SOLVE MY CUBE GUIDE

How to use the 4 × 4 cube solver

A bigger cube means more stickers, but you can take your time. This guide shows you how to enter a 4 × 4 and follow its solution. You do not need to know any algorithms.

1. Find your starting corner

Find one corner piece with white, green and red stickers. All three stickers must belong to the same piece. Turn the whole cube until that corner is at the top front right:

• The white sticker points up.
• The green sticker faces you.
• The red sticker points right.

The rest of the face can be mixed up. On a 4 × 4, the four centre pieces can move, so their colours do not tell you which way to hold the cube. Our reference corner gives you a starting point instead.

2. Copy each face carefully

1. Enter the front face first, reading the 16 tiles row by row. The reference corner's green sticker is already filled in at the top right.
2. Use Next to move to the right, back and left faces. Follow the holding instructions each time. Keep the original top on top.
3. Return to the starting position before looking at the top or bottom. For the top, tilt the cube towards you. For the bottom, tilt it away from you.
4. Check all six faces. A grey tile means a colour is missing. The colour counts should each reach 16.

While entering, rotate the whole cube to inspect it. Do not twist individual layers. If you make a mistake, use Undo tile or Clear this face.

3. Put the cube back before you begin

After checking the colours, choose Solve My Cube. Find your reference corner again and put it back at the top front right, with white up, green towards you and red right. Then confirm that your cube is ready.

Once the moves begin, keep holding the whole cube the same way. The reference corner may move away. That is expected. Do not rotate the whole cube to put it back.

4. Understand one layer and two-layer turns

The letters describe positions: U is top, D bottom, F front, B back, R right and L left. They do not describe colours.

• R: turn only the outside right layer a quarter turn clockwise.
• Rw: grip the outside right layer and the next layer beside it. Turn both together a quarter turn clockwise.
• Rw′: turn those same two layers anticlockwise.
• Rw2: turn those two layers halfway around. Either direction gives the same result.
• 2R, if shown: turn only the inner slice next to the right face. The outside layer stays still. The 2 at the start is different from a 2 at the end.

Judge clockwise as if you were looking straight at the face named by the letter. For a back or bottom move, imagine looking directly at that face. Keep your grip and the whole-cube orientation unchanged.

5. Follow, check and confirm

1. Read the current move and its plain-language description.
2. Make that turn on your cube.
3. Tap “I've made this turn” to update the picture and see the next move.
4. If you use Back, undo that physical turn too. The screen gives you the undo instruction.
5. After the final move, check that every face is a single colour. Tap “My cube is solved!” to finish.

The unfolded picture shows your cube before the next move. The six faces may finish in a different overall colour orientation from the starting position. What matters is that each face is uniform.

If something does not match

Stop before making another turn. Check your holding position and whether the last move was an outside turn or a two-layer turn. If you cannot recover, reset and enter the cube as it is now. Returning to your entered cube shows your original colours, not its current physical state.

Some 4 × 4 states look unusual when the centres and edges are nearly solved. These are often called parity cases. They can occur on a legal 4 × 4, and the solver handles them as part of its solution.