A scrambled 4×4 and the ability to distinguish outer and wide turns.
Build each of the first two centres on top. Once the opposite centre is complete, keep it underneath.
1. Establish the colour scheme first
A 4×4 has no fixed centres. Use the corner pieces to verify which colours touch and in which order. Opposite pairs alone do not determine the order of the remaining centres.
On our cube, if you hold a yellow-blue-red corner with yellow on top and blue at the front, red is on the right. White is opposite yellow, green is opposite blue and orange is opposite red. Use your own corner pieces if your cube has a different colour scheme.
2. Make the first white bar
Choose two white centre pieces. A bar is two adjacent centre pieces in the same row or column. Put one on U and the other on an adjacent face. Use outer turns of those faces to line the pieces up so a wide turn can bring them together, then make that wide turn.
Each face has only four interior positions. Work out where your chosen pair will move before you turn. The first centre is forgiving because there are no completed centre blocks to protect, and the edges and corners can move freely.
Turn U to park the completed bar in the left column. Build a second white bar in the right column of F, then use Rw to bring that front bar into the right column of U. The two bars make the white centre.
3. Build the opposite centre with a return move
Rotate the cube so white is down and build yellow on U. Whenever a wide turn disturbs white, plan to undo that same wide turn after moving the incoming yellow pieces out of its path.
Insert the bar with a wide turn, move it out of the way with U or U2 as needed, then reverse the wide turn. Use the example below to see how Rw, U, and Rw′ move the centre columns. Check the white centre after the return move.
4. Build the third and fourth centres
Hold the cube with the completed white centre on the left and the completed yellow centre on the right. Build a third centre on F from two bars. Use moves that restore both completed centres after each insertion. Check a corner to choose the correct adjacent colour for the fourth centre. Keep opposite colours on opposite faces.
Regrip the cube to move completed blocks out of the working faces, then build the next centre. Outer turns rotate a finished block without mixing its colour. If an inner or wide turn cuts through a finished block, reverse that turn to restore the block.
5. Finish the last two centres together
Hold the cube with the two unfinished centres at U and F. Only two colours remain. Work on completing the centre for the colour that belongs on U. The other colour must then fill F.
Form one bar and move it out of the working column. Line up the pieces you need on F, bring them to U with a wide turn, move the new matching pieces out of the slice, then restore the slice. If the two pieces you need are diagonally opposite, first use the insert–move-away–restore sequence to put them next to each other. Check all completed blocks again after each return move.
You’re building the centres piece by piece. Rw U Rw′ shows one way to move the pieces for this particular case. If your case differs, use the starting and ending nets below to track the pieces and choose the setup turns that line up your bars.
Watch, then try
Work through an example
Start by stepping through the example one move at a time. This example demonstrates a specific action. Use the lesson’s setup instructions to recognise when that action applies to your own scramble.
Watch one worked example
Track the interior centre columns through Rw, U, Rw′. U changes which pieces return with the wide slice. Copy the prepared setup on a solved cube to study this one centre insertion before applying the idea to your own bars.
Example grip: yellow up · blue front · red right at the start. Follow any written whole-cube rotations.
0 / 3
Loading 3D cube…
Prepared position · 0 / 3 moves
Use Next move to follow the sequence.
Drag to inspect other faces. When the cube has focus, use the arrow keys to rotate the view.
Copy this exact example on your own cube
Start with a solved 4×4, with yellow on top and blue at the front. Apply the setup moves below from left to right. This gives you the starting position for the example. Keep this separate from the scramble you’re solving throughout the course.
Rw U' Rw'Then follow the lesson sequence. If your cube has a different colour scheme, use your own colours to identify the corresponding pieces.
Compare the starting position and the result
Drag each cube to inspect its other faces.
Explain it to yourself
Check your understanding
Now use your own cube
Your turn
Build the white centre from two bars, then build the yellow centre opposite it, followed by the four side centres. After each insertion, check every centre you’ve already completed and check the colour order.
Open a 4×4 Digital Cube for practiceThe Digital Cube opens in a new tab so you can keep this lesson open while you practise. Check for yourself whether you’ve met the lesson goal, as the Digital Cube doesn’t assess your result.
If you get stuck
All centres are solid but side colours are in the wrong order.
Compare their cyclic order with a corner piece. Fix the misplaced centre blocks now; outer 3×3 moves will not correct a mirrored centre scheme.
A completed opposite centre breaks during insertion.
Move the pieces you just brought in out of the active slice, then reverse the exact wide turn that displaced the finished centre. Check the result only after completing the return move.
Before moving on
Check your result
Your cube at this stage
Six centres complete
Each 2×2 centre block is uniform and the colours are in the correct order. The edge wings still need pairing.
Confirm these on your cube. Watching the animation alone does not complete the lesson.
Tick each item when you can do it yourself.