6 well plate dimensions
One footprint, a 39.12 mm grid, and wells the size of 35 mm dishes: the numbers behind the largest wells in the family.
Every 6 well plate shares the ANSI/SLAS footprint, 127.76 by 85.48 mm, and the 39.12 mm well grid. The dimensions that matter in practice are the well diameter, the growth area it produces, and the shallow culture height the format shares with the rest of the culture family.
The grid and the footprint
Wells sit on a 39.12 mm pitch in 2 rows by 3 columns, the widest spacing in the family. The A1 well center sits in the plate's corner region defined by the ANSI/SLAS standards, offset from the two edges so stages and carriers register every plate the same way. At this pitch, standard pipettes, scrapers, and tips work well by well without any spacing hardware, which is the point of the format.
Well size and growth area
The culture well is round, about 34.8 mm across, and that diameter is where the 9.5 cm2 growth area comes from: the flat usable floor of the well, slightly less than the full circle. Well depth gives the working volume of 2 to 3 mL at a media depth cells and gas exchange both tolerate. When a protocol specifies a 35 mm dish, this well is its plate-format equivalent in area and volume.
Heights
A 6 well culture plate stands about 17 to 20 mm tall with its lid, the shallow profile shared across the culture formats, and it stacks and stores like them. Glass bottom versions match the same envelope. Catalogs quote height inconsistently (with lid, without, to the skirt), so measure the physical plate against any close clearance.
The fit checks that matter
- Microscope: the standard footprint fits stage inserts; high magnification work turns on bottom thickness, which is the glass bottom decision, not a footprint question.
- Incubator and storage: standard stacking; the check is lid seating, since evaporation control at this format is lid and humidity, not seals.
- Handlers: rarely used at 6 wells, but the plate definition exists in most software because the footprint is standard.
Related guides
Common questions
What is the well spacing of a 6 well plate?
39.12 mm center to center, in both directions, on a 2 by 3 grid. It is the ANSI/SLAS defined pitch for the format and the widest in the family.
Is a 6 well plate the same size as a 96 well plate?
Outside, yes: both are 127.76 by 85.48 mm. Inside, no: the 6 has wells about 34.8 mm across at 39.12 mm pitch, each with about thirty times the growth area of a 96 well.
How deep is a 6 well?
It is a shallow culture well, roughly 17 to 20 mm of plate height overall, worked at 2 to 3 mL. The useful depth number for culture is media depth at working volume, which is what gas exchange and evaporation both scale with.
Where is the A1 well on a 6 well plate?
In the corner the standards define, offset from the top and left edges of the footprint so instruments register consistently. Plates mark A1 with the row and column labels molded along the edges; the top left well when the labels read upright is A1.