace while the counter shows the recorded playing time. Playback never changes your scores. Screenshot downloads a PNG of the displayed panel, including its counters; it does not reveal hidden mines in an unfinished game. Older saves without a move recording can still be played, but cannot be watched back.
Your records
Completed games stay in this browser. Best times are for fresh preset boards won without hints; daily, shared, custom and replayed boards are tracked separately.
Minesweeper questions, answered
Is Minesweeper Online free to play?
Yes. Play the ClockTools game in your browser without signing in or installing an app. Beginner, Intermediate, Expert, custom boards and the daily puzzle are included.
Can the first click hit a mine?
Not in this game. Mines are placed after your first reveal, with that square and its immediate neighbours kept clear. Daily and shared boards use a fixed safe opening.
Are all boards solvable without guessing?
No. A safe opening does not guarantee a no-guess board. Standard random layouts may lead to an ambiguous choice. Hints cover simple local deductions and do not promise to find every possible logical move.
Why can I lose after clicking a numbered square?
Clicking an open number can reveal its unflagged neighbours when the adjacent flag count matches the number. This is chording. If a flag is on a safe square instead of a mine, that move can expose the unflagged mine.
How do I place flags on a phone?
Choose Flag in Game options, then tap a covered square to place or remove a flag. Switch back to Reveal to open squares. There is no need to hold your finger down or use a right-click gesture.
Why is the mine counter negative?
The counter subtracts your placed flags from the board's mine total. It can become negative if you place too many flags. It does not verify their positions; use the numbered clues to check them.
Another small break?
Try 2048 for a number puzzle with a different rhythm, or browse our growing Games collection.
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