How to Solve a 6x6 Cube - Step-by-Step Course

Before You Start

For this course you should know the 3x3 cube, 4x4 and 5x5 courses well. The 6x6 cube is solved with the same reduction, so we do not repeat everything from the beginning here - we mainly focus on what the bigger cube adds. Wherever you do something the same way as on the 4x4 or 5x5, we refer you to that course.

What a 6x6 cube is made of

• Centres - a 4x4 square on every face, i.e. 16 pieces. As on the 4x4 there is no fixed centre: nothing decides the face colour in advance, and you have to set the colour order yourself. What is new: the centre pieces come in four kinds, and each kind is inserted with a slightly different move (stage 2).
• Edges - four wings in every position: two inner ones (closer to the middle of the edge) and two outer ones (next to the corners). You pair the inner ones like the halves on the 4x4, and then add the outer ones to them like the wings on the 5x5.
• Corners - as on a 3x3.

The plan

1. centres - stages 2-3 (colour order as on the 4x4),
2. edges - stages 4-6: inner pairs, outer wings, possibly the last-edge parity (as on the 5x5),
3. continue like a 3x3 - stage 7, with both parities from the 4x4.

The 6x6 is not harder than the 5x5, but it is longer: there are 96 centre pieces instead of 54, and 48 edge wings. Your first solve will take about an hour - that is normal.

1Move Notation

R, L, U, D, F, B, 2R, Uw and x, y, z mean the same as in the 4x4 and 5x5 courses. On a 6x6 the cube has three layers on each side, so these are added:

• 3R - only the third layer from the right (the one right next to the middle of the cube), without the two outer ones. The same goes for 3L, 3U and the others.
• 3Rw, 3Uw - three layers at once, i.e. half the cube. Uw (without a number) is still two layers.

The direction is always the same as the ordinary move of that face: 3R and 3Rw turn the same way as R. When an algorithm says (2R2 3R2), turn the two inner layers from the right together - the outer one stays. Click a move below to see it on the cube:

On a 6x6 it is easy to confuse 2R with 3R. This rule helps: 2 is the layer next to the outer one, 3 - the last one before the middle of the cube. Hold the layers that should stay still with your thumb and index finger, and turn only that one layer.

2White Centre: 4 Kinds of Pieces

Goal: sixteen white centre pieces on one face. Edges and corners do not matter yet.

As on the 4x4: turn the cube with the face with the most white pieces up and insert the white pieces from the front to the top, one at a time. In the animations only the white centre pieces are coloured.

Four kinds of pieces

The 4x4 centre square is made of pieces of four kinds. A piece never changes its kind - a corner always goes to a corner, and a middle piece to the middle. That is why the free spot on top must be of the same kind as the piece you are inserting:

• corners - the four pieces in the corners of the square (outer x-centres),
• middle pieces - the four pieces in the very middle (a 2x2 square, inner x-centres),
• side pieces - two on each side of the square, eight in total (obliques). These are two kinds: turn the front (F) so that the side piece is in the right column of the centre - one kind always ends up higher (in the second row), and the other lower (in the third).

Inserting

Every time: turn the front (F) so that the white piece is in the spot from the table, turn the top (U) so that the spot from the table is free, and do the algorithm. Each of them changes only that one free spot on top - the white pieces already there stay on top (at most they move around on it).

You know the first algorithm from the x-centres on the 5x5, and the second is the same move on the third layer. The two algorithms for the side pieces differ only in the direction of the top turns: in the first it is U, U', U, U', in the second the other way round.

When there is no white on the front

• On another side - rotate the whole cube (y). The top stays on top.
• On the bottom - turn the bottom (D) so that the white piece is in the left half of the bottom, and do 3Rw' D2 3Rw. This is the 4x4 move (2R' D2 2R) in a half-cube version: the left half of the bottom swaps with the right half of the front, the top stays untouched.

3The Remaining Centres

Goal: all six centres done, each colour on the correct face.

The face order and cube rotations are the same as in the 4x4 course, and you insert every piece using the table from stage 2:

1. Yellow - x2 (white to the bottom), yellow on top. You take pieces from the front and the sides (y), without 3Rw' D2 3Rw - it would break the white.
2. Green - z (white on the left, yellow on the right, they stay like that until the end), x - the ring face with the most green pieces goes on top. Pieces from the front, from the bottom (3Rw' D2 3Rw) and from the back (y2).
3. Orange - if white ended up on the right, y2. Then x: green at the back, orange on top. Pieces from the front and from the bottom, do not bring the back to the front any more.
4. Blue - x, pieces only from the front. When the top is done, red has solved itself.

The algorithms from the table only change the top and the front, and 3Rw' D2 3Rw - only the bottom and the front. That is why the white and yellow on the sides are safe throughout the stage.

Check the colour order

The check is the same as on the 4x4: opposite each other are white and yellow, green and blue, red and orange, and with white on the bottom and green at the front, red is on the left. Swapping centres also works the same way - only 3Rw takes the place of 2R, because you are swapping half a face, not a single column:

• Two adjacent centres swapped - put them on the top and at the front and do (3Rw U2 3Rw') F2 U2 (3Rw U2 3Rw').
• Red and orange swapped - white on the bottom, green at the front, z, then (3Rw U2 3Rw') F2 U2 (3Rw U2 3Rw'), x2, this algorithm once more and x.

4Edges: Inner Pairs

Goal: in each of the 12 positions two inner wings with the same colours. The outer ones do not matter yet.

Look only at the two middle wings of each edge and pair them exactly like the halves in the 4x4 course. The only change: instead of Uw you turn the three top layers, because the inner wing lies in the third layer.

1. Put an edge without an inner pair at the front left and look at its upper inner wing.
2. Bring the other inner wing with these colours to the front-right edge (from the top: U… R', from the bottom: D… R, from the back: R2 or B2 R2).
3. If it ended up at the bottom of the right edge - R U R' F R' F' R.
4. Both upper inner wings now have the same colours at the front and on the side: 3Uw' R U R' F R' F' R 3Uw.

Repeat until all 12 edges have an inner pair (usually about 10 times). You pair the last two together, as on the 4x4. There is no parity in this stage.

5Edges: Outer Wings

Goal: all four wings of every edge with the same colours.

The inner pair now works like the midge on the 5x5 - you add the two outer wings to it just like in the 5x5 course, with the same algorithms. Uw and Dw are two layers here, so they move only the outer wings - the inner pairs stay.

1. Edge at the front left, the pattern = the colours of its inner pair.
2. Outer wing with these colours into the front-right edge. At the front it must have the same colour as the inner pair on the left - if not, R U R' F R' F' R.
3. Wing at the bottom of the right edge: Uw' R U R' F R' F' R Uw (goes to the top of the left one), at the top: Dw R U R' F R' F' R Dw' (goes to the bottom of the left one).

Just like on the 5x5: when the missing wing is already in the left edge at the wrong end, first bring any unsolved edge to the right, and the front-right edge must never be finished when you do the algorithm.

6The Last Edge

Goal: all 12 edges done.

In roughly every other solve, in the last edge the outer wings are swapped - on each side the pattern is “other colour, two correct ones, other colour”. This is the same parity as on the 5x5, with the same algorithm. Put the edge at the top front:

2R2 B2 U2 2L U2 2R' U2 2R U2 F2 2R F2 2L' B2 2R2

On a 6x6 2R and 2L are the layers of the outer wings, so the algorithm swaps only them - the inner pairs, centres and other edges stay.

7Continue Like a 3x3, and Parities

Goal: a solved cube.

The cube now behaves like a 3x3: a 4x4 square is a centre, four wings are an edge. Solve it with the method from the 3x3 course (yellow on top), using only outer-layer moves. As on the 4x4 you may get two parities - each in roughly every other solve. The algorithms are the ones from the 4x4 course, in a 6x6 version: instead of two layers you turn three (half the cube).

Flipped edge

In the yellow cross stage there are one or three yellow edges on top. Put an edge without yellow on top at the front and do:

3Rw U2 x 3Rw U2 3Rw U2 3Rw' U2 3Lw U2 3Rw' U2 3Rw U2 3Rw' U2 3Rw'

Then finish the yellow cross as on a 3x3 (F R U R' U' F').

Two corners in place

In the “corners into place” stage exactly two corners are in the right place. Do this from any side:

(2R2 3R2) U2 (2R2 3R2) 3Uw2 (2R2 3R2) 3Uw2

In the brackets you turn the two inner layers from the right together by a half turn (the outer R stays), and 3Uw2 is a half turn of the three top layers. The algorithm swaps the front and back edges of the top layer (and turns the top itself by a half turn) - then go back to the yellow edges stage (R U R' U R U2 R' U) and keep solving.

Done - the 6x6 cube is solved. The next step is the 7x7: it has fixed centres like the 5x5 and no parity in the 3x3 part.

Bigger Even Cubes (8x8, 10x10…)

The 8x8, 10x10 and bigger even cubes are solved exactly like the 6x6 - only the number of layers changes. We tested the rules below in a simulation on an 8x8 cube.

Notation

kR is only the k-th layer from the right (2R, 3R, 4R…), kUw and kRw - k layers at once. Half of an NxN cube is N/2 layers, e.g. 4Rw on an 8x8.

Centres

• Turn the front (F) so that the piece is in the right half of the front centre. Its column sets layer a (counting from the right), and its row - layer b (counting from the top in the upper half, from the bottom in the lower half).
• When a and b are different: the free spot on top is where the piece is (“the front laid down on top”). Piece in the upper half: aR U bR U' aR' U bR' U', in the lower half: aR U' bR U aR' U' bR' U. On the 6x6 these are the two kinds of side pieces.
• When a = b (piece on the diagonal): put it in the top-right corner of its ring, the free spot in the front-right corner of that ring on top, and aR U aR' U aR U2 aR'. On the 6x6 these are the corners and middle pieces.
• From the bottom to the front: kRw' D2 kRw with k = N/2 (left half of the bottom ↔ right half of the front).
• Face order and check as on the 4x4, swapping two centres: (kRw U2 kRw') F2 U2 (kRw U2 kRw') with k = N/2.

Edges

• First you pair up the two innermost wings of each edge - as on the 4x4, with kUw' R U R' F R' F' R kUw, k = N/2. There is no parity here.
• Then the next layers of wings, from the middle outwards, with the 5x5 method: a wing from the k-th layer from the top is inserted with kUw' R U R' F R' F' R kUw (from the bottom of the right edge) or kDw R U R' F R' F' R kDw' (from the top). On the 8x8: 4Uw (pairs), 3Uw and Uw in turn.
• After each layer (except the pairs) the last edge may have its wings swapped: kR2 B2 U2 kL U2 kR' U2 kR U2 F2 kR F2 kL' B2 kR2 with the same k.

The 3x3 part and parities

• Flipped edge (1 or 3 yellow edges): the 4x4 algorithm in which every Rw / Lw move turns half the cube, e.g. on the 8x8 4Rw U2 x 4Rw U2 4Rw U2 4Rw' U2 4Lw U2 4Rw' U2 4Rw U2 4Rw' U2 4Rw'.
• Two corners in place: in the brackets you turn all the inner layers of the right half together, e.g. on the 8x8 (2R2 3R2 4R2) U2 (2R2 3R2 4R2) 4Uw2 (2R2 3R2 4R2) 4Uw2.

A bigger cube mainly means more time: the 8x8 needs around 2000 moves, so the first solve usually takes a few hours.

Cheat Sheet: All Algorithms

Everything from this course in one place. The algorithms for the 3x3 part are in the 3x3 course cheat sheet.

Printable cheat sheet (A4 / PDF)

1. Centre corner - top-right corner of the front, free front-right corner on top: 2R U 2R' U 2R U2 2R'.
2. Middle piece - top-right of the four middle pieces of the front, free front-right of the four on top: 3R U 3R' U 3R U2 3R'.
3. Side piece - in the right column of the front. Upper (free spot in the right column of the top, closer to the back): 2R U 3R U' 2R' U 3R' U', lower (free spot closer to the front): 2R U' 3R U 2R' U' 3R' U.
4. From the bottom to the front - left half of the bottom: 3Rw' D2 3Rw. Face order and check as on the 4x4, swapping two centres: (3Rw U2 3Rw') F2 U2 (3Rw U2 3Rw').
5. Inner pairs - as on the 4x4: 3Uw' R U R' F R' F' R 3Uw.
6. Outer wings - as on the 5x5: Uw' R U R' F R' F' R Uw / Dw R U R' F R' F' R Dw'.
7. Last edge - at the top front: 2R2 B2 U2 2L U2 2R' U2 2R U2 F2 2R F2 2L' B2 2R2.
8. Flipped edge (1 or 3 yellow edges): 3Rw U2 x 3Rw U2 3Rw U2 3Rw' U2 3Lw U2 3Rw' U2 3Rw U2 3Rw' U2 3Rw'.
9. Two corners in place: (2R2 3R2) U2 (2R2 3R2) 3Uw2 (2R2 3R2) 3Uw2, then yellow edges again.

Solve It Yourself

A practice simulator. You can scramble the whole cube or choose a stage - then you get a random cube with the previous stages solved. You turn the inner layers by dragging a sticker in the second or third row, or with the buttons.

Common Problems

The white piece does not jump to the top, or another one escapes from the top

The free spot is of a different kind than the piece. Check in the table from stage 2 that the piece is exactly in the given spot on the front, and the free spot - exactly above it in the given spot on the top. The two kinds of side pieces get mixed up most often: turn the front so that the piece is in the right column, and see whether it ended up higher or lower.

I did an algorithm and it is worse than before

On a 6x6 it is most often 2R confused with 3R, or Uw with 3Uw. 2R and Uw are about the layer next to the outer one, 3R - the layer next to the middle of the cube, and 3Rw and 3Uw - the whole half. Go back to stage 1 and click these moves.

The centres are in the wrong order

The symptoms and the fix are the same as in the 4x4 course, and you swap the centres with (3Rw U2 3Rw') F2 U2 (3Rw U2 3Rw') from stage 3. The swap breaks up some of the edges, so pair them again afterwards.

The inner pairs broke apart in stage 5

Three layers were turned instead of two (Uw, Dw). In stage 5 you use only Uw and Dw - 3Uw is only for the inner pairs in stage 4.

The cube locks up

Before turning an inner layer the other layers must be aligned - with six layers this is even more important than on the 4x4. Magnetic cubes align the layers by themselves. See 6x6 cubes.

A piece popped out

This is not a defect of the cube. Big cubes have lots of small pieces, and whether one pops out depends above all on the cube's tensioning (how tight it is). You can put the piece back in:

1. Align the layers and turn the cube so that the empty spot is in front of you.
2. Spread the neighbouring pieces as much as possible - gently tilt them to the sides to make as much room as you can.
3. Slide the piece in from the side, hooking it onto the neighbouring pieces, rather than pressing it in from above.
4. Do it very gently - forcing it in can break the piece's foot.
5. If there is too much resistance, loosen the cube a few more turns of the screwdriver and try again. You can also lubricate the piece you are inserting - then it goes in more easily.

Put the piece back the way it was: with its colours matching the neighbouring pieces. Once it is in, you can restore the cube's previous tensioning.

How long does it take to learn?

After the 4x4 and 5x5 courses, the only really new thing is the centres with four kinds of pieces. This method needs around 1200 moves (half of them for the centres), so the first solves take 40-60 minutes, and after a dozen or so - about 15.

What Next?

• Bars instead of single pieces - join several pieces on the front into a vertical bar and insert it at once, as on the 4x4 and 5x5. A bar in the right column of the front centre: free left column on top and 2R U2 2R'. A bar in the second column from the right: free second column from the left on top and 3R U2 3R'. The centres then go several times faster.
• Several edges at once - advanced solvers pair wings “on the fly”, without an algorithm for each one.
• The Yau method - popular among competitors on the 4x4 and 5x5, also used on the 6x6.
• The 7x7 cube - the same reduction, but with fixed centres and no parity in the 3x3 part.
• 8x8 and bigger even cubes - the rules are in the “Bigger Even Cubes” section above.