4x4 Cube Solver
Solve any 4x4 cube, step by step. The solver follows the same plan people use by hand: centres, then edges, then any parity fix, then the 3x3 stage. You can see which step each move belongs to.
Get 3D Cube Puzzle as an app
Free, no app store and no sign-up. The cube, the 2x2, 3x3 and 4x4 solvers, the trainer, the timer and the patterns all work without the internet once it is saved.
How to add it on this device:
Scramble or turn the cube
Mix up the 4x4 on screen (or turn it to match your own), then press Solve.
Scramble:
Enter your cube’s colours
Hold your cube any way up and keep it that way. Pick a colour, then tap the matching stickers on the map or on the 3D cube. The map shows top, then left, front, right and back, then bottom. Drag the background to see the other sides.
Solution
How to use the 4x4 solver
- Choose “Enter my cube’s colours”. Hold your 4x4 any way up and don’t turn it round while you work.
- Colour in all 96 stickers. Do the top, front and right faces first, then drag the background (or use the flat map) for the others. The solver needs the usual colour scheme: white opposite yellow, green opposite blue, red opposite orange.
- Press Solve. The first time, it takes a second or two to get ready (it builds its tables in the background, so the page never freezes).
- Follow the steps. The moves are grouped: Solve the centres, Pair up the edges, a parity fix if your cube needs one, and Solve it like a 3x3.
Reading 4x4 moves
- R turns only the outer right layer. Rw turns the right two layers together (some guides write this as r).
- 2R turns only the second layer in from the right, as if you were turning R.
- ' means anticlockwise and 2 after a letter means half a turn, just like on a 3x3. x, y and z turn the whole cube.
How the 4x4 solver works
1. Centres. It brings the eight white and yellow centre pieces onto the top and bottom, then the red and orange onto the sides, then finishes all six centres. Each of the three stages uses a complete table of every position for that stage, so it always takes the shortest route for that step.
2. Edges. It pairs the 24 edge wings into 12 double edges using “slice, flip, slice” moves: turn an inner layer to bring two matching wings together, swap a paired edge in, and turn the inner layer back so the centres are fixed again. Every option is tried on a copy of the cube first, so the centres are never left broken.
3. Parity. If one double edge is flipped (OLL parity) or two are swapped (PLL parity), it uses the standard algorithm. Read more on 4x4 parity.
4. The 3x3 stage. Now the cube acts like a 3x3, and our two-phase 3x3 solver finishes it in about 20 outer-layer moves.
A full solution is usually 70 to 105 moves. That is longer than a computer could find with a lot more memory, but each step makes sense, and it runs in under a second on a phone. We checked it on hundreds of random 4x4 positions, and every one came out solved.
Rubik's Cube is a trade mark of Spin Master. This site is not affiliated with or endorsed by Spin Master.
Questions people ask
How many moves does the 4x4 solver use?
Usually 70 to 105, split into centres, edge pairing, parity (if needed) and a 3x3 stage of about 20 moves.
Does it handle parity?
Yes. If your cube has OLL parity (one flipped edge) or PLL parity (two swapped edges), the solver adds the fix as its own step.
Why does it say my cube can’t be solved?
Usually a sticker was entered wrongly. The checker looks at colour counts, corners and edge pieces, and tells you which piece looks wrong.
Does it work with other colour schemes?
It needs the standard scheme (white opposite yellow, green opposite blue, red opposite orange), which almost all cubes use.