How to Solve a Rubik's Cube 3x3 - Step-by-Step Course

Before you start

Take a cube in your hand - the best way to learn is to repeat the moves on a real cube. You can rotate the animations in the course: drag the cube with your finger or mouse.

Centres do not move

The centre sticker of each face is fixed to the core and never changes its position relative to the other centres. The centres determine the colour of a face: the face with the green centre will end up all green. On every standard cube the colours sit opposite each other in the same way:

• white opposite yellow,
• green opposite blue,
• red opposite orange.

Three kinds of pieces

The cube is made of 6 centres (one colour), 12 edges (two colours) and 8 corners (three colours). An edge always stays an edge and a corner always stays a corner - they only change their position and twist. That is why we do not solve “faces”, but put specific pieces into their places.

How to hold the cube

Throughout the course we hold the cube with the yellow centre on top (white is then on the bottom). This way you do not have to flip it over between stages. You can choose any colour for the front - in the animations it is green.

The method has three parts: first the white layer on the bottom (stages 2-4), then the middle layer (stage 5), and finally the yellow layer on top (stages 6-9).

1Move notation

An algorithm is a short sequence of moves written down in letters. Each letter is the English name of the face you turn:

• R - right, L - left,
• U - up, D - down,
• F - front, B - back.

A letter on its own means a quarter turn clockwise when you look straight at that face. An apostrophe (R', read “R prime”) is a turn in the opposite direction, and a two (R2) is a half turn. Click a move below to see it on the cube:

Watch out for the L, D and B moves: “clockwise” is judged while looking at that face, so for L from the left side and for D from below. That is why R and L turn in opposite directions, even though both are “clockwise”.

x, y and z are rotations of the whole cube in your hands - all layers at once, so the solved state does not change, only the side you have at the front or on top:

• x - like the R move: the front of the cube goes to the top,
• y - like the U move: the right face goes to the front,
• z - like the F move: the top goes to the right side.

The apostrophe and the two work just like with faces: x' is a rotation the other way, and z2 turns the cube upside down.

The most important sequence of the whole course is R U R' U'. Repeat it a few times until your hand remembers the move - it comes back in stages 4 and 5.

2The daisy

Goal: four white edges around the yellow centre, white stickers facing up. It looks like a flower with a yellow centre and white petals.

At this stage you ignore the second colour of the edges and the corners. You look for edges with a white sticker and bring them to the top one by one. There are four situations:

One rule: before you bring an edge to the top, turn the top layer (U) so that the spot above it is free. Otherwise you will push down a petal that was already there.

3White cross

Goal: a white cross on the bottom face, with the second colour of each edge matching the centre next to it.

Turning the daisy into a cross is simple. Look at the side colour of one petal and turn the top layer (U) until that colour is above the centre of the same colour. Then turn that face twice (e.g. F2) - the edge will drop down into its place. Repeat for the other petals.

The order of the petals does not matter, and turning the top layer does not disturb the edges that have already gone down. At the end check each edge from the side: the colour above the cross must match the centre. If one does not match, bring it back to the top (two turns of that face) and match it again.

4White corners

Goal: the whole bottom face white, with the side colours of the first layer matching the centres. After this stage the first layer is done.

Find a corner with a white sticker in the top layer. Its place is the bottom corner between the centres of its two other colours: the white-green-orange corner goes between the green and the orange centre. Rotate the whole cube in your hands (y) so that this place is at the front right, then turn the top layer until the corner is exactly above it.

Now repeat R U R' U' until the corner pops into place with white facing down. How many times depends on where the white sticker is facing:

You do not have to memorise the number of repetitions. Just check after each sequence whether the corner is already in place. In the meantime the cross falls apart for a moment - after the full number of repetitions it comes back.

The corner is on the bottom, but twisted wrong or in the wrong place? Hold the cube so that it is in the bottom front right corner and do R U R' U' once. The corner will come up to the top and you can insert it as above.

5Second layer

Goal: the two bottom layers solved - on every side the bottom two rows are one colour.

Four middle-layer edges are missing. They are in the top layer and have no yellow sticker (leave the edges with yellow for later). Find such an edge and turn the top until its side sticker is above the centre of the same colour - an upside-down letter T forms on that face. Rotate the whole cube (y) so that this face is at the front.

Now look at the top sticker of that edge. Its colour tells you which way the edge has to go down:

The two algorithms are mirror images of each other. They are easy to remember in two halves: first you move the top away from the target and take out the corner (U R U' R'), then you do the same at the front and the edge joins the corner (U' F' U F).

An edge is in the middle layer, but wrong? Put it at the front right and do the “to the right” algorithm with any edge from the top. The wrong edge will come out to the top and you can insert it normally.

6Yellow cross

Goal: a yellow cross on the top face. The sides of the edges do not have to match yet, and the corners do not matter for now.

On top you see one of three patterns of yellow edges: just a dot in the middle, a letter L or a line (if there is already a cross - go to stage 7). One algorithm is enough for all of them:

F R U R' U' F' - that is, the sequence from stage 1 “wrapped” in turns of the front face.

The position matters: an L held in the wrong corner or a vertical line will not give you a cross straight away. In that case just do the algorithm once more and fix the position.

7Yellow edges

Goal: the side colours of all the yellow edges match the centres below them.

Turn the top and check how many edges match the centres. You can always get at least two to match. When all four match - move on. When two match, the algorithm is:

R U R' U R U2 R' U

The algorithm leaves the back and right edges in place and swaps the other two. The corners will get twisted along the way - at this stage that does not matter.

8Corners into place

Goal: every yellow corner is in its place - between the centres of its three colours. It may still be twisted wrong.

Check the corners of the top layer. A corner is in place when it has the same three colours as the centres around it, even if the yellow is facing sideways. When you find such a corner, hold it in the front right corner and do:

U R U' L' U R' U' L

No corner is in place? Do the algorithm once from any side. After it, one corner will always be in place.

9Twisting the corners

Goal: a solved cube.

The last stage twists the corners yellow side up. This is the only moment when the cube looks broken along the way - that is how it should be, do not stop halfway.

1. Hold the cube yellow side up, with an untwisted corner in the front right corner.
2. Repeat R' D' R D until that corner has yellow on top (2 or 4 times). The bottom layers will fall apart.
3. Turn only the top layer (U) so that the next untwisted corner is in the front right corner. Do not rotate the whole cube!
4. Repeat R' D' R D for this corner. When all of them have yellow on top, the bottom layers will come back into place.
5. Finally turn the top so that it matches the rest of the cube.

Done - the cube is solved. Your first solves will take a few minutes, but after a dozen or so you will do it without looking at the course.

Cheat sheet: all algorithms

Everything you need to remember in one place. The cube is always yellow side up.

Printable cheat sheet (A4 / PDF)

1. White corners - corner above its place, at the front right: R U R' U' until it pops in (1, 3 or 5 times).
2. Second layer - edge in an upside-down T, at the front. To the right: U R U' R' U' F' U F, to the left: U' L' U L U F U' F'.
3. Yellow cross - line horizontal or L at the back left: F R U R' U' F' (line once, L twice, dot 3 times).
4. Yellow edges - the two matching ones at the back and on the right: R U R' U R U2 R' U.
5. Corners into place - correct corner at the front right: U R U' L' U R' U' L (1 or 2 times).
6. Twisting the corners - corner at the front right: R' D' R D until yellow is on top, then turn only the top (U) to the next corner.

Solve it yourself

A practice simulator. You can scramble the whole cube or choose a single stage - then you get a random cube with the previous stages solved and practise only what you are learning.

Common problems

In the last stage the cube fell apart and does not come back

Most often the whole cube was rotated between corners instead of just the top layer, or repeating R' D' R D was stopped before the yellow got to the top. Solve the cube again from the stage that went wrong.

I did the algorithm and it is worse than before

It is almost always one move done in the wrong direction - most often L, D or B, because “clockwise” is judged while looking at that face (go back to stage 1 and click those moves). The second cause is the wrong grip: the last-layer algorithms assume a specific position (e.g. matching edges at the back and on the right, the correct corner at the front right). Do the algorithm slowly, move by move together with the animation, and do not stop halfway - an interrupted algorithm leaves the cube in a random state.

One twisted corner or one flipped edge is left

A correctly assembled cube cannot have a single twisted corner or a single flipped edge. If yours looks like that, someone at some point twisted a corner or took out a piece and put it back wrong (loose cubes can pop on their own). Algorithms will not fix it: twist the corner back with your fingers, and pry the edge out and put it back correctly. Do it very carefully so as not to damage other parts of the cube, especially the core in its middle.

My cube has a different colour scheme

Older and unusual cubes may have a different scheme. The method works the same way: only the colours of the centres matter. Keep on top the colour opposite the one you start the cross with.

The cube locks up or pieces fall out

This is a common problem with cheap cubes from toy shops. Modern speedcubes turn smoothly, have magnets that “pull” the layers into place, and do not fall apart when you turn faster. See 3x3 cubes.

How long does it take to learn?

Most people solve the cube with the course after one or two evenings, and without looking - after a dozen or so solves. The layer-by-layer method needs about 100-150 moves, which at first gives 2-3 minutes. After a few weeks of regular solving, many people get below a minute.

What next?

Once you can solve the cube a few times in a row without looking at the course, you can start timing your solves. Time every solve and count the average of five - single results vary a lot.

The next step is the faster CFOP method, used by most speedcubers: the cross straight on the bottom, the first two layers solved in pairs (a corner together with an edge) and the last layer in two steps instead of four - at the cost of more algorithms to learn.

You can also solve the 3x3 cube in other ways, just like at WCA competitions: one-handed, in the fewest moves or blindfolded. And if you prefer new puzzles, start with the 2x2 cube or the 4x4 cube.