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

Updated October 2026

Every algorithm on this page was run through a cube simulator by us to confirm it does what the step says.

Before you start: notation

Each letter is a face: R right, L left, U up, D down, F front, B back. A letter alone means a clockwise quarter turn as you look at that face. An apostrophe (R') means anticlockwise. A 2 (U2) means a half turn. Face centres never move, so the centre colour tells you which colour belongs to each face.

Step 1: White cross

Hold the cube with the white centre on top. Make a white plus sign on top so that each white edge also matches the centre colour of its side. This step has no algorithm: find a white edge, bring it next to its matching centre, then turn it into place. If you get stuck, make the white cross on the bottom by first forming a "daisy" (white edges around the top centre) and then turning each edge down.

Step 2: White corners

Turn the cube so white is on the bottom. Find a white corner in the top layer and place it above the spot where it belongs (its two side colours must match the two centres beside that spot). Then put it at the front-right and repeat this until the corner drops in with white facing down:

R U R' U'

This takes up to five repeats. Do the same for each of the four corners. The whole bottom layer is now solved.

Step 3: Middle layer edges

Find a top-layer edge with no yellow on it. Turn U until the colour on its front face matches the front centre. If it needs to go right, do:

U R U' R' U' F' U F

If it needs to go left, do:

U' L' U L U F U' F'

If an edge sits in the middle layer but in the wrong place, do either algorithm once with any top edge to push it out, then insert it properly.

Step 4: Yellow cross

Look at the yellow pieces on top. You will see a dot, an L shape, or a line.

Line: hold it horizontal (left to right) and do:

F R U R' U' F'

L shape: hold it with the two yellow edges at the front and the right, and do the version with wide turns (f turns the front two layers together):

f R U R' U' f'

Dot: do the line algorithm once, then you will have an L shape; position it and do the L algorithm. Repeat any case until you have a yellow cross. (This is the same step as in 2-look OLL and PLL.)

Step 5: Position the yellow corners

Do this to cycle three of the top corners, and repeat until all four corners sit in the right places (the yellow face may still be wrong):

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

It cycles three corners and leaves the bottom two layers intact. If no corner is correct, do it once from any position, then check again.

Step 6: Orient the yellow corners

Hold the cube with an unsolved yellow corner at the front-right of the top. Repeat the following until that corner has yellow facing up. Do not rotate the whole cube, and the rest of the cube will look scrambled in between, which is normal:

R' D' R D

Then turn only the top layer (U) to bring the next unsolved corner to the front-right and repeat. When all four are yellow, turn U until the bottom two layers match.

Step 7: Finish the last edges

If all four top edges already match their centres, you are done. Otherwise hold the cube with a solved edge at the back and do this (it cycles the other three edges) until the cube is solved:

R U' R U R U R U' R' U' R2

This is the Ua perm. If the three edges turn the wrong way, do it again.

What to learn next

The beginner method takes about 100 moves. To go faster, learn to build the first two layers together, then use 2-look OLL and PLL for the last layer. Our guides cover that path: intuitive F2L, 2-look OLL and PLL, how many algorithms CFOP needs, and a comparison of timers and apps.

Related guides

• How many algorithms do you need for CFOP?
• How to learn F2L (the intuitive method)
• 2-look OLL and PLL: all 16 algorithms with diagrams
• CFOP vs Roux: which is faster and easier to learn?
• Best cubing timers and apps (2026)

Frequently asked questions