🧊 How to solve a Rubik’s Cube for beginners
7 steps · 6 short algorithms · a live demo for every step
✓ A proven solution. Every algorithm on this page was checked on a computer simulation of the cube: 94 checks, including 400 random cubes solved with the last steps exactly as written here. The demos really run the algorithm, press ▶ and watch.
How do you read an algorithm?
Each letter is a face of the cube. A letter alone means a quarter turn clockwise, looking straight at that face. A letter with an apostrophe (for example R') means counterclockwise. A 2 (for example U2) means a half turn.
Turn the right side up, away from you
Turn the left side down, toward you
Turn the top layer to the left
Turn the bottom layer to the right
Turn the face in front of you clockwise
Turn the back face clockwise, as seen from behind
1The white cross
Hold the cube with the white center on the bottom. White stays down and yellow stays up for the whole solve.
Find an edge (a piece with 2 colors) in the top layer that has white on it. Turn the top layer until the edge’s other color sits above the center of the same color, then turn that face twice (for example F2). The edge drops into place.
If the white of an edge faces sideways or the edge is stuck in the middle layer, bring it up to the top layer with one turn of its face and try again. Repeat until there is a white cross on the bottom and every cross edge also matches the center on its side.
White edge on top → F2
2The white corners
The algorithm: R U R' U'
Find a corner (a piece with 3 colors) in the top layer that has white on it. Turn the top layer until the corner sits right above its spot, between the two centers of its other colors.
Hold the cube so that corner is at front-right-top, and repeat R U R' U' (1, 3 or 5 times) until the corner drops into place with its white facing down. The rest of the white layer is not broken while you do this.
If a white corner is on the bottom but in the wrong spot or twisted, hold it at front-right-bottom and do R U R' U' once. It pops up to the top, and you continue as usual.
R U R' U' three times
3The middle layer
Right: U R U' R' U' F' U F Left: U' L' U L U F U' F'
Find an edge in the top layer that has no yellow. Turn the top layer until its front color matches the front center (it makes a T shape).
If the edge’s top color matches the right center, do the “right” algorithm. If it matches the left center, do the “left” algorithm.
An edge stuck in the middle layer in the wrong place or flipped: hold it at front-right and do the “right” algorithm once. It comes up to the top, and then you insert it as usual.
Right
Left
4The yellow cross
The algorithm: F R U R' U' F'
Look at the yellow face on top. There are 3 cases: a dot (only the center is yellow), an L shape, or a line.
L: hold it so its arms point back and to the left. Line: hold it horizontally (left to right). Dot: hold it any way.
Do F R U R' U' F' and check again. A dot becomes an L, an L becomes a line, and a line becomes a cross. What happens to the corners in this step does not matter.
F R U R' U' F'
5Line up the yellow edges
The algorithm: R U R' U R U2 R' U
Turn the top layer until at least 2 edges match the centers on their sides.
If the two correct edges are next to each other, hold the cube so they are at the back and the right, and do the algorithm: it swaps the front and left edges and leaves the back and right ones in place.
If the two correct edges are opposite each other, do the algorithm once from any side, and then two will be next to each other. Repeat this step until all 4 edges match.
Swap the front and left edges
6Put the yellow corners in place
The algorithm: U R U' L' U R' U' L
A corner is “in place” when its three colors match the three centers around it, even if it is still twisted.
Find one corner that is in place, hold it at front-right-top and do U R U' L' U R' U' L. That corner stays, and the other three cycle around. Repeat until all 4 corners are in place.
If no corner is in place, do the algorithm once from any side, and then at least one will be.
Front-right corner stays, 3 cycle
7Twist the corners, and you are done
The algorithm: R' D' R D
Hold the cube with yellow on top and an unsolved corner at front-right-top.
Repeat R' D' R D until that corner’s yellow faces up (2 or 4 times). The lower layers will look scrambled. That is completely fine, do not stop!
Now turn only the top layer (U), without moving the rest of the cube, until another unsolved corner reaches front-right-top, and repeat R' D' R D. After the last corner everything falls back into place; turn the top layer until the cube is solved. 🎉
Two corners: ×2, U, ×4, U'
🧩 Practice cube
Tap a move and see what it does. Scramble the cube and try to solve it with the guide.
The Rubik’s Cube looks impossible, but the layer-by-layer method makes it simple: you solve the cube one layer at a time, from the bottom up, using one short algorithm in each step. It is the method almost everyone starts with, kids and grown-ups alike.
Tip: do not try to memorize the whole guide at once. Learn one step, practice it a few times on your cube, and only then move on. The demos show exactly what the cube looks like before and after every algorithm.
A bit of history: the cube was invented in 1974 by Ernő Rubik, a design and architecture teacher from Budapest, Hungary. It has more than 43 quintillion possible positions, yet computers have proven that any scramble can be solved in 20 moves or fewer. The beginner’s method takes many more moves, but you only need to remember six short algorithms.
Questions and answers
How do you solve a Rubik’s Cube as a beginner?
With the layer-by-layer method: white cross, white corners, middle layer, yellow cross, yellow edges, placing the yellow corners and twisting them. That is 7 steps and 6 short algorithms, all on this page with a live demo.
Do the algorithms here really work?
Yes, and they were checked: every algorithm was run on a computer simulation of the cube, including 400 random cubes solved with steps 4–7 exactly as written here. The demos on this page run on the same simulator.
What do R, U and R' mean?
Each letter is a face: R right, L left, U up, D down, F front, B back. A letter alone is a quarter turn clockwise (looking straight at that face). An apostrophe (R') means counterclockwise. A 2 (U2) means a half turn.
How long does it take to learn to solve a Rubik’s Cube?
Most kids from about age 8–9 and most adults solve their first cube after an hour or two of practice with the guide, and within a few days they solve it without looking.
My cube has different colors. Does that matter?
No. Pick one color to be on the bottom (white in this guide) and the opposite color on top. If your cube’s colors are arranged differently, just swap the color names; the algorithms are the same.
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