How to Solve a Rubik’s Cube (Beginner Method)

You can solve a Rubik’s Cube with the beginner layer-by-layer method: make a white cross, finish the white layer, solve the middle layer, then make a yellow cross, match its edges, place the last corners and twist them. That’s seven steps and six short move sequences. Most people need a few practice sessions; after that, a solve takes a few minutes.

Before you start, learn to read moves like R U R' U' — it takes five minutes and the rest of this guide uses it. Our cube notation guide covers it, but here’s the short version:

• R, L, U, D, F, B turn the right, left, up (top), down (bottom), front or back face a quarter turn clockwise, as if you were looking straight at that face.
• A prime (R') means counter‑clockwise. A 2 (U2) means a half turn.
• The centers never move relative to each other, so a center tells you the color of its whole face.

Tip: In this guide white is solved first and yellow last, like most tutorials. If your cube has a different color scheme, use the color opposite white wherever we say yellow.

Step 1: Make the white cross

Put the white center on top and bring the four white edge pieces up around it, so each edge’s second color matches the center on its side. Edges are the pieces with two colors.

Find a white edge in the bottom layer. Turn the bottom layer (D) until the edge’s other color sits under the matching side center, then turn that face twice — for example F2 — to lift it to the top. Repeat for all four.

If a white edge is in the middle layer, turn that side face once to drop it into the bottom layer, then handle it as above (put back any white edge you knocked out). If an edge is in the top layer but flipped — white facing sideways — hold it at the front and do:

Check that all four side colors line up with their centers before moving on. A cross with mismatched sides is the most common reason later steps fail.

Step 2: Solve the white corners

Turn the cube over so the white cross is on the bottom. Corners are the pieces with three colors.

Find a corner in the top layer that has white on it. Turn the top layer until the corner sits directly above the spot where it belongs — between the two centers that match its other two colors. Hold the cube so that spot is at the front‑right, then repeat this four‑move sequence until the corner drops in with white facing down:

It takes one, three or five repetitions. If a white corner is stuck in the bottom layer in the wrong place or twisted, hold it at the front‑right and do R U R' U' once to bring it up, then solve it normally.

Step 3: Solve the middle layer

Keep white on the bottom. You’re now placing the four middle‑layer edges — the ones without yellow.

Find a top‑layer edge with no yellow. Turn the top until the edge’s front color matches the center below it, so it forms an upside‑down “T”. Now look at the edge’s top color:

If the top color matches the right center, do:

If it matches the left center, do:

If a middle edge is in the right slot but flipped, or stuck in the wrong slot, insert any top edge into that slot with one of the moves above. That pops the stuck edge into the top layer so you can solve it properly.

Step 4: Make the yellow cross

Yellow is now on top. Ignore the corners and look only at the yellow edges on the top face. You’ll see a dot, an L shape, a line or a finished cross.

Use this algorithm:

• Line: hold it horizontal (left to right), then do the algorithm once.
• L shape: hold it so the two yellow edges point to the back and left, do the algorithm — you get a line — then do it once more.
• Dot: do the algorithm once to get an L, then follow the L instructions.

If you ever see exactly one or three yellow edges facing up, an edge has been flipped by hand and the cube can’t be solved as-is. See the last section.

Step 5: Match the yellow edges

Turn the top layer until two of the yellow edges match their side centers. (If all four match, skip this step.)

Hold the cube so those two matched edges are at the back and right, then do:

If the two matched edges are opposite each other instead, do the algorithm from any side — you’ll then get two adjacent matching edges. Hold them back and right and repeat.

Step 6: Put the yellow corners in place

A corner is in the right place when its three colors match the three faces around it — even if it’s twisted. Find a corner that’s already in the right place and hold it at the front‑right. If none are, hold any corner there. Then do:

This cycles the other three corners. Repeat until all four corners are in place.

Step 7: Twist the last corners

This is where most people get stuck, so read the whole step first.

Turn the cube over so yellow is on the bottom, with an unsolved corner at the front‑right‑bottom. Repeat R U R' U' until that corner shows yellow on the bottom. The rest of the cube will look scrambled — that’s expected.

Now turn only the bottom layer (D) to bring the next unsolved corner to the front‑right, and repeat R U R' U' until it’s fixed. Continue until every yellow is on the bottom, then turn the bottom layer to line it up. The cube is solved.

Two mistakes break this step: turning the whole cube instead of just the bottom layer, and stopping partway through a set of four moves. Always finish each R U R' U'.

If your cube seems unsolvable

If the steps don’t work even though you followed them, the cube itself may be wrong. Popped pieces get reassembled flipped or twisted more often than you’d think. Signs:

• one or three yellow edges up in Step 4;
• exactly two corners in the right place in Step 6;
• a single twisted corner left at the end of Step 7.

Check that the colors around each center are correct, then take the cube apart and reassemble it solved. If you’re using a solver app, an “unsolvable” message almost always means a sticker was entered wrong — check every face against the real cube.

What to learn next

Once you can solve the cube reliably, the beginner method gets you to around one to two minutes. To get faster, learn the CFOP method in stages: build the cross on the bottom, then pair corners and edges with F2L, then finish the last layer with 2-look OLL and 2-look PLL. Our speedcubing roadmap puts the steps in order.