Notation · 5×5

Learn to read 5×5 formulas

Coming from the 4×4, there's one new idea here and one that comes back. The new one: the 5×5 has three layers per side, so you can turn one face, two layers together, or three. The one that's back: since the layer count is odd, there's a middle slice again — the same M/E/S as on 3×3, which the 4×4 didn't have.

🔤Everything in uppercase, same as on 4×4: Rw is 2 layers together, 3Rw is 3, 2R is the inner layer alone and M E S the middle one. Lowercase isn't used on 5×5.

Try the notation on a real cube

Press a move and watch the cube turn. Drag to look at it from another angle.

The same turn, changing how many layers it drags

↔ Drag to rotate the cube

Moves—

What you can do here

The 6 facesSame as on 3×3 and 4×4: they turn the outer layer only. With ' the other way, with ² a half turn.

2-layer wideTurns the face and the layer behind it, both at once. This is what drags centres and wings around.

Inner layerTurns only the layer behind the face, without dragging it along. It's what you need to fix parities: a wide move can't, because it always takes the face with it.

3Rw

3-layer wideThree layers in one go. On the 4×4 this barely made sense (3 of 4 layers is almost the whole cube); here it's a move in its own right.

M E S

The middle sliceThese turn the middle layer only. They're back from the 3×3: the 4×4 didn't have them, because a 4-layer cube has no middle layer.

x y z

Turn the whole cubeThey solve nothing: they change where you're looking from. Same as on 3×3.

Face lettersShows or hides each face's letter on the cube, to keep your bearings while learning.

+ −

Zoom in and outThe 5×5 has 25 stickers per face: zoom in if you want to look at one in particular.

ResetPuts the cube back to solved, without reloading the page.

Mezclar

Competition scramble60 moves with faces and wides, like official 5×5 scrambles.

Everything you press is logged under the cube, on the Moves line.

The pieces

Meet the 5×5 pieces

The 5×5 has 98 visible pieces in three types. And it brings good news right away: the centres are fixed again here, just like on the 3×3.

Three types of piece

8 pieces

Corners

Three colours each. They behave exactly as on 3×3 and 4×4: this is the easy part.

36 pieces

Edges

Each 3×3 edge splits here into three pieces: a middle one and two wings either side. You have to join all three before you can treat the edge as one.

54 pieces

Centres

Nine per face. The middle one is fixed and already tells you what colour that face ends up — exactly what the 4×4 was missing.

💡The fixed centre is a relief: no deciding which colour goes where, as you had to on the 4×4. In exchange, parities still show up when pairing the edges.

The faces and their names

Just as on the 3×3, the six faces are named after their position in English, not their colour: R doesn't mean red, it means the right-hand face, whatever colour it happens to be. The only physical difference is that each face has 25 stickers instead of 9.

U L B F R D

You see U, F and R. The other three are behind,
in the direction their letter points.

UpTop — the one facing the ceiling

BackBack — the one you don't see

RightRight — the one by your right hand

LeftLeft — the one by your left hand

FrontFront — the one facing you

DownBottom — the one resting on the table

The colors in the box are the ones this site uses, but your cube might have them arranged differently. What never changes is the position: the top face is U even if it's blue.

How it's solved

The idea is the same as on the 4×4: reduce the 5×5 to a normal 3×3. First you build the centres, then you join the edges in threes, and from there it's an ordinary 3×3.

Reduction

Centres, then edges, then a normal 3×3, plus a parity case or two at the end. It's the dominant method and the one holding the world record.

Pro method (Yau5)

The same ingredients, deliberately reordered to save moves. Faster, a bit more to learn up front.

⚡Both are explained step by step, with a 3D cube: see Reduction → or see Yau5 →.