3×3 Rubik's Cube · the beginner's method

Layer by Layer

Solve the cube in seven stages: the white side first, then the middle, then the yellow side. Every stage has a live cube you can step through move by move, starting from the exact situation it fixes. Keep your real cube in your hands and copy along.

7stages 5algorithms to memorize 8moves in the longest one

Before you start

Reading the moves

Algorithms are written as letters. Each letter is one face of the cube. Hold the cube with one face toward you (the front) and keep it that way while you do the moves.

Letter	Face	A plain letter turns it so that…
R	Right	the front column goes up
L	Left	the front column goes down
U	Up (top)	the front row goes left
D	Down (bottom)	the front row goes right
F	Front	the top row goes right
B	Back	the top row goes left

A plain letter is always a quarter turn clockwise, as if you were looking straight at that face. That is why R and L seem to go opposite directions from the front.

R' (read "R prime") turns the same face counterclockwise.
U2 turns the face twice (a half turn). Direction doesn't matter.

Try each button on the cube. R followed by R' undoes itself, which is a handy way to check you have the direction right.

Stage 1 of 7 · white center on top

White cross

Goal

A white plus sign on top, where each white edge's other color matches the center below it. Green edge over green center, red over red, and so on.

How

This stage has no formula. Solve one edge at a time: find a white edge, get it next to the center that matches its other color, then turn that side so the edge rises into place.

Edge on the bottom layer: turn the bottom (D) until the edge sits under its matching center, then turn that face twice.
Edge in place but flipped (white facing out): hold it in front and do the four moves below.

Flip an edge in place

Check the side colors, not just the white. A white plus with mismatched sides is the most common early mistake, and it shows up two stages later.

Stage 2 of 7 · white center on top

White corners

Goal

The whole white face, with the top row of every side matching its center. Each side shows a small "T".

How

Find a corner in the bottom layer that has white on it. Its other two colors tell you where it belongs. Turn the bottom (D) until the corner sits directly below that spot, at the front right. Then repeat this until the corner pops up with white on top:

Repeat until the corner is solved

Which way the white sticker faces decides how many rounds it takes:

Corner stuck in the top layer in the wrong spot? Hold it at the front right and do R' D' R D once. That drops it to the bottom layer, and you continue from there.

Now turn the cube over

Yellow center on top, white on the bottom. Keep it this way for every stage that follows. Your finished white layer is now the bottom layer.

Stage 3 of 7 · yellow center on top

Middle layer

Goal

The bottom two layers finished. Only the top layer is left.

How

Find an edge in the top layer that has no yellow on it. Turn the top (U) until its front color matches the front center, making an upside-down T. Now look at its top color: the edge belongs on that side.

Edge goes to the right

Edge goes to the left

The two are mirror images. The first half moves the edge away and lifts the slot, the second half brings the matching corner back with it.

An edge stuck in the middle layer in the wrong slot, or flipped? Put any yellow-topped edge into that slot with the same algorithm. That kicks the stuck edge up to the top, where you can insert it properly.

Stage 4 of 7

Yellow cross

Goal

A yellow plus sign on top. Ignore the corners and the side colors for now.

How

Look only at the four top edges. You'll see one of these patterns. Each use of the algorithm moves you one step to the right in this row:

One algorithm for every pattern

Hold the L with its arms pointing to the back and left. Hold the line left to right, not front to back. From the dot, do it once and you'll have an L; turn the top until the L points back and left, then keep going.

Stage 5 of 7

Match the yellow edges

Goal

The yellow cross, with each edge's side color matching the center below it.

How

Turn the top until at least two edges match their centers. If the two matching edges are neighbors, hold them at the back and right and do:

Swap the front and left edges

If the two matching edges are opposite each other (front and back), do the algorithm once from any angle. You'll then have neighbors, and a second run finishes it.

The first seven moves are the most famous algorithm in cubing. Speedcubers call it the Sune.

Stage 6 of 7

Place the yellow corners

Goal

Every top corner in its correct spot, meaning it sits between the three centers that match its colors. It's fine if it's twisted; that gets fixed last.

How

Find a corner that's already in its correct spot. Hold it at the front right, top. Then do this, which cycles the other three corners:

Cycle three corners, keep the front-right one

If the corners aren't all in place afterward, do it once more. If no corner is in its spot to begin with, do it once from any angle and one will be.

Stage 7 of 7

Twist the yellow corners

Goal

Solved.

How

Hold the cube with yellow on top and an unsolved corner at the front right. Repeat the stage 2 algorithm until that corner's yellow faces up. It takes two or four rounds.

Repeat until yellow faces up

Then turn only the top (U) to bring the next unsolved corner to the front right, and repeat. When the last corner is done, one final turn of the top lines everything up.

The bottom will look scrambled halfway through. That's expected. It repairs itself after the last corner, as long as you only turn the top between corners and never turn the whole cube in your hands.

When it goes sideways

Getting unstuck

Stage 7 wrecked the bottom

Keep going. The bottom layers come back once every corner is twisted, provided you only turned the top between corners. Rotating the whole cube mid-stage is the usual culprit.

Stage 4 never gives a cross

Check how you're holding the L and the line. A line held front to back just turns back into an L.

One edge flipped, or one corner twisted, and nothing fixes it

A correctly assembled cube can't end up that way. The cube was probably taken apart and put back wrong, or a sticker was peeled and moved.

Learning it

One stage per sitting works well. Use Restart on each demo and copy it on your own cube until the moves feel automatic. Then scramble and solve up to that stage.