Solve the Rubik's Cube: the whole beginner method on one page

Want pictures and a cube that plays the moves? Follow the interactive seven-step lessons with a lesson for each step. This page is the whole method in one place, to keep open beside your cube.

Almost anyone can solve a Rubik's Cube. You do not need to be a genius, you just need a method, a little patience and about a week of short practice sessions. This guide teaches the classic layer-by-layer method: solve the first layer, then the middle layer, then the last layer, in seven small steps.

You can practise every step on our free virtual Rubik's Cube, where you can type moves and undo mistakes. If the letters below are new to you, read the notation guide first. In short: R, L, U, D, F, B turn the right, left, up, down, front and back faces clockwise; an apostrophe (R') means anticlockwise; a 2 means a half turn.

Before you start: three facts

• The centres never move. Each face has a centre piece fixed to the core, so the centre colour tells you what colour that side must become. On a standard cube, white is opposite yellow, green opposite blue, and red opposite orange.
• There are 12 edges (two colours each) and 8 corners (three colours each). You solve them layer by layer.
• Turning one face moves pieces on the sides next to it. That is why we use short move sequences (algorithms) that fix one piece without wrecking the rest.

Step 1: the white cross

Hold the cube with the yellow centre on top. Make a "daisy": bring the four white edge pieces around the yellow centre, like petals. Then, for each petal, turn the top layer until the edge's second colour matches the centre of the side below it, and give that side a half turn (for example F2). When all four are down, you have a white cross on the bottom, and each white edge matches its side centre.

Step 2: the white corners

Flip the cube so the white cross is at the bottom. Look for a white corner in the top layer. Turn the top layer until the corner sits directly above the slot where it belongs, the place between the two side centres that match its other two colours. Put it at the front right, then repeat this until it drops in with white facing down:

R U R' U'

It may take one to five repeats. Do this for all four corners. If a white corner is stuck in the bottom layer in the wrong place, do the same moves once to lift it out, then place it again. You now have a complete white layer.

Step 3: the middle layer

Find an edge in the top layer that has no yellow on it. Turn the top layer until the colour on its front sticker matches the front centre. Then look at the colour on top: if it belongs to the right, do the right algorithm; if it belongs to the left, do the left algorithm.

• Right: U R U' R' U' F' U F
• Left: U' L' U L U F U' F'

If a middle-layer edge is in the right slot but flipped, do either algorithm once to pop it out and place it again. When all four are in, two layers are solved.

Step 4: the yellow cross

Hold the cube with yellow on top. Look at the yellow edges on the top face. You will see a dot, an L shape, a line, or a cross.

F R U R' U' F'

Repeat it: each time you get closer (dot, then L, then line, then cross). Hold the L with its arms pointing to the back and the left, and hold a line horizontally.

Step 5: match the yellow edges

Turn only the top layer until as many yellow-cross edges as possible match their side centres. If two neighbouring edges match, hold the cube so they are at the back and right, then do:

R U R' U R U2 R' U

If two opposite edges match, do the algorithm once from any side and look again. Repeat until all four edges match their centres.

Step 6: place the yellow corners

Now look at the yellow corners. A corner is in the right place when its three colours match the three centres around it, even if it is twisted. Hold the cube with one correctly placed corner at the front right on top, and do:

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

Repeat until all four corners are in the right places. If none is correct, do it once and look again.

Step 7: twist the last corners

Hold the cube with yellow on top and an unsolved corner at the front right. Repeat this until that corner shows yellow on top:

R' D' R D

It takes two or four repeats. Then turn only the top layer (not the whole cube!) to bring the next unsolved corner to the front right, and repeat. Do not worry that the cube looks scrambled in the middle. When the last corner is done, a final turn of the top layer completes the cube.

Practise like a pro

• Learn one step per day. Steps 1–3 are about thinking; steps 4–7 are about memorising short algorithms.
• Practise algorithms on the virtual cube. Type "R U R' U'" six times and watch the cube return to solved. Repeating it builds muscle memory.
• Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Speed comes after accuracy.
• Once you can solve it every time, start a timer with our Rubik's Cube timer and read speedcubing for beginners.

Want a coach to walk through it with you or your child? See our Rubik's Cube classes.

Common questions

How long does it take to learn to solve a Rubik's Cube?

Most beginners who practise a little each day can solve it in a few days to a couple of weeks. The first solve is the hardest; it then gets quicker very fast.

Is solving a Rubik's Cube about being smart?

No. It is about learning a method and practising. Children and adults of all kinds learn it, and it builds patience and pattern recognition.

What if I get stuck halfway?

Use the virtual cube to rewind and try the step again. Most mistakes are holding the cube in the wrong orientation, such as having yellow on top when an algorithm assumes white at the bottom.

Do I have to memorise the algorithms?

You will remember them naturally after repeating them a few times. Keep this page open at first, and practise each algorithm on its own.

What is the best way to get faster?

First solve it reliably with this method. Then learn to look ahead and turn smoothly. Our guide to speedcubing for beginners covers the next steps.

This guide is general information. For exams, follow your school, teacher and official exam board, and use your own judgement about what suits your child.