How to solve a Rubik's Cube: the beginner method

First, know your cube

A 3 x 3 cube has three kinds of pieces. Knowing them is the key to the whole method:

• Centres (6) have one colour and never move relative to each other. The centre tells you the colour of that whole side. White is opposite yellow, green opposite blue, red opposite orange.
• Edges (12) have two colours.
• Corners (8) have three colours.

So you never "make a white side" sticker by sticker: you put each white piece where it belongs.

How to hold it and read the moves

From step 2 to the end, hold the cube with yellow on top and keep it that way. The face pointing at you is the front. Each letter is a quarter turn of one face, clockwise as if you were looking straight at that face:

• R right, L left, U up (top), D down (bottom), F front. (B, the back, is not needed in this method.)
• A letter with an apostrophe, like R' (say "R prime"), is the same face turned anticlockwise.
• A 2, like U2, means turn that face twice (a half turn).

Tip: for R the right side comes up towards you; for L the left side goes down. Practise each move a few times before you start.

Step 1: The white cross (with the daisy)

Goal: a white cross on the bottom, with each white edge's other colour matching the centre beside it.

1a. Make a daisy. With yellow on top, bring the four white edges up around the yellow centre, white facing up, like petals. Do it any way you like; if a spot is already taken by a petal, turn the top (U) to move it out of the way first.

1b. Send each petal down. Turn the top (U) until a petal's side colour matches the centre below it. Then turn that face twice (for the front, F2). The white edge goes to the bottom in the right place. Repeat for all four petals.

Look for: the side colour of each petal, not the white. Common mistake: turning a face twice before the petal matches its centre.

Step 2: The white corners (first layer)

Goal: the whole white side done, with the side colours of the bottom row matching their centres.

Find a white corner in the top layer. Look at its two other colours and turn the top (U) until the corner sits right above the place it belongs (between those two centres). Hold the cube so that place is at the front right, bottom. Then repeat this until the corner drops in correctly:

RUR'U'

• White facing right: 1 time.
• White facing up: 3 times.
• White facing front: 5 times.

Corner stuck in the bottom in the wrong place or twisted? Hold it at the front right, bottom and do R U R' U' once: it comes up to the top layer, then place it as above.

Good to know: doing R U R' U' six times brings the cube back to where it started, so you can never really break anything with it.

Step 3: The middle layer edges

Goal: the first two layers complete.

Keep white on the bottom. Find an edge in the top layer with no yellow on it. Turn the top (U) until its front colour matches the front centre (like a T shape). The top colour of that edge tells you where it goes:

It goes to the right (its top colour matches the right centre):

URU'R'U'F'UF

It goes to the left (its top colour matches the left centre):

U'L'ULUFU'F'

An edge stuck in the middle layer, in the wrong place or flipped? Hold it at the front right and do the "right" sequence once with any top edge: it pops up to the top, then insert it properly.

Step 4: The yellow cross

Goal: a yellow cross on top. Ignore the corners for now. You will see one of these shapes made by the yellow edges:

FRUR'U'F'

• Dot (no yellow edges up): do the moves once, then look again.
• L shape: turn the top so the L points to the back and left (as in the picture), then do the moves.
• Line: turn the top so the line goes left to right, then do the moves. You now have the cross.

Common mistake: holding the L or the line the wrong way round. Check the picture before every go.

Step 5: Match the yellow edges

Goal: each yellow edge's side colour matches its centre. Turn the top (U) until at least two edges match.

• Two neighbouring edges match: turn the whole cube (keep yellow on top) so they are at the back and on the right, then do the moves below once.
• Two opposite edges match (front and back, or left and right): do the moves once from any side, then you will have the neighbouring case.

RUR'URU2R'U

Step 6: Put the yellow corners in place

Goal: every yellow corner in its correct spot (between the right three colours). It may still be twisted; that is fine for now.

Find a corner that is already in its correct spot. Turn the whole cube so it is at the front right, then do the moves once or twice until all four corners are in place. If no corner is in place, do the moves once from anywhere first.

URU'L'UR'U'L

Step 7: Twist the yellow corners (finish!)

Goal: yellow on top everywhere, the cube solved. This is the step where people panic, so read it twice:

1. Hold the cube with yellow on top and an unsolved corner at the front right, top.
2. Repeat the moves below until that corner's yellow faces up (2 or 4 times). The lower layers will look messed up: don't worry, keep going.
3. Now turn only the top (U) to bring the next unsolved corner to the front right. Do not turn the whole cube.
4. Repeat for every unsolved corner. When the last one is done, the bottom layers fix themselves; turn the top once more to line it up.

R'D'RD

Common mistake: turning the whole cube in the middle of this step. Only the top may turn between corners.

What next?

• Solve it a few times with this page open, then try from memory: the six sequences are short and come quickly.
• Learn finger tricks for R, U and their primes to get faster.
• When you can solve in under two minutes, look at faster methods such as CFOP. Start with this method first.

Rubik's Cube is a trademark of its owner. This guide is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by the trademark owner.