How to solve a 5x5 Rubik's cube by reduction
Like the 4x4, a 5x5 Rubik's cube is usually solved by reduction: you build it into something that turns like a 3x3, then finish with a 3x3 method. A 5x5 has 8 corners, 12 middle edge pieces, 24 outer edge pieces (wings) and 54 center pieces, nine on each face. The middle pieces of the six faces always keep the same arrangement, exactly like 3x3 centers, so the color of each side is decided for you: with white on top and green in front, red is on the right.
5x5 notation. R is the outer right layer, 2R the second layer from the right, 3R the middle layer. Rw turns the two outer layers together and 3Rw three layers. The first example plays each of them in turn.
1. Centers
Build each 3x3 center around its fixed middle piece: white and yellow first, then the four sides. Bring matching pieces in as bars of two or three, with a wide or inner-layer turn out, a turn of the face, and the same layer back, as on the 4x4. For the last few pieces, this sequence cycles three center pieces and moves nothing else, so it cannot break what you built:
2R U 2L' U' 2R' U 2L U'Cycles three center pieces. Nothing else moves.
2. Pair the edges
Each finished edge is a middle piece with a wing on each side, all with the same two colors. Pair one wing at a time. Put the wing on the front-left edge in the row just above the middle, and its middle piece on the front-right edge. Uw' turns the top two layers and brings the wing next to its middle piece; R U R' lifts that edge into the top layer and brings the top back edge down in its place; Uw brings the centers back.
Uw' R U R' UwJoins the wing to its middle piece. The centers end where they started.
For a wing in the row below the middle, turn the whole cube upside down so it becomes the row above. Pair the first eight edges this way, then the last four with the same pattern.
Edge parity: the last edge
When you get to the last edge, its two wings may be swapped: the middle piece is right, but both outer pieces show their colors the wrong way round. No 3x3 move fixes that. Hold that edge at the front of the top face and do:
2R2 B2 U2 2L U2 2R' U2 2R U2 F2 2R F2 2L' B2 2R2Swaps the two wings of the front top edge. Nothing else changes. The same sequence fixes OLL parity on a 4x4.
3. Solve it like a 3x3
With the centers and edges done, the 5x5 turns exactly like a 3x3 as long as you use outer turns only. Solve it with your 3x3 method, for example our beginner method. Unlike the 4x4, a reduced 5x5 has no PLL parity: its middle edges and fixed centers decide where every piece belongs, as on a 3x3. The example scrambles a reduced 5x5 with outer turns and plays the solution the 3x3 solver gives for the same scramble.
How the examples were checked
Every algorithm on this page was replayed on a 5x5 cube model in a test: the center sequence moves exactly three center pieces, the pairing sequence returns all centers and joins the wing to its middle piece, the parity sequence swaps only the two wings of one edge, and the 3x3 example ends solved. There is no 5x5 solver on this site; to practice, scramble a 5x5 in the cube simulator or print 5x5 scrambles from the scramble generator.
Solver tested . Found a problem? Tell us.
Questions
Is a 5x5 harder than a 4x4?
It has more pieces, so it takes longer. But its fixed centers tell you where each color goes, and a reduced 5x5 never has PLL parity, so two of the 4x4's surprises do not happen.
What is edge parity on a 5x5?
On the last edge, the two outer pieces can end up swapped while the middle piece is right. It looks like a flipped edge with a correct middle. The parity sequence on this page swaps those two wings back.
Do I need new algorithms for the 3x3 stage of a 5x5?
No. Once the centers and edges are built, use your usual 3x3 method with outer turns only.
What does 3Rw mean?
Turn the three right layers together: the outer layer, the second layer and the middle layer. 3R alone turns only the middle layer, and Rw the two outer layers.
Can I solve a 5x5 with the 4x4 parity algorithms?
The OLL parity sequence written with 2R and 2L, the one on both pages, works as the 5x5 edge parity fix. Sequences written with wide turns like Rw do something different on a 5x5, because there Rw moves two layers out of five.