How to solve the 4x4 Rubik's Cube | Beginner Friendly

A 4x4 looks like a bigger, scarier Rubik's Cube, but you already know most of the solve. The trick is a method called reduction: you turn the 4x4 into a 3x3, then finish it the way you already would. Only two things are new. The center pieces aren't fixed, so you build them yourself, and each edge is split into two pieces you have to pair up. Handle those first and the rest is an ordinary 3x3 solve. Here is the whole method, start to finish.

First, the notation

The 4x4 has an extra layer, so we need a little more notation than a 3x3. Hold the cube with one side facing you:

• R, L, U, D, F, B turn the outer Right, Left, Up, Down, Front, or Back face, exactly like a 3x3
• A wide turn like Rw turns the outer two layers together as a block
• A lowercase letter like r turns only the inner slice, leaving the outer face still
• A mark like R' means turn counterclockwise, and a number like R2 means turn twice

Step 1 — Build the centers

On a 3x3, the center of each face is fixed and never moves, so it always tells you that face's color. A 4x4 has no fixed centers. Instead, each face has four loose center pieces, and your job is to gather the four matching colors into a solid 2x2 block on every face.

• Pick a color and use wide turns (Rw, Uw, and so on) to slide its four center pieces together into one 2x2 block.
• Build the opposite color on the far side, then work around the four remaining faces.
• Match the standard color scheme as you go: white opposite yellow, blue opposite green, red opposite orange.

There is no algorithm here. It is a lining-up puzzle, and it gets quick with a little practice. When all six faces show a solid block of color, the centers are done.

Step 2 — Pair the edges

A 3x3 edge is a single piece. On a 4x4, every edge is split into two wing pieces that share the same two colors. Before you can solve the cube like a 3x3, you have to join each pair of matching wings into one edge, often called a dedge (double edge).

• Find two wings that share the same two colors and bring them next to each other using the outer faces.
• Rotate a wide layer to tuck the finished pair safely out of the way, then bring the next two wings together. Try not to break centers you already built.
• When you are down to the last two edges and they will not pair with setup moves alone, hold them on the front face and run this:

Uw' (R U R' F R' F' R) Uw

Keep going until all twelve edges are paired. Now the 4x4 behaves like a 3x3: six solid centers, twelve single edges, eight corners.

Step 3 — Solve it like a 3x3

This is the payoff. With the centers built and the edges paired, the cube is reduced, and you finish it with the exact beginner method you already use on a 3x3. One rule only: use the outer faces (R, L, U, D, F, B) from here on. A wide turn now would scramble the centers and pairs you just built.

If you need the layer-by-layer 3x3 steps, follow our beginner guide to solving the 3x3 and come back for the last two cases below if you hit them.

Two cases only a 4x4 can give you

Near the end of the 3x3 stage, you might reach a spot that looks impossible. You did not make a mistake. Because your edges are built from two pieces, a 4x4 can end up in two states a real 3x3 never can. These are called parity, and each one has a fixed algorithm that fixes it.

OLL parity — one edge looks flipped

You are orienting the last layer and get stuck with a single edge flipped the wrong way, which a 3x3 can never do. Hold the cube with that flipped edge at the front and run the algorithm below. Here Rw/Lw are wide turns and x means rotate the whole cube in the direction of an R turn.

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

Finish orienting the last layer as normal and move on.

PLL parity — two edge pairs need swapping

The last layer is oriented, but two edge pairs are swapped in a way you cannot fix with normal moves. This algorithm swaps the front and back edge pairs. Here r is the inner slice and Uw is a wide turn.

r2 U2 r2 Uw2 r2 Uw2

Turn the top layer to line everything up, finish your normal last-layer steps, and the cube is solved.

Watch a full solve

If any step needs to be seen rather than read, here is a complete 4x4 solve from start to finish.

Now put it to work

The method is the same on any 4x4, but a well-built magnetic 4x4 makes a real difference here. Magnets pull the centers and edges into place as you turn, so the pieces line up instead of drifting, and that matters more on a 4x4 than a 3x3 because there is simply more to line up.

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