it is dominated by the out-of-plane (z) stray component of the magnetic stray field gradient, denoted as dH stray,z /dz, occurring above the magnetised magnetic surface. By alteration of the external magnetic field strength and direction, the occurrence and the position of magnetic field gradients can be varied in a controlled way.Thus, using rotating magnetic fields, the manipulation and transportation of mere and labeled microbeads are realized along defined paths of discrete soft-magnetic patterns. [5][6][7][8][9][10] Similarly, patterned disk arrays are used for the movement of micro particles, [11][12][13][14][15] involving the applications of in-plane and out-of-plane magnetic field sequences. The precise positioning through predefined magnetic tracks [16][17][18][19][20][21] and 2D periodic structures [22] was realized. Moreover, the linear motion of magnetic particles within magnetic tubes [23] was shown. The sorting of microbeads populations in a fixed direction and along a magnetic track on a chip was demonstrated. [24][25][26] In all the latter cases, the particle motion takes place along a predefined axis or direction. A node structure or a switch is necessary in such structures. Limitations in efficiency of movement is another factor that affects the adaptability of magnetic chip based approaches. [27] Overall, using magnetically labeled superparamagnetic beads for selective and free or flexible lateral cell moving together with sorting has not been realized for microfluidic lab-on-chip applications.In this paper, we demonstrate a novel approach for the realization of free lateral and selective motion and, thus, sorting of different ensembles of microbeads by utilizing a broken symmetry in stray field gradients due to symmetrically and asymmetrically applied external magnetic fields. Temporally and spatially tuning of the stray field gradients at corners and along edges in periodically arranged soft-magnetic micromagnets facilitates the individual movement of dissimilar microbead populations. By applying square wave modulated externally applied magnetic field components, we realize the guided motion of microbeads along selectable microcorridors across arrays of magnetic elements. Choosing the proper external magnetic field parameters, we achieve bidirectional propulsion and separation, depending on the size of the microbeads. The areas with 2D periodic structures enable multidirectional and microbead selective transportation of mixed-sized microbead ensembles at a single bead level. The presented dynamical approach of selective bead motion and bead separation paves a new way for the development of alternative magnetic field configurable micromagnetic lab-on-chip devices.The guidance of labeled microcarriers in microfluidic environments is a prerequisite to the development of magnetic pattern assisted lab-on-chip technology. Square wave modulations of in-plane applied magnetic fields enable the forward and backward locomotion of superparamagnetic microspheres on discrete hexagonally arranged ferromagn...