Hard Sudoku Printable

Print hard Sudoku for solvers who have outgrown scanning. Every grid on this page is graded by our solver: it cannot be finished with singles, pairs and locked candidates alone and needs triples, X-wings or XY-wings, and it is checked to have exactly one solution. Choose 1, 2 or 4 per page, print, and keep the answer page for later.

How to play Hard Sudoku Printable

• The page opens on Hard. Switch to Expert from the Difficulty menu for even sparser grids.
• Choose 1, 2 or 4 puzzles per page. One per page leaves room for pencil marks in the squares.
• Leave the answer key on to print the solutions on a separate second page, or turn it off to save paper.
• Press Print, then choose Save as PDF as the destination if you want a file. Press New sheet for different puzzles.
• Fill the 9×9 grid so that every row, every column and every bold-outlined 3×3 box contains each digit from 1 to 9 exactly once.
• Some digits are given at the start and cannot be changed. Every puzzle has exactly one solution, and you never need to guess.

Tips

• Print one hard sudoku per page and write candidates small in the corner of each square.
• Hard grids give fewer clues but never require a guess: if a step seems to need one, look for a pair, triple or X-wing.
• Four per page is handy for a trip, with the answer page kept at home.

More printable Sudoku

Printable Sudoku, easy to expert · Expert Sudoku printable · Play hard Sudoku online

FAQ

How hard is a hard sudoku printable?

Each Hard grid is graded by the toughest technique it needs. It cannot be solved with singles, pairs and locked candidates alone, so expect triples, X-wings or XY-wings.

Does every puzzle have only one solution?

Yes. After generating each grid our solver counts its solutions and keeps it only if there is exactly one, so no guessing is ever required.

What print settings work best?

Portrait, 100% scale, Letter or A4, with the browser’s headers and footers turned off. Black ink only.

Can I save it as a PDF?

Yes. Press Print and choose Save as PDF as the destination. Nothing is uploaded; the file is made on your device.