Qualifying rounds for the tournament took place from 4 to 13 April 2022 at the English Institute of Sport, featuring 128 professional and invited amateur players.

Neil Robertson made a maximum break in his second-round match against Jack Lisowski, the fifth of his career and the 12th time a 147 had been achieved at the Crucible.

[3][4][5] Scottish player Stephen Hendry had been the most successful participant at the World Championship in the modern era, having won the title seven times.

[18][22] Reaching the first round of the tournament's main stage were 12 players from England, six from Wales, four from Scotland, four from China, two from Thailand, and one each from Northern Ireland, Australia, Belgium, and Iran.

[27] Other international broadcasts were provided by Kuaishou, Migu, Huya Live, Youku, and CCTV in China; by NowTV in Hong Kong; and by DAZN in Canada, the United States, and Brazil.

[29] Seven-time champion Hendry, who had rejoined the professional tour in 2021 after nine years in retirement, chose not to enter the qualifiers for the 2022 tournament, stating that he had not been practising enough to be competitive.

[34] Aged 15 years and 277 days, Welsh amateur Liam Davies set a new record as the youngest winner of a World Championship match by defeating Aaron Hill 6–4.

[17][36] Marco Fu, a semi-finalist in 2006 and 2016, had not competed professionally since the 2020 Welsh Open due to a combination of vision problems and COVID-19 travel restrictions.

[39] Four female players – Reanne Evans, Rebecca Kenna, Ng On-yee, and Nutcharut Wongharuthai – competed in the qualifiers, but all four lost in the first round.

[41][42] Ukrainian teenager Iulian Boiko, who had become the youngest player ever to compete in qualifying as a 14-year-old in 2020, defeated Michael Georgiou 6–4 to win his first World Championship match.

Bond stated that he would not attempt to regain his professional status through playing in Q School events, but would still compete in the World Seniors Championship, continue coaching,[47] and serve the remainder of his term as a WPBSA Players Board director.

[34] Five amateur players reached this stage: James Cahill, Liam Davies, David Lilley, Daniel Wells, and Michael White.

[57][58][59] Dale received a walkover due to Liang's suspension,[53] while Taylor achieved a surprise 6–4 win over 2013 semi-finalist and number 17 seed Ricky Walden, who had narrowly missed qualifying automatically for the Crucible after a semi-final loss in the Gibraltar Open.

The Welsh Open champion Joe Perry lost 3–6 to Jackson Page, who had regained his tour card through Q School after losing it the previous season.

[68] The fourth and final round of qualifying, billed as "Judgement Day", was played on 12 and 13 April and broadcast live on the World Snooker Tour's YouTube and Facebook channels.

[70] Maguire reached the Crucible for a 19th consecutive time, defeating Zhou Yuelong 10–7 in a match he described as "a dog fight from start to finish".

[70][71] Hugill secured his Crucible debut by defeating Joe O'Connor 10–7, winning the final frame of the match by doubling the deciding black the length of the table.

[81][76] Six Welsh players – qualifiers Clarke, Jones, Page, Stevens, and Michael White, along with top-16 seed Mark Williams – reached the Crucible, the most since 1990.

[83] Selby, who had withdrawn from the Turkish Masters and Gibraltar Open as he struggled with mental health issues, considered not defending his world title due to depression.

[85] Ronnie O'Sullivan, the world number one, equalled Steve Davis's record 30 Crucible appearances, having competed in the final stages of the tournament every year since the age of 17.

[90][91] O'Sullivan subsequently denied the charges at a disciplinary hearing, but was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay a further £2,000 in costs relating to gestures made during televised matchplay at the tournament and at the 2021 UK Championship.

McGill stated that he had struggled in the match, acknowledging "a lot of mistakes and missed pots", but credited his victory to his strong safety play.

[98][99] Three-time champion Williams won the first seven frames against his compatriot Michael White, and wrapped up a 10–3 win in the second session, making four centuries in the match.

[113] Luca Brecel faced Saengkham, whose wife had given birth to the couple's first child the day before the match began, three weeks earlier than expected.

Calling his form against Murphy "rubbish", he said that he had driven to Glasgow after his first-round match, borrowed a friend's cue, and practised with it to play Zhao.

He became the eighth player, after Cliff Thorburn, Jimmy White, Hendry, O'Sullivan, Williams, Carter, and John Higgins, to make a maximum in the final stages of a World Championship.

[142] Robertson went 12–11 ahead and looked to be on the verge of victory when he made a 55 break in frame 24, but Lisowski produced a frame-winning clearance of 72 to force a decider.

[174] At the end of the year, the World Snooker Tour ranked the semi-final between Trump and Williams in second place on its "Top Ten Matches of 2022" list.

[191] Speaking critically for the BBC, Murphy stated that Trump had "made far too many mistakes" and had "a horrific night in front of him" after the first day's play.

[201] The last session of the final attracted a peak audience of 4.5 million viewers on BBC Two, the highest figure since 2014 and a 17 per cent increase over the previous year.