How to Solve a 7x7 Cube - Step-by-Step Course

Before you start

For this course you should know the 3x3 cube and 5x5 courses well, and ideally the 6x6 one too. The 7x7 cube is solved with the same reduction, so we focus mainly on what is new on the bigger cube. Wherever everything works as before, we refer you back to that course.

What a 7x7 cube is made of

• Centres - a 5x5 square on each face. In the very middle there is a fixed centre, as on the 5x5: it determines the colour of the face, so the colour order takes care of itself. The other 24 pieces come in six types (step 2).
• Edges - five pieces each: the middle piece (as on the 5x5), next to it two inner wings, and by the corners two outer wings. First you add the inner wings to the middle piece, then the outer ones - twice using the 5x5 method.
• Corners - as on the 3x3.

The plan

1. centres - steps 2-3,
2. edges - steps 4-5: inner wings, then outer wings; in each of them you may get last-edge parity,
3. then like a 3x3 - step 6, no parity.

The 7x7 is a long solve: 144 centre pieces and 60 edge pieces. Your first solve will take an hour to an hour and a half - take breaks, the cube will wait.

1Move notation

The notation is the same as on the 5x5 and 6x6. On the 7x7 there are three layers on each side, plus one middle layer:

• 2R, 3R - only the second or third layer from the right. 4R - the middle layer (the one with the fixed centres), turned in the same direction as R.
• Uw - the two top layers, 3Uw and 3Rw - three layers at once (without the middle one).

You only turn the middle layer 4R in the centre algorithms, which undo it themselves - the fixed centres then return to their places.

2White centre: 6 piece types

Goal: twenty-five white centre pieces on the face with the white fixed centre.

Turn the cube with the white fixed centre on top and insert the white pieces from the front to the top, one at a time - as on the 6x6. In the animations only the white centre pieces are coloured.

Piece types

A piece never changes its type, so the free spot on top must be of the same type as the piece. Turn the front (F) so the piece is in the spot from the table, turn the top (U) so the spot from the table is free, and do the algorithm. Each algorithm changes only that one spot on top.

You know most of these already: corners and sides are inserted the same way as on the 6x6. Only the arms (the plus shape around the fixed centre) are new - their algorithms have the same rhythm as the side ones, only the second layer is the middle one, 4R. For the last four types the free spot on top is exactly where the piece is on the front - as if you laid the front face onto the top by tipping it backwards.

When there is no white on the front

• On another side face - rotate the whole cube (y). The white fixed centre stays on top.
• On the bottom - turn the bottom (D) so the white piece is in the two left columns of the bottom, and do 3Rw' D2 3Rw. The two left columns of the bottom swap with the two right columns of the front, and the top stays untouched. The middle column is not moved - first move a piece from it with a bottom turn.

3The remaining centres

Goal: all six centres done.

The order is the same as in the 5x5 course, and you insert every piece using the table from step 2. The colour of a face is always set by its fixed centre, so you cannot get the colour order wrong.

1. Yellow - x2 (white to the bottom). Pieces from the front and the sides (y), without 3Rw' D2 3Rw.
2. z: white on the left, yellow on the right - they stay there until the end, you only rotate the cube with x and y2.
3. The first centre of the ring on top: pieces from the front, from the bottom (3Rw' D2 3Rw) and from the back (y2).
4. x, the second one: from the front and from the bottom, do not touch the back any more.
5. x, the third one: only from the front. The fourth one solves itself.

The algorithms from the table change only the top and the front, and 3Rw' D2 3Rw - only the bottom and the front, so the finished centres on the sides are safe.

4Edges: inner wings

Goal: in every edge the middle piece and both inner wings have the same colours. The outer wings do not matter for now.

Look only at the three middle pieces of each edge and pair them up exactly like the edges in the 5x5 course. The only change: the inner wing sits in the third layer, so instead of Uw and Dw you turn three layers.

1. The edge at front left, the pattern = its middle piece.
2. The inner wing with these colours goes to the edge at front right (U… R', D… R, R2 or B2 R2). On the front it must show the colour of the middle piece - if not, R U R' F R' F' R.
3. At the bottom of the right edge: 3Uw' R U R' F R' F' R 3Uw (it goes to the top of the left edge), at the top: 3Dw R U R' F R' F' R 3Dw' (it goes to the bottom of the left edge).

The rules from the 5x5 apply unchanged: a missing wing at the wrong end of the left edge must first be taken out by bringing any unsolved edge to the right, and the edge at front right must not be a finished one when you do the algorithm.

The last edge

In roughly every other solve the inner wings in the last edge are swapped: the pattern “colour, other, colour, other, colour” across the five pieces of the edge. This is the parity from the 5x5, and the algorithm is the same, just with the third layer instead of the second. Edge at top front:

3R2 B2 U2 3L U2 3R' U2 3R U2 F2 3R F2 3L' B2 3R2

5Edges: outer wings

Goal: all five pieces of every edge in the same colours.

The three paired pieces now act like the middle piece on the 5x5. You add the outer wings with the same algorithms as on the 5x5 - Uw and Dw are two layers, so they move only the outer wings, and the paired triples stay together.

• Wing at the bottom of the right edge: Uw' R U R' F R' F' R Uw.
• At the top: Dw R U R' F R' F' R Dw'.

The last edge may have its outer wings swapped - the pattern “other, three correct, other”. The algorithm is exactly the one from the 5x5 (edge at top front):

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

6Then like a 3x3

Goal: a solved cube.

Solve the cube with the method from the 3x3 course (yellow on top), using only outer layer moves. Just like on the 5x5 there is no parity here: the fixed centres and the middle edge pieces behave exactly like a 3x3 cube. If something does not add up (e.g. 1 or 3 yellow edges), one of the edges was paired incorrectly.

Done - the 7x7 cube is solved.

Bigger odd cubes (9x9, 11x11…)

The 9x9, 11x11 and bigger odd cubes are solved exactly the same way as the 7x7 - only the number of layers changes. A few rules are all you need, and we have tested them in a simulation on a 9x9 cube.

Notation

kR is only the k-th layer from the right (2R, 3R, 4R…), kUw - the k top layers at once. The middle layer of an NxN cube is (N+1)/2, e.g. 5R on the 9x9.

Centres

• Turn the front (F) so the piece is in the right half of the front centre. Its column gives layer a (counting from the right), and its row gives layer b (counting from the top or from the bottom, the middle row is the middle layer).
• When a and b are different: the free spot on top is where the piece is (“the front laid onto the top”). Piece in the upper half or in the middle row: aR U bR U' aR' U bR' U', in the lower half: aR U' bR U aR' U' bR' U. On the 7x7 these are the sides and the arms.
• When a = b (piece on the diagonal): put it in the top right corner of its ring, make the front right corner of that ring on top free, and aR U aR' U aR U2 aR'. On the 7x7 these are both corner types.
• From the bottom to the front: kRw' D2 kRw, where k = (N-1)/2 - all bottom columns to the left of the middle one swap with the front columns to the right of the middle one.
• Order of faces as on the 5x5 - the colours are set by the fixed centres.

Edges

• Add the wings to the middle piece from the inside out: first the ones right next to it, last the ones by the corners - each time with the 5x5 method.
• A wing in the k-th layer from the top: 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 9x9 that is 4Uw, 3Uw and Uw in turn.
• After each layer of wings the last edge may have them swapped: kR2 B2 U2 kL U2 kR' U2 kR U2 F2 kR F2 kL' B2 kR2 with the same k.
• The 3x3 part - no parity, as on the 5x5 and 7x7.

A bigger cube mainly means more time: the 9x9 needs over 2500 moves, so a first solve usually takes several 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. Corner - top right corner of the front, front right corner of the top free: 2R U 2R' U 2R U2 2R'.
2. Inner corner - the same within the 3x3 square: 3R U 3R' U 3R U2 3R'.
3. Outer arm - right column, middle row (the same spot on top): 2R U 4R U' 2R' U 4R' U'.
4. Inner arm - just to the right of the fixed centre: 3R U 4R U' 3R' U 4R' U'.
5. Side - right column, 2nd row: 2R U 3R U' 2R' U 3R' U', 4th row: 2R U' 3R U 2R' U' 3R' U.
6. From the bottom to the front - two left columns of the bottom: 3Rw' D2 3Rw.
7. Inner wings (as on the 5x5): 3Uw' R U R' F R' F' R 3Uw / 3Dw R U R' F R' F' R 3Dw', last edge: 3R2 B2 U2 3L U2 3R' U2 3R U2 F2 3R F2 3L' B2 3R2.
8. Outer wings: Uw' R U R' F R' F' R Uw / Dw R U R' F R' F' R Dw', last edge: 2R2 B2 U2 2L U2 2R' U2 2R U2 F2 2R F2 2L' B2 2R2.

Solve it yourself

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

Common problems

The white piece does not go to the top, or a different one leaves the top

The free spot is of a different type than the piece. On the 7x7 the easiest mix-ups are the inner arm (right next to the fixed centre) with the inner corner (diagonal from it), and the outer arm (middle row) with the sides (the row above and below). Check with the table from step 2.

The fixed centres have moved

An algorithm with 4R was interrupted, or another layer was turned instead of 4R. 4R always appears twice in an algorithm, once in each direction - after the whole algorithm the fixed centres are back in place.

I did an algorithm and it is worse than before

On the 7x7 this is most often mixed-up layers: 2R next to the outer one, 3R the next one, 4R the middle one. Uw is two layers, 3Uw - three. Go back to step 1 and click those moves.

The paired triples fell apart in step 5

Three layers were turned instead of two (Uw, Dw). In step 5 you only use Uw and Dw.

The cube locks up

Before turning an inner layer, the other layers must be properly aligned. Big magnetic cubes align their layers by themselves and pieces pop out of them less often. See our 7x7 cubes.

A piece fell out

This is not a defect of the cube. Big cubes have lots of small pieces, and whether one pops out depends mainly on how the cube is tensioned (how tightly it is screwed). You can put the piece back in:

1. Align the layers and turn the cube so the empty spot faces you.
2. Spread the neighbouring pieces as much as possible - gently bend them aside 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 lube 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 tension.

How long does it take to learn?

After the 5x5 and 6x6 courses only the centre arms and the middle layer 4R are new. This method needs about 1600 moves, so your first solves take an hour or more, and after a dozen or so - about 20-30 minutes.

What next?

• Bars instead of single pieces - on the front, join several pieces into a vertical bar and insert it all at once. A bar in the right column of the front centre: left column of the top free and 2R U2 2R'. A bar in the second column from the right: second column from the left free on top and 3R U2 3R'. On the 7x7 this saves the most time.
• Edges several wings at a time - advanced solvers pair inner and outer wings with a single move when they match.
• Bigger cubes - the rules for the 9x9 and bigger are in the “Bigger odd cubes” section above.