How to Solve a 6x6 Rubik's Cube: Beginner Guide

The steps to solve a 6x6 Rubik's Cube

Solving a 6x6 takes four steps, always in this order:

1. Build the centres: put 16 pieces of the same colour together on one face, for all six faces.
2. Pair the edges in two rounds: round one joins the two inner edge pieces, round two adds the two outer edge pieces, until you have all 12 edge pairs.
3. Solve it like a 3x3: turn only the outer layers and follow the seven steps of the 3x3 guide.
4. Fix parity if it shows up: one edge pair is flipped, or two edge pairs have swapped places.

Step 1 takes the longest, and step 2 needs the most focus. You already know step 3. Step 4 is just spotting the right pattern and doing one algorithm, and the section "What 6x6 parity looks like" further down has a picture for each case.

What is inside a 6x6?

• There are 152 visible pieces: 96 centres, 48 edges and 8 corners (Wikipedia).
• Each face has 16 centre pieces and none of them is fixed, so you choose the colour order yourself, just like on a 4x4.
• Each edge has four edge pieces: two inner pieces in the middle of the edge and two outer pieces next to the corners. Four pieces joined together are called an edge pair. Inner and outer pieces never swap roles.

!A scrambled 6x6 Rubik's Cube Photo: [Hellbus / Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:V-Cube_6_scrambled.jpg), CC BY-SA 3.0

Notation. R is the outer layer. Rw is the two right layers, and 3Rw is the three right layers, which is half the cube. 2R is only the second layer, and 3R is only the third layer. 3Rw2 R2 means turning three layers half a turn and then turning the outer layer back, so only the two inner layers end up turned.

Step 1: Build the centres

1. You start with (input)
3. After the formula

The centre block of each face is a 4×4 square of pieces. Build it strip by strip: put four centre pieces of the same colour in a row to make a strip, then line up four strips side by side. Do the white centre block first, then the yellow one on the opposite face, then the four side faces in this order: green, red, blue, orange.

To move a strip into a centre block without breaking the centre blocks you have already finished, use Rw U2 Rw' for one column or 3Rw U2 3Rw' for two columns at once. Both only swap columns between the front and the top; the centre blocks on the other four faces stay as they are.

Step 2: Pair the edges, round one: the two inner edge pieces

1. You start with (input)
3. After the formula

In this round, treat the cube like a 4x4 and look only at the two inner edge pieces on each edge. Put one inner piece on the edge between the front and the left, in the top half, and the matching inner piece on the edge between the front and the right, in the bottom half. Turn U so that the edge between the top and the right is one that isn't paired yet, then do:

3Uw' R U R' 3Uw

This algorithm joins the inner piece in the top half of the front-left edge with the inner piece in the bottom half of the front-right edge, and stores the pair on the edge between the top and the left. If you need to flip the edge between the front and the right, use R U R' F R' F' R as usual. For the last two edges of this round, do 3Uw' R U R' F R' F' R 3Uw.

Step 2, round two: the two outer edge pieces

1. You start with (input)
3. After the formula

Once all 12 pairs of inner edge pieces are done, add the outer edge pieces to each edge. Put the edge you are working on between the front and the right, and the outer piece you need between the front and the left:

• Outer piece in the top half: Uw' R U R' Uw. The unfinished edge between the top and the right gets split up to make room.
• Outer piece in the bottom half: Dw R U R' Dw'. The unfinished edge between the top and the back gets split up to make room.

These two algorithms only turn the outer slice, so they never split up a pair of inner pieces you have already joined. Before you do one, try turning that slice by one move: if the outer piece lines up with the edge you are working on and the stickers of the same colour sit on the same face, carry on. If not, turn the slice back and flip the edge.

For the last two edges, do Uw' R U R' F R' F' R Uw to swap one outer piece between the two edges. If at the very end there is exactly one edge with its two outer pieces swapped, move that edge to between the top and the front, then do:

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

This algorithm only swaps the two outer pieces of that edge; every other piece stays where it is.

Step 3: Solve it like a 3x3

From here on, turn only the outer layers and follow all seven steps of the 3x3 guide. Each 4×4 centre block counts as one centre, and each four-piece edge pair counts as one edge.

Step 4: Fix parity

One flipped edge (OLL parity). At the yellow cross step (yellow face on top), if 1 or 3 edge pairs in layer 3 have their yellow sticker on top, turn U to bring a layer 3 edge pair with its yellow sticker on the front to the edge between the top and the front. Do the algorithm above that swaps two outer pieces, then do exactly the same algorithm again with the third layer:

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

The first time swaps the two outer pieces and the second time swaps the two inner pieces, so the whole edge pair gets flipped and no other piece moves.

1. You start with (input)
3. After the formula

Two swapped edges (PLL parity). At the last step, if the yellow corners are already in place but the layer 3 edge pairs don't match any pattern in the 3x3 guide, do:

3Rw2 R2 U2 3Rw2 R2 3Uw2 3Rw2 R2 3Uw2 U2

This algorithm swaps two layer 3 edge pairs: the one between the top and the front and the one between the top and the back. After that, do the step that puts the yellow edges in place again.

What 6x6 parity looks like

Parity is a situation a 3x3 never has. You haven't done anything wrong: while building the centres and pairing the edges you turn the inner layers lots of times, and nobody can keep count of whether that was an even or odd number of turns. A 6x6 has three kinds of parity. Each one shows up at a different step, so you just need to know where to look.

The pictures from "One flipped edge pair" onwards hold the cube with the yellow face on top, like the last steps of the 3x3 guide. The algorithm under each picture is the parity algorithm from Step 4, sometimes followed by an algorithm from the 3x3 guide.

Last edge with two outer pieces swapped

Shows up: at the end of round two of Step 2, when 11 edge pairs are done.

How to spot it: the last edge pair has its two inner pieces in the right colours, but the two outer pieces have their colours the wrong way round compared with them. Looking along the edge, you see the four stickers in the pattern colour A, B, B, A instead of all one colour.

How to fix it: move that edge to between the top and the front and do the second-layer algorithm above. Don't worry about layer 3 yet.

One flipped edge pair: 3 edge pairs with yellow facing up

Shows up: at the yellow cross step of Step 3.

How to spot it: count the layer 3 edge pairs with their yellow sticker on top. On a 3x3 this number is always 0, 2 or 4. In the left picture there are 3: the front edge pair is flipped on its own, and all four of its yellow stickers are on the front.

How to fix it: the flipped edge pair is already at the front, so do the two OLL parity algorithms from Step 4 one after the other (second layer, then third layer). The yellow cross appears straight away.

One flipped edge pair: 1 edge pair with yellow facing up

How to spot it: only 1 layer 3 edge pair has its yellow sticker on top (in the picture it is the back one). This is still the same parity; the yellow cross just isn't finished yet.

How to fix it: turn U to bring an edge pair with its yellow sticker on a side face to the front, then do the two OLL parity algorithms. After that, the number of edge pairs facing up is even, and you carry on with the yellow cross algorithm from the 3x3 guide, just like on a 3x3. The picture above shows that whole sequence.

Two opposite edge pairs swapped

1. You start with (input)
3. After the formula

Shows up: at the very last step, when the yellow face is done and the yellow corners are in place.

How to spot it: the front and back edge pairs are in each other's places, while the left and right ones are already right. On a 3x3, just two edges can never swap places on their own.

How to fix it: do the PLL parity algorithm from Step 4 once and the whole cube is solved.

Two neighbouring edge pairs swapped

1. You start with (input)
3. After the formula

How to spot it: two edge pairs next to each other have swapped places (in the picture, the front and left ones), and the other two are already right.

How to fix it: no need to turn the cube to a nicer position first. Do the PLL parity algorithm as you are holding it, and what is left becomes a normal pattern for the step that puts the yellow edges in place. The picture above shows the parity algorithm, then the step 7 algorithm from the 3x3 guide with one U move before and after to position the cube.

All four edge pairs in the wrong place

1. You start with (input)
3. After the formula

How to spot it: the corners are all right, but none of the layer 3 edge pairs is in place and the pattern doesn't match any of the step 7 patterns.

How to fix it: same as the case above: the PLL parity algorithm first, then the step 7 algorithm from the 3x3 guide.

More than one parity in a single solve

The three kinds of parity can all happen in the same solve. Just fix them in the order they show up: the outer pieces of the last edge in Step 2, the flipped edge pair at the yellow cross step, and the two swapped edge pairs at the last step. You never have to go back and rebuild the centres.

Before you do a parity algorithm, quickly check for two easy mistakes: an edge pair joined with the wrong colours in Step 2, or centre blocks in the wrong colour order. A parity algorithm can't fix either of those.

How fast can the best cubers solve a 6x6?

According to WCA data as of 14 October 2026, the 6x6 world record is 57.69 seconds for a single solve and 1 minute 01.76 seconds for an average. The Vietnamese records are 1 minute 00.77 seconds and 1 minute 07.77 seconds (WCA). As a beginner, your first solve will take a lot longer than that, and most of the time goes into building the centres.

Which cube to try next

• [5x5 Rubik's Cube](/blog/cach-giai-rubik-5x5-cho-nguoi-moi): if you jumped straight from 4x4 to 6x6, go back to this one. Each face has a fixed centre piece, so you don't have to remember the colour order, and the last step has no parity where two edge pairs swap places.
• [7x7 Rubik's Cube](/blog/cach-giai-rubik-7x7): the natural next step after 6x6. You still build the centres in strips and pair the edges in two rounds, with just one extra middle edge piece on each edge.

Video

Want to see real hands turning the cube? The short video below from the Donna Leiber channel on YouTube shows how to fix a flipped edge pair at the yellow cross step on a 6x6. The video may write algorithms differently from this guide.

Sources

• V-Cube 6 – Wikipedia
• Rubik's Revenge – Wikipedia
• How To Solve The 4x4 Rubik's Cube – J Perm
• WCA API – Records